People v. Groskin

In People v. Groskin (122 AD2d 561), defendant, a part-time community services worker employed by the New York State Department of Correction, was indicted for official misconduct. The indictment alleged that he "exercised his discretion not to deny a female person known to the Grand Jury, conjugal visits with her husband ... in return for this female person providing him with sexual favors." (Groskin, at 561.) The Fourth Department dismissed the indictment, holding that the defendant had no actual or apparent authority to grant or deny conjugal visits to the complainant and could not be indicted for exercising discretion he did not have. In effect, since the act of granting or denying conjugal visits was not one of defendant's official functions, the indictment was dismissed.