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People v. West

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Apr 13, 1971
36 A.D.2d 807 (N.Y. App. Div. 1971)

Opinion

April 13, 1971


Judgment, Supreme Court, New York County, rendered on March 25, 1970, affirmed. The failure to supply the defendant with the minutes of the Huntley suppression hearing was, if error, harmless. (Code Crim. Pro., § 542.) Defendant's guilt was clear, and the evidence at the Huntley hearing would not have provided any material for use in any way by defense counsel at the trial. It is contended that the case of People v. Zabrocky ( 26 N.Y.2d 530) mandates supplying a transcript regardless of the need. However, in this case the suppression hearing took place in the afternoon of Friday, January 23, 1970, and the trial itself proceeded with the selection of a jury on Monday afternoon, January 26, with the opening statement by the People on Tuesday afternoon, January 27. Under these circumstances, to supply a transcript to the defendant would have been the equivalent of a free daily copy, which it has been held, the defendant is not entitled to receive. ( People v. Abdullah, 23 N.Y.2d 676.) The matter of time was specifically referred to in the Zabrocky case where the court noted that the request was "one week before trial". (Pp. 536-537.) Here the trial court indicated to counsel that he should follow the Judge's own procedure of making "copious notes", and that even defendants who could afford it and retained their own counsel, "don't spend monies lavishly in buying minutes of preliminary hearings". Under all of the circumstances, there was no error in the denial of a copy of the minutes.


I dissent and vote to reverse and order a new trial under constraint of People v. Zabrocky ( 26 N.Y.2d 530). Prior to the hearing, counsel requested a copy of the minutes of the prospective Huntley hearing. The court denied the motion. The District Attorney, conceding the error, argues that it was harmless. In People v. Zabrocky ( supra, p. 536) the Court of Appeals said: "The People, conceding that appellants were denied this fundamental right [a copy of the minutes of the suppression hearing], have asked us to hold that the denial was harmless because in their view the minutes would have been of limited use. We cannot see any merit in this contention, because the use to which a requested transcript might have been put is irrelevant."


Summaries of

People v. West

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department
Apr 13, 1971
36 A.D.2d 807 (N.Y. App. Div. 1971)
Case details for

People v. West

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. HAROLD WEST, Appellant

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, First Department

Date published: Apr 13, 1971

Citations

36 A.D.2d 807 (N.Y. App. Div. 1971)