People v. La Pella

In People v. La Pella, 272 N.Y. 81 (1936), in which the defendant found a firearm in a public toilet, put it in his pocket and intended to give it to the police after meeting his wife on a nearby street corner. Apparently, some 20 minutes after picking up the firearm, the defendant saw a detective and without any request, gave the detective the firearm. The Court held that it was error for the trial court not to instruct the jury as to the common-law defense: "that if this defendant found this pistol as claimed by him, and if he thereafter took this gun for the purpose of delivering it to an officer or to a police station, that he was performing a civic duty, and that such possession was not the possession intended by Section 1897" ( id. at 83).