Does a defendant have to sign an affidavit in support of a suppression motion?
byJill Paperno, Special Assistant Monroe County Public Defender Although it has been twenty years since the New York Court of Appeals in People v. Mendoza (82 NY2d 415 [1993]) held that a defendant does not have to sign an affidavit in support of a suppression motion, some local judges still believe they must. Hopefully, the Fourth Department’s recent decision in People v. Starlet Battle, decided on 9/27/13, will help put this issue to rest. In...
read moreStatutory Language Cannot Be Simply Ignored By Prosecutors
One would think that the proposition that District Attorney cannot ignore or flaunt unambiguous statutory language is not a remarkable proposition. Indeed, as attorneys who prosecute others for acting as though adherence to the the strict requirements of law is only optional, one would think that prosecutors would be sticklers for compliance with statutory language. As detailed below, however, the Monroe County District Attorney’s office apparently believed that it could ignore the statutory provisions...
read moreProsecutorial Misconduct: Naming Names (Again)
As readers of this blog know, I have long and repeatedly advocated that an effective means for reducing the incidence of prosecutorial misconduct, without having to reverse the conviction — which appellate courts are understandably reluctant to do where there is strong evidence of guilt but improper conduct by the prosecutor — is to name the prosecutor in its decision condemning the misconduct, but affirming the conviction (see and see). Yet, with exceptions, appellate...
read moreProsecutors Will Not Be Disciplined by Their Offices For Misconduct
I strongly urge that you read this excellent (and depressing) article by Joel Rudin detailing the utter failure of three NYC District Attorney’s offices to reprimand assistant DA’s found by courts to have engaged in misconduct: J. Rudin, The Supreme Court Assumes Errant Prosecutors Will Be Disciplined by Their Offices or the Bar: Three Case Studies That Prove That Assumption Wrong (8 Fordham L R 537 [2011]). The article shows how these District Attorney...
read moreNeed Anyone Inform Defendant of The Mandatory Consecutive Nature of Sentence To Be Imposed Pursuant To Plea Bargain?
In People v Belliard (2013 NY Slip Op 00884 [NY 2/12/13]), the Court of Appeals held that Courtsare not required to advise a defendant pleading guilty that it is mandatory that the sentence of imprisonment he will receive as a second felony offender will run consecutively to the undischarged portion of his previously imposed state sentence. With Chief Judge Lippman dissenting, the Court explained that the mandatory nature of the consecutive sentencing does not...
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