People v. Riley

Pigott, J. (dissenting in part).

The issue that the majority believes it cannot address is a legal, rather than a factual, one; that much is certain. And it is an open question that deserves our attention. The Appellate Division, finding no New York case on point, was forced to seek persuasive authority from intermediate courts in Texas and Florida. Yet the majority dismisses the People’s appeal, because the issue was not preserved in the trial court, so that the precedent in New York remains the one that the First Department chose from out-of-state sources.

As a preliminary matter, the Court…