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/.
A Reminder of the Risks in Appeals from Guilty Pleas
Two recent decisions from the Fourth Department remind us of the potential dangers in appeals from guilty pleas. People v Hamilton 2008 NY Slip Op 02234 (4th Dept 3/14/2008) The Fourth Department considered an unpreserved claim regarding an improperly imposed predicate sentence. After some good language worth noting and citing in future briefs that defendant’s waiver of the right to appeal is invalid inasmuch as the court’s minimal inquiry was “insufficient to establish that...
read moreSentences are Imposed by Judges and Not by DOCS
Norm Effman lived an appellate attorney’s dream. On the morning of February 20, 2008 he argued two cases challenging the authority of the Department of Corrections to add a term of post release supervision {PRS} to a sentence when the sentencing judge has not imposed PRS. That afternoon, the Fourth Department issued two decisions (People ex rel. Burch v Goord 2008 NY Slip Op 01445 and People ex rel. Eaddy v Goord 2008 NY...
read moreCrawford v Washington, the New York Court of Appeals, and DNA and Fingerprints
On February 19, 2008, the Court issued decisions in three cases with Crawford issues, two opinions regarding the application of Crawford. In so doing, the Court took a nuanced middle ground regarding the tests to be used in deciding whether evidence is testimonial and is, thus, subject to the confrontation requirements for testimonial evidence set forth in Crawford. The Court also seemed to rewrite a statute to mean what the Court believed the legislature...
read moreSignificant AD 4th Department Decisions Issued February 8, 2008
1. People v Prior 2008 NY Slip Op 01189 [2/8/08] Contrary to defendant’s contention, County Court did not err in admitting evidence that defendant was on parole at the time of the crime, had stopped reporting to his parole officer and had violated parole by leaving New York State immediately thereafter. That evidence was relevant in establishing “defendant’s consciousness of guilt, and the probative value of the evidence outweighed its prejudicial effect” (People v...
read moreEvidence of Common Scheme or Just Evidence of Propensity?
The Court divided as to whether, in a sex crime case, the People should be allowed to present testimony that the defendant committed similar acts with the victim in another county during the same time frame as that alleged in the case at bar. In People v Leeson 2008 NY Slip Op 01243 [2/8/08], County Court admitted extensive testimony from the victim, her brother, and her mother concerning two incidents, occurring in “late August,...
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