eBook details
- Title: People State New York v. Roger Joseph Klein
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 13, 1966
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 65 KB
Description
In our opinion the trial court's denial of the defendant's motion was an abuse of discretion. Section 337 of the Code of Criminal Procedure requires the trial court to exercise an informed discretion and thus prohibits a peremptory denial of a motion thereunder when all that is before the court is a defendant's claim of innocence. Under the circumstances at bar, the trial court should have offered to adjourn the proceeding for a reasonable time in order that defendant might confer with his attorneys. If a defendant does not want to confer with counsel the trial court should attempt to elicit facts from the defendant with the object of determining the reasons for his motion. However, whatever course a defendant might choose, the People must be offered an adjournment for the purpose of enabling them to resist the motion on whatever grounds, including prejudice, they may be able to establish (see People v. Serrano, 15 N.Y.2d 304; People v. Morales, 17 A.D.2d 999; People v. Wright, 20 A.D.2d 857).