Opinion
February 19, 1986
Appeal from the Civil Court of the City of New York, Kings County, George E. Wade, Jr., J.
Rhoda Stockton, pro se, and Milton Stockton for Rhoda Stockton, appellant.
Jennie Farber, respondent pro se.
MEMORANDUM.
Appeal dismissed.
The purported order does not recite the papers it was based on and is thus not appealable (see, Matter of Dondi, 63 N.Y.2d 331; Arena v City of New York, 23 A.D.2d 847). The appeal involves a case of first impression as to the effect of reparation in a criminal proceeding upon a subsequent civil suit for damages by the victim. Were the matter properly before us we would be inclined to affirm. The payment of reparation awarded by a court in a criminal proceeding does not bar a subsequent action against a defendant to recover damages in excess of the reparation awarded (Penal Law § 60.27). Moreover, the doctrine of collateral estoppel applies where a party has had a full and fair opportunity to contest the prior determination (Kaufman v Lilly Co., 65 N.Y.2d 449; Schwartz v Public Administrator of County of Bronx, 24 N.Y.2d 65). It cannot be said that the victim of a crime has such a full and fair opportunity to litigate the amount of reparation in the criminal proceeding.
We note that a conviction for a petty offense does not necessarily preclude a defendant from disputing the merits of a civil action predicated on the underlying facts upon which the conviction was based (Gilberg v Barbieri, 53 N.Y.2d 285). However, although defendant was convicted of a violation, she was apparently charged with several misdemeanors. Moreover, she has conceded liability for the damage in her brief on appeal but only questions the extent of the liability.
KASSOFF, J.P., MONTELEONE and LERNER, JJ., concur.