People v. Mogul

Frank S. Hogan, District Attorney of New York County (B. Roberts of counsel), and Miles F. McDonald, District Attorney of Kings County (Edward Silver of counsel), for plaintiff. Irving E. Yelowcin for defendant. MALBIN, M. A summons was issued against the defendant on complaint of a detective charging the defendant with keeping a blackjack and metal knuckles for the purpose of sale, in violation of section 1896 of the Penal Law. An informal hearing was had before the court for the purpose of determining whether a complaint should issue, formally charging the defendant with the commission of the said crime. The defendant is a dealer in firearms. He does not dispute that he had large quantities of metal knuckles and blackjacks on display in his premises, but maintains as a defense that they were not kept for the purpose of sale within the State of New York. It is his contention that he does not sell these articles over the counter, but ships them directly to dealers in other States, where the sale and possession of these articles is not illegal. The court has examined and analyzed section 1896 of the Penal Law and the various other sections of article 172 of the Penal Law entitled "Public Safety." These sections are in pari materia and must be construed together in order to resolve the question at issue. At the outset, it should be borne in mind that, as its title implies, the statute was passed in the interest of the safety and protection of the public. We are dealing with articles which can be put to no innocent or legal use in the State of New York. Metal knuckles and the blackjack are tools of the The court, therefore, concludes that both the letter and the spirit of section 1896 of the Penal Law make the keeping of blackjacks and metal knuckles for the purpose of sale illegal, and that no exception may be imported into the statute to permit these items to be kept for sale in the State of New York for shipment outside of the State of New York. Accordingly, the court grants the application for the issuance of a sworn complaint against defendant charging him with a violation of section 1896 of the Penal Law.