Does a charge for abduction in the second degree of the New York State Penal Law have to be merged with the charge for kidnapping in the first degree?
The following excerpt is from People v. Cassidy, 358 N.E.2d 870, 390 N.Y.S.2d 45, 40 N.Y.2d 763 (N.Y. 1976):
In People v. Levy (15 N.Y.2d 159, 256 N.Y.S.2d 793, 204 N.E.2d 842, cert. den. 381 U.S. 938, 85 S.Ct. 1770, 14 L.Ed.2d 701) we held that an abduction in connection with the commission of a robbery would not in all circumstances support a separate charge for kidnapping. * The issue now before us is whether that so-called merger doctrine survived the 1967 Revision of the Penal Law with respect to kidnapping in the second degree under new section 135.20 of that law, and if so what should to the consequence of its application to the three
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