I lived in New York for a few years — first upstate and then down in the city. During this time, I resigned myself to the fact that I should never carry a knife outside a slipjoint concealed deep in my pocket. This is why:
On a ruling of 6-1, the state’s highest court upheld the conviction of a man who had an assisted-opening knife under the theory that it was an illegal switchblade.
How did not just one but several courts agree that a spring-assisted knife was a switchblade? Let’s try to follow the logic.
Facts About the Case
Let’s start with some details about the case.
Defendant Steven Berrezueta was on his way to work at the mailroom of an investment company when he was stopped and arrested in the subway after an officer noticed a knife protruding from his rear pants’ pocket.
It doesn’t say the type of knife except that it was a “United States Army-themed knife” that he bought off the internet for use in his job in the mailroom. I imagine it was a dirt cheap knife like this one. There is talk of a button, but I think they might mean flipper tab. Not too sure about that one.
So, Berrezueta was charged with carrying a switchblade among other things.
