People v. Vitale

The law commands that we always “ look to the essence of a thing, whether it be a point of doctrine, of practice, or of interpretation.” We see this pentimento with what borders on transparent clarity when we apply the solvent of reason to this application. The point is best made by the following excerpt from a recent opinion of the Honorable Hugh R. Jones, Judge of our Court of Appeals, in People v. Brooks (34 N Y 2d 475, 478) decided July 10, 1974, wherein he said: “ 1 There is no surer way to misread any document than to read it literally ’ (Guiseppi v. Walling, 144 F. 2d 608, 624); and ‘…