An appeals court ordered a new trial for a man convicted of sexually abusing a child, saying a prospective juror related by marriage to the district attorney whose office prosecuted the case should have been excused for cause.
The Appellate Division, Fourth Department, panel ruled unanimously in People v. Collins, 14-02296, that the trial judge, Craig Doran, erroneously denied the request from defendant Todd Collins to excuse the juror during Collins’ 2014 trial in Ontario County Court.
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. . . the son of the prospective juror is married to the daughter of Ontario County District Attorney R. Michael Tantillo, and that the would-be juror and the district attorney are both grandparents to the couple’s child.
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Brian Shiffrin, partner at Easton Thompson Kasperek Shiffrin in Rochester, represented Collins.
Read the article published by the New York Law Journal here.
Read also the article published by the Daily Record here.
