People v. Hall

The above-named defendant was on March 18, 1946, indicted by a grand jury of Erie County for the crime of petit larceny. Upon the opening of the trial, defendant’s counsel moved for a dismissal of the indictment upon the ground that the grand jury had no jurisdiction to render an indictment for petit larceny. The basis for that contention is *2that that offense is exclusively vested in the City Court of . Buffalo. Such a motion was timely and properly made (People v. Knatt, 156 N. Y. 302).

Prior to the year 1935, the grand jury had no jurisdiction to render an indictment for a misdemeanor save…