AD1 order dated April 8, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 51 A.D.3d 301, 855 N.Y.S.2d 106. Pigott, J., granted leave August 6, 2008.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether a bent NYC metrocard constitutes a “forged” instrument (P.L. §170.00). (2) Whether the defense alleged sufficient facts to require a hearing on his motion to suppress. (Assigned counsel: Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, 11 Park Place, Suite 1601, NYC 10007.)
People v. Julio Borrell
AD2 order dated March 25, 2008, modifying judgment of conviction. Decision below: 49 A.D.3d 890, 855 N.Y.S.2d 186. Pigott, J., granted leave August 19, 2008.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether the Appellate Division erred in directing that certain concurrent counts run consecutively to other counts.
People v. Joseph Goldstein
AD3 order dated May 22, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 51 A.D.3d. 1271, 857 N.Y.S.2d 817. Lahtinen, J. (AD dissenter), granted leave August 27, 2008.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea should have been granted since his plea allocution negated the mental state of “depraved indifference” and the court misadvised him that, if convicted after trial, his sentences could be run consecutively.
People v. Dwayne Middleton
AD1 order dated April 29, 2008, affirming judgment of SORA risk-level designation. Decision below: 50 A.D.3d 1114, 857 N.Y.S.2d 617. Court of Appeals granted leave September 9, 2008.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether the defendant was properly assessed 20 points for multiple victims and 30 points for the age of the younger victim; (2) whether the People properly presented a new risk assessment instrument upon an appellate remand for a new SORA hearing. (Assigned counsel: Steven Banks, Criminal Appeals Bureau, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Appeals Bureau, 199 Water Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10038.)
People v. Ingvue Buchanan
AD4 order dated June 6, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 53 A.D.3d 46, 859 N.Y.S.2d 791. Fahey, J. (AD dissenter), granted leave September 15, 2008.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether the requirement that the defendant wear a stun gun belt under his clothing during the trial deprived him of due process.
People v. Jeremy Almeter
Genesee County Court order dated March 25, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Pigott, J., granted leave September 16, 2008.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether, when there is a joint trial of misdemeanor and violation charges, C.P.L. §340.40(3) permits the jury to decide the misdemeanor and the judge to decide the violation, or whether the defendant is entitled to a jury decision on both charges.
People v. Eric Bailey
AD1 order dated April 8, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 50 A.D.3d 343, 854 N.Y.S.2d 719. Jones, J., granted leave September 24, 2008.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) The sufficiency of the evidence of possession of a forged instrument. (2) Whether the defendant was subjected to the “functional equivalent of interrogation” without Miranda warnings. (Assigned counsel: Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, 11 Park Place, Suite 1601, NYC 10007.)
People v. Wayne Davis
AT 2 & 11 order dated May 29, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 19 Misc.3d 145A, 2008 WL 2284834. Smith, J., granted leave September 25, 2008.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether a signed written consent to a trial before a JHO is valid absent an on-the-record colloquy; (2) whether the information alleged sufficient nonhearsay allegations.
People v. Michael Brown
AD2 order dated April 29, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 50 A.D.3d 1154, 856 N.Y.S.2d 672. Graffeo, J., granted leave October 3, 2008.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether the prosecution met the statute of limitations (C.P.L. § 30.10[4][a][ii], where the sex assault occurred in 1993, the DNA matchup occurred in 2002, and the indictment was in 2003. (2) Whether a DNA test by a private lab was properly admitted (Crawford v. Washington) through the testimony of an employee of the Medical Examiner’s Office. (Assigned counsel: Steven Bernhard and Lynn W.L. Fahey, Appellate Advocates, 2 Rector Street, 10th Floor, NYC 10006.)
People v. Bajro Hoti
AD1 order dated June 3, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 52 A.D.3d 211, 858 N.Y.S.2d 645. Pigott, J., granted leave November 5, 2008.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether the court’s failure to inform appellant at his guilty plea that he would be required to pay a mandatory surcharge, a crime victim assistance fee, and DNA databank fees, as direct consequences of his conviction, rendered that plea unknowing, involuntary, and unintelligent, and therefore subject to vacatur. (Assigned counsel: Mark Zeno & Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, 74 Trinity Place, 11th Floor, NYC 10006.)
People v. Troy E. Swan
AD4 order dated April 25, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 50 A.D.3d 1566, 855 N.Y.S.2d 796. Smith, J., granted leave September 15, 2008.
ISSUESPRESENTED: (1) Whether a garden area on the grounds outside a jail constitutes a “detention facility” for the purposes of the second-degree escape statute (P.L. §205.10[1]; (2) the sufficiency of the plea allocution.
People v. Noel Marte
AD2 order dated June 17, 2008, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 52 A.D.3d 737, 860 N.Y.S.2d 191. Pigott, J., granted leave October 1, 2008.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether a non-police-arranged identification is subject to suppression; (2) whether the sentencing court’s determination that the assault and robbery counts were two separate acts allowing the imposition of consecutive sentences violated Apprendi. (Assigned counsel: Paul Skip Laisure and Lynn W.L. Fahey, Appellate Advocates, 2 Rector Street, 10th Floor, NYC 10006.)
People v. Dzemil Balic
AD1 order dated June 3, 2008, affirming SORA level-two adjudication. Decision below: 52 A.D.3d 201, 860 N.Y.S.2d 17. Leave granted by Court of Appeals October 16, 2008.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether a criminal complaint prepared by a police officer based on information from the victim alleging a sex crime for which defendant was not convicted constitutes “reliable hearsay” (Correction Law §168-n(3)) and “clear and convincing evidence” of the facts alleged. (Assigned counsel: Steven Banks, Legal Aid Society, Criminal Appeals Bureau, 199 Water Street, N.Y., N.Y. 10038.)
