New York Court of Appeals, 1970

Vergari v. Marcus

New York Court of Appeals · Decided February 18, 1970

26 N.Y.2d 764; 257 N.E.2d 652; 309 N.Y.S.2d 204; 1970 N.Y. LEXIS 1566

Cases that cite this one

5 later published cases cite this decision.

State v. One 1990 Honda Accord (N.J. 1998)
State v. One 1990 Honda Accord (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 1997)
Swails v. State of Ga. (Ga. 1993)
Abrams v. One 1987 Chevrolet Corvette (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1990)
Joch v. Pikulik (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1982)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion of the Court

Memorandum. Cases involving judicial proceedings for forfeiture of penalties were tried by jury before the adoption of the 1846 Constitution (Colon v. Lisk, 13 App. Div. 195, affd. 153 N. Y. 188; see, also, People ex rel. Lemon v. Elmore, 256 N. Y. 489, 493 ; 4 Lincoln, Constitutional History of New York, p. 50; 44 N. Y. Jur., Penalties and Forfeitures, §§ 7, 16). Therefore, section 2 of article I of the State Constitution guarantees the right to a jury trial in this forfeiture proceeding (Blum v. Fresh Grown Preserve Corp., 292 N. Y. 241, 244; Wynehamer v. People, 13 N. Y. 378, 426). Lawton v. Steele (119 N. Y. 226, affd. 152 U. S. 133), permitting the summary destruction of property of small value in order to abate a nuisance, is not applicable. The instant statute does not prohibit trial by jury; indeed it does not detail any of the proceedings to be followed. Hence it was incumbent on the court to provide the appropriate *766proceedings, including a jury trial mandated by the Constitution. The Supreme Court deprived respondent of his constitutional right by failing to afford respondent a jury trial. Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be modified and the case remitted to Supreme Court, Westchester County, for a trial by jury.

Chief Judge Fuld and Judges Scileppi, Bergan, Breitel, Jasen and Gibson concur; Judge Burke taking no part.

Order modified in accordance with the memorandum herein and, as so modified, affirmed, with costs.

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