New York County Courts, 1957

People v. Drebitko

People v. Drebitko
New York County Courts · Decided January 28, 1957 · Wemple
4 Misc. 2d 753; 159 N.Y.S.2d 28; 1957 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3615

Counsel

David B. Alford for appellant., Emmet J. Lynch, District Attorney (Duncan S. McNab of counsel), for respondent.

People v. Drebitko

Opinion of the Court

Archibald C. Wemple, J.

The District Attorney’s office did not participate in the trial and on argument of the appeal stood on the record.

From the record it appears that the information upon which the charge was based, which was signed by G. Valsamedis, State trooper, was not supported by depositions of persons in possession of facts. The said information contains the following concluding sentence: ‘ ‘ This information is based on information and belief of verbal statements and investigation at the scene of the accident.”

Since the “information” was unsupported, no jurisdiction was conferred on the trial court. The resulting conviction was a nullity.

Therefore, the conviction is reversed and the fine of $20 is ordered restored to the defendant.

Submit order.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.