Trial Objections Checklist
Attached below is a checklist of trial objections prepared by Jill Paperno, First Assistant Public Defender and author of Representing the Accused: A Practical Guide to Criminal Defense Trial Objections...
read moreDoor Opening
by Jill Paperno, author of Representing the Accused: A Practical Guide to Criminal Defense “Knock, knock.” “Who’s there?” As defense attorneys we often face (and dread) the claim that we have somehow “opened the door” to previously excluded evidence during a hearing or trial. Sometimes we recognize we did it inadvertently as testimony begins in response to a question. Sometimes the hungry grin of opposing counsel tips us off. Sometimes we are blindsided by...
read moreChallenging the Use of Recorded Conversations of Pretrial Detainees
Sometimes an appellate decision rejecting the arguments raised on appeal provides a blueprint as to how similar claims can be raised in a manner that may be more likely to succeed. One such decision is that of the Court of Appeals in People v Johnson (_ NY3d _ , 2016 NY Slip Op 02552 [4/5/16]), in which the Court rejected a defendant’s claim that the People’s use at his criminal trial of excerpts from...
read moreGun Court – proposed voluntary discovery agreement
As correctly noted by my good pal Anonymous, I neglected to post the Gun Court voluntary discovery agreement – here it is: VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE AGREEMENT CR # ________________ It is hereby agreed between the parties to the above-entitled action: 1. For those criminal cases referred to the Monroe County Gun Crimes Part, the District Attorney of Monroe County will, as soon as practicable, provide pre-indictment discovery to the defendant’s attorney of record, for the...
read moreInformation on the new Monroe County Gun Court Part
The following description of the “Gun Crimes Part” was generated as a result of meetings with Supreme Court Justice Thomas Moran, District Attorney Sandra Doorley and Monroe County Public Defender Timothy Donaher, as well as several others. We are sharing this with you so that you will become aware of the process. This memo does not reflect any endorsement of the process by ETKS or its attorneys: Gun Crimes Part There is a new...
read moreStatutory presumptions, Part 2: Factual predicates are required to justify the use of presumptions
Recall that we noted in the last post that presumptions may not be invoked where the underlying facts needed to support them are not present (see People v Zekaj, 191 AD2d 663 [2nd Dept 1993]; People v Wilt, 105 AD2d 1089 [4th Dept 1984]). When are the underlying facts insufficient to warrant invoking a presumption? As you might expect, there’s no black on white rule, so we’ll lay out the considerations below. Consider...
read more
