AD4 order dated April 24, 2009, modifying judgment of conviction. Decision below: 61 AD3d 1419, 877 N.Y.S.2d 586. Lippman, Ch.J., granted leave September 30, 2009.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether, where the arrest was without probable cause, the defendant’s post-arrest Mirandized statements were sufficiently attenuated so as to be admissible. (2) Whether the court’s erroneous failure to strike the complainant’s testimony about uncharged rapes was harmless. (Assigned counsel: Timothy P. Donaher, Monroe County Public Defender, 10 N. Fitzhugh St., Rochester, NY 14614.)
People v. Eric Hollis
AD1 order dated June 2, 2009, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 63 AD3d 409, 879 N.Y.S.2d 458. Smith, J., granted leave November 6, 2009.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether the trial court erroneously denied a defense Batson motion, at step one, based upon the People’s use of peremptory challenges to remove the only two African-American panel members. (Assigned counsel: Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, 11 Park Place, Suite 1601, NYC 10007.)
People v. Peter Wells
AD2 order dated June 16, 2009, modifying judgment of conviction. Decision below: 63 AD3d 967, 882 N.Y.S.2d 150. Pigott, J., granted leave November 9, 2009.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether the trial court erred in discharging a sworn juror prior to the completion of jury selection based on expressed concerns about his ability to concentrate on the trial due to job-related commitments. (2) Whether the trial court properly determined that defendant was not entitled to a charge on the affirmative defense to 1st-degree robbery. (Assigned counsel: Kendra L. Hutchinson & Lynn W.L. Fahey, Appellate Advocates, 2 Rector Street, 10th Floor, NYC 10006.)
Matter of Jimmy D.
AD2 order dated June 2, 2009, modifying juvenile delinquency adjudication. Decision below: 63 AD3d 737, 880 N.Y.S.2d 334. Court of Appeals granted leave November 19, 2009.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether 13-year-old’s confession was involuntary where, late at night, police asked the juvenile’s mother to leave the room, then promised him help in getting counseling if he told the truth. (Assigned counsel: Steven Banks, Legal Aid Society Juvenile Rights Division, 199 Water Street, NYC 10038.)
People v. Nathaniel Syville
AD1 order dated May 26, 2009, denying coram nobis petition. Jones, J., granted leave December 1, 2009.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether a defendant may seek a remedy by writ of error coram nobis – alleging ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to an appeal – when his trial attorney’s failure to file a timely notice of appeal fell below constitutional standards of effective assistance of counsel, and trial counsel’s ineffectiveness also prevented the defendant from taking advantage of the one-year grace period provided in C.P.L. §460.30. (Assigned counsel for defendant-petitioner: Abby Everett & Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, 74 Trinity Place, 11th Floor, NYC 10006.) (Judge Smith also granted leave on this issue, on November 30, 2009, in People v. Tony Council [Attorney: Joel B. Rudin].)
People v. Mujahid Muhammed
AD1 order dated October 6, 2009, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 66 AD3d 424, 886 N.Y.S.2d 394. Graffeo, J., granted leave December 28, 2009.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether P.L. §170.25, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, which does not provide explicitly that the possession must be “knowing and aware,” requires a trial judge to expressly charge the jury on that implied element. (Assigned counsel: Peter Theis & Robert S. Dean, Center for Appellate Litigation, 74 Trinity Place, 11th Floor, NYC 10006.)
People v. Tashiem Bayard
AD1 order dated June 9, 2009, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 63 AD3d 481, 881 N.Y.S.2d 58. Pigott, J., granted leave November 20, 2009.
ISSUE PRESENTED: Whether the People committed a Brady/Rosario violation by failing to memorialize the source of information, contained in a police report, gleaned collectively from eyewitnesses – only one of whom testified – which contained a “slightly different narrative of the crime” from the way it was described at trial. (Assigned counsel: Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, 11 Park Place, Suite 1601, NYC 10007.)
People v. Michael Edward Prindle
AD4 order dated June 5, 2009, affirming judgment of conviction. Decision below: 63 AD3d 1597, 880 N.Y.S.2d 428. Lippman, Ch.J., granted leave November 24, 2009.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) The sufficiency of the evidence of depraved indifference murder, where defendant drove a van at a high rate of speed on city streets. (2) Refusal of the trial court to admit evidence that a third party may have committed the crime. (Assigned counsel: Timothy P. Donaher, Monroe County Public Defender, 10 N. Fitzhugh St., Rochester, NY 14614.)
People v. Terence G. Gordon
AD1 order dated August 4, 2009, affirming judgment of conviction upon PRS resentence. Decision below: 65 AD3d 428, 883 N.Y.S.2d 514. Graffeo, J., granted leave December 1, 2009.
ISSUES PRESENTED: (1) Whether the Appellate Division improperly construed C.P.L. 450.30(3) to deny a criminal defendant any appellate remedy when a PRS re-sentencing court imposes PRS without the defendant having been advised of PRS at the time of the plea. (2) Whether the PRS resentencing court, confronted with a defendant who was never advised of PRS at the time of the plea, must afford the defendant the option of plea withdrawal. (Assigned counsel: Steven Banks, Criminal Appeals Bureau, Legal Aid Society, 199 Water Street, NYC 10038.)
