People State New York v. Sol Steinhardt

After a 53-day trial in General Sessions, a jury convicted defendant of one crime of criminally buying and receiving stolen property as a felony and one crime of criminally concealing and withholding stolen and wrongfully acquired property as a felony (Penal Law, § 1308). The Appellate Division affirmed in a Per Curiam opinion (11 A.D.2d 107) in which the court discussed and censured ""Improper conduct on the part of counsel, especially of the public prosecutor"". The court majority did not think, however, that the substantial rights of the defendant were affected by these improprieties. One of the Justices, being of the opinion that ""The improper conduct of the Assistant District Attorney precluded the defendant from obtaining a fair trial"", dissented, voted to grant a new trial and granted defendant leave to appeal to this court.