People v. Rizzo
New York Court of Appeals · Decided November 22, 1927 · Core case
Full citation
People v. Rizzo, 158 N.E. 888 (N.Y. 1927).
Quote pages are pages of 246 N.Y. 334, the official report, so quotes and pinpoints cite it; for 158 N.E. 888, find the page in that reporter.
VerifiedQuotes, pinpoints and citation checked word for word against the opinion; facts checked against the opinion before publication. October 20, 2026.
People
staterespondent
Charles Rizzo
accused robberdefendant, appellant
Brief
Facts
On January 14th, Charles Rizzo and three companions, Anthony J. Dorio, Thomas Milo, and John Thomasello, planned to rob Charles Rao of a payroll valued at about $1,200. Rao was supposed to carry the money from a bank for the United Lathing Company. Two of the men carried firearms. Rizzo claimed he could identify Rao and agreed to point him out to the others, who were to execute the robbery. The four men drove around in an automobile searching for Rao or whoever was carrying the payroll that day. They visited the bank where Rao was supposed to obtain the money and stopped at several buildings under construction by the company. Finally, they drove to One Hundred and Eightieth street and Morris Park avenue. Two police officers had been watching and following their car. When Rizzo jumped out and ran into a building, the officers arrested all four men. The police retrieved Rizzo from the building where he was hiding. Neither Rao nor Previti, another man who was supposed to carry a payroll, was at the place of the arrest, and no one with a payroll was at any place where they had stopped. Apparently no payroll money had yet been drawn from the bank. The men had not found, seen, or identified the intended victim when they were arrested.
Issue
Are defendants guilty of an attempt to commit robbery in the first degree when they planned a robbery, armed themselves, and drove around searching for the intended payroll carrier, but were arrested before finding or reaching the presence of the victim?
Holding
Defendants who planned a robbery and drove through the city looking for the payroll carrier were not guilty of an attempt to commit robbery in the first degree because they were arrested before they found, saw, or reached the presence of the intended victim, so no attempt could yet be made.
IRAC
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