Case Name: PEOPLE v. CROUNSE
Court: New York Supreme Court, General Term
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1889-02
Citations: 7 N.Y. Crim. 11
Docket Number: 
Parties: PEOPLE v. CROUNSE.
Judges: 
Reporter: New York Criminal Reports
Volume: 7
Pages: 11–19

Head Matter:
Supreme Court—General Term—Third Department
February, 1889.
PEOPLE v. CROUNSE.
Public Nuisance—Evidence—Authokization of ComMISSIONEE OF HIGHWAYS.-WHEN OBJECTION MUST BE TAKEN TO EVIDENCE.-LIABILITY OF HUSBAND Acting as Agent on Wife’s Land fob Continuing a Nuisance.
Where defendant is accused of having willfully and maliciously obstructed the public highway by causing water to flow thereon by constructing a dam on private land, evidence that such obstruction was made under the direction and authorization of the Commissioner of Highways is admissible in defense.
A party at a trial cannot remain quiet while evidence is being given, and then later, if he finds the testimony unsatisfactory to him, move to strike it out.
A husband while acting as agent of his wife cannot be made liable and punished for continuing a nuisance upon her lands.
A party acting under the authority of the Commissioner of High ways and thereby obstructing the public highway does not act unlawfully, and therefore his action does not come within Section 385, Penal Code. (Per Landon, J.)
Appeal by defendant, Jacob J. Crounse, from a judgment entered in the Court of Sessions of Albany County on April 30, 1887, upon a conviction of the offense of continuing a public nuisance, the charge being that he did unlawfully and willfully interfere with and obstruct, and unlawfully render dangerous for passage, a certain public highway in the township of Knox, in the County of Albany; and did erect and construct on certain lands in the indictment referred to, a certain dam, embankment or structure, in and under the road-fence adjoining thereto, and did willfully and maliciously and unlawfully, cause and procure the same to be so built and constructed; and did unlawfully continue to maintain the said dam, erection and structure, by reason whereof a certain stream of water was turned back upon and overflowed the said public highway, and washed away the earth therefrom and rendered the same dangerous for passage.
Jacob Glute, for defendant, appellant.
Hugh Reilly, district attorney, for the people, respondent.

Opinion:
Ingalls, J.
The defendant was, by indictment, charged with having on June 5, 1885, wickedly, unlawfully, and willfully, interfered with and obstructed, a public highway, in the town of Knox, in the County of Albany, and thereby causing the water to flow upon such highway to its injury, and to the prejudice of the rights of the public, who were entitled to use the same as a public highway. The prosecution gave evidence at the trial, to the effect that in 1885, an embankment existed under the fence adjacent to such highway, and upon land occupied by the defendant, but which the evidence shows was owned by Mrs. Jane Crounse, who resided with her husband upon the same premises. Such embankment was removed by the defendant, who subsequently filled up the ground upon the premises occupied bv him there, by creating what was claimed by the prosecution to constitute an obstruction to the flow of wrater in its natural course. Such filling was accomplished by the deposit of stone, gravel, and other materials a short distance from where the obstruction first mentioned was located. Considerable evidence was produced at the trial, in regard to such structures, and the extent thereof, and the effect produced by them in regard to the flow of the water upon the highway. It seems from the evidence, as we understand it, that the water which accumulated upon the land occupied by the defendant was surface-water, which at certain seasons of the year disappeared.
The view which we take of this case does not render it necessary to examine the evidence, or to discuss the same to any considerable extent, for the reason that we have been convinced that legal errors were committed at the trial, which prejudiced the case of the defendant to an extent which calls for a reversal of the judgment.
One material error consisted of the striking out, upon the motion of the District Attorney, of the evidence of Andrew J. Armstrong, the Commissioner of Highways, who was examined as a witness on the part of the defendant for the purpose of showing that whatever he did in removing the embankment and filling up the land which he occupied, was done by the direction of such Commissioner of Highways of the town of Knox. The motion, and the decision thereon, appear in the following evidence of the witness Armstrong.
Andrew J. Armstrong, sworn for the defendant. Examined by Mr. Clute:
Q. Where do you live now? A. Town of Wright, Schoharie County.
Q. How long have yon lived there ? A. I moved there about a week before the 1st of April of this year.
Q. Yon moved there then in March, 1887? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did yon move from? A. Knox.
Q. How long had yon lived there? A. I was born there, and I had been out of the town, I guess, three years, and I was forty years old in March ; about thirty-seven years.
Q. Where you- ever Commissioner of Highways of that town? A. I was in 1885.'
Q. Where yon acquainted with this road that passes between the Methodist church and the school-house, starting from the Schoharie road over to the street? A. I have always traveled it more or less; not a great deal of late years.
Q. While yon were Commissioner of Highways did you make an examination of that road ? A. I did.
Q. And of those sluices? A. Yes, sir.
Q. And where the water was running? A. I did.
Q. Did you see Mr. Crounse? A. I did.
Q. And have a talk with him about it? A. Yes,sir.
Q. As Commissioner did you take counsel as to what you should do to the road? A. Yes, sir.
Q. What instructions, if any, did yon give Mr. Crounse as Commissioner ? A. I said to Mr. Crounse that we would each pick a man that would take good counsel, he could and I would, and as they decided, so it should go, and he told me to pick mine first and I did so; then he said, " We' won't, pick but one; we will leave it to him," and we did so; I. stated the case as near as I could, and the counsel decided.
