In addition to maintaining this blog on its website, ETKS has long-maintained a separate blog entitled “New York Criminal Defense,” accessible at http://newyorkcriminaldefense.blogspot.com/.
Doing Nothing Might Not Be A Crime
In affirming a dismissal of an indictment charging criminally negligent homicide (CNH), due to insufficient proof at the Grand Jury, the Fourth Department, in People v Bianco ( __ AD3d __, 2009 NY Slip Op 08371 [11/13/09]), held that a drug users actions and inactions regarding a drug user’s “wasted” drug using friend, the court held that leaving the eventual decedent in his car sleeping and looking like he was getting sick, and then,...
read moreFourth Department Recognizes its Authority to Reduce Negotiated Sentences
In February, this blog discussed the Fourth Department’s failure to acknowledge its authority to reduce negotiated sentences.The focal point of the column was the decision in People v Farrow, 59 AD3d 935 [4th Dept 2/6/09],in which the Court held that “Nevertheless, we reject defendant’s challenge to the severity of the sentence. “Defendant was sentenced in accordance with the plea bargain and should be bound by its terms” (People v McGovern, 265 AD2d 881, lv...
read moreAnother Decision on Expert Testimony on Identification Evidence
In People v Abney and Allen (2009 NY Slip Op 07668 10/27/09) the Court of Appeals considered two cases in which the defense was denied the right to introduce expert testimony on identification evidence. The Court applied the test it previously employed in People v Young (7 NY3d 40 [2006]) for determining whether such a ruling is error: was there was evidence which corroborated the identification evidence. The Young standard in which a defendant’s...
read moreNot so Swift
The decision in People v Sammy L. Swift (2009 NY Slip Op 07009 [4th Dept 10/2/09]) is a short one, and you really have to read it all to appreciate it, so here goes: It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously reversed on the law, the motion is denied and the judgment of conviction is reinstated. Memorandum: On a prior appeal, we affirmed a judgment convicting defendant upon a...
read moreInsufficient Evidence of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree
In rejecting the People’s appeal from the dismissal of an indictment for Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree, the Court in People v Hatch (2009 NY Slip Op 07075 [4th Dept 10/02/09]) held that Defendant’s actions in driving a vehicle off a street and “doing donuts” with the vehicle in an open field at night with the headlights on do not constitute the “hallmarks of wanton recklessness necessary to demonstrate circumstances evincing a depraved...
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