Evidence Supported an Instruction on a Claim of Right Defense
In People v Baroody (2009 NY Slip Op 01020 [4th Dept 2/11/09]) the Fourth Department reversed a larceny conviction upon a finding that the trial court erred in failing to instruct the jury on a claim of right defense. The evidence was that the defendant had instructed an auto shop employee to install two tires owned by Seneca County on defendant’s personal vehicle. Defendant testified at trial that the owner of the auto shop...
read moreQuestions to Arrestee During Execution of Search Warrant Required Miranda Warnings
In People v Flowers (2009 NY Slip Op 01044 [4th Dept 2/11/09]) , the defendant was arrested for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (subdivision 12) while the police were executing a search warrant upon his home. Without any Miranda warnings, the arresting officer asked the defendant how much money cash he had in his pockets. The defendant replied that he had $600. Then, the officer twice asked the the...
read morePolice Lacked Authority to Detain a Suspect While Conducting a Photo Array Elsewhere
In People v Ryan (__ NY3d __, 2009 NY Slip Op 01068 [2/12/09]) the Court of Appeals resolved a tension that has existed in the law between two lines of decisions from the Court of Appeals as to the authority of the police to detain a suspect while investigating a crime. Although it is clear that police may not forcibly seize a person without probable cause (to support an arrest) or reasonable suspicion (to...
read moreProsecutors Must Give a Grand Jury Clear Instructions
Perhaps a DA may get a Grand Jury to indict a ham sandwich, but only after clearly instructing the Grand Jury as to the law. In Matter of Second Report of Seneca County Special Grand Jury of Jan. 2007 (2009 NY Slip Op 00921 [4th Dept 2/6/09])the Court held that the failure of the prosecutor to provide a Grand Jury with clear and correct instructions on the law, rendered invalid he Grand Jury’s action....
read moreName That Tune
In People v Wallace (2009 NY Slip Op 00915 [4th Dept 2/6/09]) the Court concluded that the defendant’s playing a cassette recording of a song was admissible as evidence of defendant’s consciousness of guilt. Although “evidence of consciousness of guilt . . . has limited probative value . . ., its probative weight is highly dependent upon the facts of each particular case” (People v Cintron, 95 NY2d 329, 332-333). Here, the evidence presented...
read moreJuror’s Communication of Expert Opinion to Other Jurors is Improper
In People v Scerbo (2009 NY Slip Op 00913 [4th Dept 2/6/09]), the Court held that where two jurors improperly communicated their expert opinion to the other jurors who relied on such information in voting to convict, the trial court was correct in vacating the conviction. The trial court properly instructed the jurors that they should use their common sense, knowledge, and experience in evaluating the evidence but that, if a juror possessed special...
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