Opinion
2013-03-15
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Respondent, v. Margaret ROBINSON, Appellant.
PRESENT: NICOLAI, P.J., and IANNACCI, J.
Appeal from a judgment of the City Court of Yonkers, Westchester County (Edward J. Gaffney, Jr., J.), rendered June 30, 2011. The judgment convicted defendant, after a nonjury trial, of passing a school bus that was stopped and had its lights flashing.
ORDERED that the judgment of conviction is reversed, on the facts and as a matter of discretion in the interest of justice, the accusatory instrument is dismissed, and the fine, if paid, is remitted.
After a nonjury trial, the City Court convicted defendant of passing a school bus that was stopped and had its lights flashing (Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1174[a] ). The sole witness for the People, the police officer who had issued defendant the simplified traffic information charging the offense, testified to little more than that he had observed defendant pass a “school bus,” with red warning lights illuminated and which had stopped to pick up passengers. There was no testimony that the vehicle was a school bus within the meaning of the statute, nor that the vehicle bore the required identifying markings, lights, and signs ( seeVehicle and Traffic Law §§ 375[20]; 1174[a] ). Even if the proof need represent only “substantial compliance” with the statutory requirements ( e.g. People v. Teverovskaya, 22 Misc.3d 138[A], 2009 N.Y. Slip Op 50350[U] [App Term, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2009]; People v. Kaler, 2003 N.Y. Slip Op 51351[U] [App Term, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2003] ), the trial evidence fell far short of that standard (People v. Quarantillo, 61 N.Y.2d 992, 993–994 [1984];People v. D'Agostino, 18 Misc.3d 92, 93, 852 N.Y.S.2d 596 [App Term, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2007] ).
Accordingly, the judgment of conviction is reversed, the accusatory instrument is dismissed, and the fine, if paid, is remitted.