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MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINTS ADEQUATELY CHARGED POSSESSION OF A DANGEROUS KNIFE (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, over a concurrence and a concurrence/dissent, in a memorandum addressing two cases (McCain and Edward), determined the misdemeanor complaints were sufficient to support the charge of possessing a “dangerous knife:”

The factual allegations of a misdemeanor complaint must establish “reasonable cause” to believe that a defendant committed the charged offense … . Reasonable cause “exists when evidence or information which appears reliable discloses facts or circumstances which are collectively of such weight and persuasiveness as to convince a person of ordinary intelligence, judgment and experience that it is reasonably likely that such offense was committed and that such person committed it” … .

Here, the factual allegations of each misdemeanor complaint establish reasonable cause to believe that each defendant possessed a “dangerous knife” … , triggering the statutory presumption of unlawful intent arising from such possession … .

From the concurrence/dissent:

I concur in the result in People v McCain because the officer’s sworn statement attached to the complaint specifies that the “knife was activated by deponent to an open and locked position through the force of gravity,” which meets the statutory definition of “gravity knife” in Penal Law § 265.00 (5), and therefore a fortiori is a “dangerous knife” under Penal Law § 265.01, when subsections (1) and (2) thereof are read together.

I dissent from the result in People v Edward for the reasons set out in Judge Simons’ dissent in Matter of Jamie D.(59 NY2d 589 [1983]). People v McCain, 2018 NY Slip Op 01018, CtApp 2-13-18

CRIMINAL LAW (MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINTS ADEQUATELY CHARGED POSSESSION OF A DANGEROUS KNIFE (CT APP))/DANGEROUS KNIFE (CRIMINAL LAW, MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINTS ADEQUATELY CHARGED POSSESSION OF A DANGEROUS KNIFE (CT APP))/WEAPON, CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF (MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINTS ADEQUATELY CHARGED POSSESSION OF A DANGEROUS KNIFE (CT APP))/MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINTS (CRIMINAL POSSESSION OF A WEAPON, MISDEMEANOR COMPLAINTS ADEQUATELY CHARGED POSSESSION OF A DANGEROUS KNIFE (CT APP))

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