People v. Mackey

I cannot join in the conclusion that a prosecutor need not comply with a request to furnish a bill of particulars when an indictment charging burglary does not itself particularize the crime which defendant allegedly intended to commit inside the building. Such holding is mandated neither by statute nor decisional law. Rather, I suggest it runs counter to fundamental principles of notice and fair play.

The majority interprets the statutory words "with intent to commit a crime” (Penal Law, § 140.25) as meaning that a burglar need possess only "the general intent to commit a crime.” I find the…