Case ID: ad_271/html/0936-03.html
Source: Caselaw Access Project
Author: {"author": "", "license": "Public Domain", "url": "https://static.case.law/"}
Date Created: 2024-08-24T03:29:51.129683

The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Louis Petrucci, Appellant.
   Judgment of the County Court of Queens County convicting the defendant of the crime of sodomy, reversed on the law and a new trial ordered. The findings of fact implicit in the verdict of the jury are affirmed. The ruling by the trial court, as a matter of law, that the complaining witness was not an accomplice was erroneous. Whether he was an accomplice or not depended upon whether there was a voluntary submission to the act on his part, and this was a question of fact for the jury. If the complainant was a willing participant, there could be no conviction of the defendant unless there was evidence corroborating the testimony of the complainant. If the complainant was a victim, then there could be a conviction without such corroboration if the complainant’s story were credited. (People v. Bosenthal, 289 N. Y. 482, 484; People v. Sileo, 202 App. Div. 760; People v. LaCasse, 266 App. Div. 888.) The reference to. juvenile delinquency ” in section 2186 of the Penal Law has a limited purpose and effect. (People v. Pollack, 154 App. Div. 716, 719, 721.) Lewis, P. J., Hagarty, Carswell, Adel and Nolan, JJ., concur.