Q. After getting the decision of the counsel, then what did you say to Mr. Crounse? A. I told Mr. Crounse he could open the ditch on the side of the road and let the water run.
Q. Did you say anything to him about filling up on the side on his land or fence ? A. Yes, sir; I think so.
Q. Where the water had been running? A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you state to him ? A. I told him he could fill that up; I did not think there was any place for water to run there.
Q. You have examined the laud adjoining this road at that place, have you ? A, Yes, sir.
Q. The water that comes from the west and crosses over and comes into this place, where does it go to? A. There had been some time a ditch cut through when I was there; it run into a piece of lowland, as I should call it, in the second field, and there it remained until they dug a ditch and let it out.
The District Attorney moved to strike out the witness' evidence as to what he directed defendant to do, on the ground as Commissioner of Highways he was not authorized to permit the obstruction of a water-course or the flobding of'a highway; that even if he did give such instructions to Mr. Crounse, Mr. Crounse was not justified in obeying them. Motion granted. Defendant excepts.
Q. What, if anything, did you say to Mr. Crounse about opening the ditches on the side of the road or taking awa.v this embankment at both ends of that sluice? A. I told him that he could.
Q. Have you been overbore in Cronnse's field to make an examination of this high ground, where the two portions came together? A. I have not been there since the Fall of 1885.
We are satisfied that the evidence stricken out was competent and material to the defendant's case. It at least tended to repel any charge or inference of malice, which was an element of the offense charged against the defendant. The defendant was called upon to vindicate his conduct, and was entitled to explain the motives by which lie Avas actuated in Avhat he did. It is difficult to conceive more satisfactory evidence upon that subject than that testified to by Armstrong and stricken out by the court. Such evidence was to the effect that the defendant sought and acted under the advice and direction of the officer of the town who was charged with care of the highways of the town, and was, therefore, competent to direct in regard to them. McFadden v. Kingsbury, 11 Wend. 697.
And if such officer failed in judgment in regard to the direction which he gave to Oronnse, certainly the latter should not be punished criminally for following it.
We do not undertake to decide precisely the force and effect which the jury should give to that evidence, but merely that it was competent and material for them to consider in connection with the other facts of the case. Such evidence was received without objection by the District Attorney, and we think it was error on the part of the Court to strike it out, after it had been so received. A party is not at liberty at a trial to remain quiet when evidence is being given, and allow the same to be received without objection, and, after speculating in regard to its 6f-fect, cause it to be stricken out, _as the motion under such circumstances comes too late. Quin v. Lloyd, 41 N. Y. 349.
Judge Woodworth, at page 355, says: "A party against whom a witness is called and examined cannot lie by and speculate on the chances; first learn what the wit ness testifies to, and then, when he finds the testimony unsatisfaetor y, object either to the competency of the witness or to the form or substance of the testimony. The counsel, may have been careless in permitting testimony to be given without objection, which would perhaps have been excluded if objected to; but this would not authorize the referee to strike it out, after it has been received."
It does not seem to be a satisfactory answer, that the District Attorney attempted in this manner to raise a legal question in regard to the competency of the evidence, as that he could have accomplished by a direct request to the court to charge the jury in regard to the legal effect of such evidence, without violating a plain rule of evidence.
It will be perceived by reference to page 64 of the case that the prosecution resorted to the same species of evidence by the examination of Charles Armstrong as follows:
Charles Armstrong, sworn on behalf of the people. Examined by District Attorney Reilly.
Q. Are you path-master? A. I was in 1886.
Q. You know this stream ? A. Ido.
Q. And have known it for a number of years? A. Twenty years.
Q. What was its course—-through Crounse's land, as described? A. Yes, sir. Objected to.
Q. What was its course? A. Came down and across the road and went on to the lands occupied by Hr. Crounse.
Q. When'was that? A. 1885.
Q. How ? A. A dam in the fence where it had crossed through.
Q. What, if anything, did you do in reference to that: dam as path-master? A. I wasn't path-master.
District Attorney.—I propose to show by this witness-that by order of the Commissioner lie removed this dam.
Q. What did you do in reference to that obstruction ? A. Made a complaint to the Commissioner of Highways.
Q. Then what was done? A. He ordered me to remove it.
Q. Did you remove it? A. I did, by the help of district.
Q. What do you mean by that? A. Those that are assessed on the road.
It would seem that the defendant was entitled to the-benefit of a principle thus established upon the same trial,, at the instance of the prosecution.
In this case it appears that the farm upon which the obstructions are claimed to have been placed and continued,' hv the defendant, was owned by Mrs. Crounse, the wife of,'' the defendant, and that she resided upon the premises at," the time. Under such circumstances it has been decided by this court that the husband while acting as the agent of the wife, cannot be made liable, and punished, for continuing a nuisance upon such lands. People v. Livingston, 27 Hun, 105. The indictment herein charges the defendant with continuing such alleged nuisance, and therefore this case is brought clearly within the doctrine of the case cited. For the reasons assigned, we conclude that the conviction should be reversed, and a new trial granted.
Landon, J., and Learned, P. J., concur.