You Say Potato, I Say Potaaato, You Say Robbery in the First Degree, I Say Petit Larceny (Or Robbery in the Third Degree)
by Jill PapernoSpecial Assistant Monroe County Public Defender 1. When Is An Alleged Robbery Not A Robbery? (Was it a forcible stealing?) Penal Law Section 160 defines robbery as “forcible stealing.” The statute states “A person forcibly steals property and commits robbery when, in the course of committing a larceny, he uses or threatens the immediate use of physical force upon another person for the purpose of:1. Preventing or overcoming resistance to the taking...
read moreConsecutive Sentences on Misdeameanors – Statutory Limitations on the Use of Probation to Extend the Sentence
byJanet C. SomesAssistant Monroe County Public Defender Jim’s Eckert recently posted a column on consecutive sentences on misdemeanors (see). This post addresses an additional aspect of that issue Sometimes courts try to extend a person’s liability as far out as possible, and use probation on the second offense to do so by imposing a maximum sentence of a year or six months on one crime and imposing a probationary sentence on another. It is...
read moreConsecutive Sentences on Misdemeanors
by James EckertAssistant Monroe County Public Defemder I previously dealt with consecutive sentences, which are not permitted where a single act or omission represents two separate crimes, or where one offense also represents a material element of another Penal Law Section 70.25(2). In either case, the sentences on two such offenses must be concurrent. The only exception, permitting consecutive sentences, is for wearing a soft body vest under PL 270.20. There is a broader...
read moreDue Process and SORA Risk Level Assesment
In People v Hackett (2011 NY Slip Op 08061 [4th Dept 11/10/11]), the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, vacated defendant’s risk level determination, and remitted the matter to County Court for a new risk level determination, where the assessment was based, in part, on factors that had neither been selected on the risk assessment instrument nor raised by the People at the hearing. The Court held that the court violated his due process rights by...
read moreAn Idea That Might Get Prosecutors To Stop Asking Defendants If The Prosecution Witnesses Lied
Parents and teachers know you’re more likely to achieve desired behaviors if there are consequences for disobedience. Appellate courts, when dealing with improper conduct by prosecutors, seem unaware of this simple rule. So they repeatedly criticize prosecutorial misconduct in appellate decisions which affirm the conviction. Then they wonder why trial attorneys persist in the behavior which resulted in the conviction and then the affirmance. For example, in People v Washington (2011 NY Slip Op...
read more
