New York Court of Appeals, 1975

People v. D'Abate

New York Court of Appeals · Decided November 3, 1975

37 N.Y.2d 922; 340 N.E.2d 750; 378 N.Y.S.2d 390; 1975 N.Y. LEXIS 2282

Cases that cite this one

21 later published cases cite this decision.

RITE AID CORPORATION v. HUSEBY, TERIE (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
RITE AID CORPORATION v. HAYWOOD, STEPHEN (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Rite Aid Corp. v. Haywood (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Rite Aid Corp. v. Haywood (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Rite Aid Corp. v. Huseby (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
Rite Aid Corp. v. Huseby (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2015)
936 Second v. Second Dev Co (N.Y. 2008)
Palestinian Monetary Authority v. Strachman (New York Supreme Court 2007)
Shapiro v. McNeill (N.Y. 1998)
Gagliardo v. Dinkins (N.Y. 1996)
People v. Bonilla (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1994)
Federal Insurance v. Arthur Andersen & Co. (N.Y. 1990)
People v. Castillo (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1989)
People v. Bruce A. (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1988)
People v. Bazo (New York Supreme Court 1988)
Corley v. Miller (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1987)
Wantagh Racquet Sports, Inc. v. Board of Assessor (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1987)
People v. Rodriguez (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1985)
Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. v. Kiernan (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1981)
Tron v. Condello (District Court, S.D. New York 1976)
People v. Kreichman (N.Y. 1975)

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. The order of the Appellate Division should be affirmed.

Defendant’s automobile, illegally parked in a bus stop zone, was towed to a police pound. In the course of a search for the purpose of safeguarding any contents, examination of the glove compartment disclosed a loaded revolver which was removed. Thereafter in a nonjury trial, defendant was convicted of criminal possession of a weapon as a felony.

We reject defendant’s contention that the revolver was seized in violation of his constitutional rights. We have held that the police may lawfully conduct what has sometimes been described as an inventory search of an illegally parked motor vehicle after it has been towed away. (People v Sullivan, 29 NY2d 69.) Moreover in this instance there was no suggestion that this was a pretext search, intentionally conducted with the purpose or expectation of discovering weapons or contraband. The right to make this search stems from the fact that this individual vehicle had been towed away after having been illegally parked.

We agree that it was improper for the prosecutor here on cross-examination to question defendant as to three out-of-State convictions with respect to which the prosecutor later stipulated that he had had no certificates of conviction. On the *924whole record, however, we conclude that the impropriety was not prejudicial in this instance, especially since this was a honjury case (cf. People v Brown, 24 NY2d 168, 172-173).

Chief Judge Breitel and Judges Jasen, Gabrielli, Jones, Wachtler, Fuchsberg and Cooke concur.

Order affirmed in a memorandum.

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