On June 11, 2021, ETKS Partner, Brian Shiffrin, obtained a reversal and new trial for a client who was erroneously convicted of a B- Felony, Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree in 2016. Brian successfully argued before the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial Department, who agreed with his argument that reversal of the conviction and a new trial was required for the client. The Appellate Court agreed with Brian that since the purported ‘race-neutral’ reason offered by the prosecutor and accepted by the Judge was not accurate from the actual statements made by a prospective juror who happened to be a minority and was unconstitutionally dismissed as a potential juror without an actual race-neutral explanation. The client was originally sentenced to eleven years in prison following his conviction after trial, but Brian was able to obtain a reversal of his conviction and a new trial.
You can read the Appellate Court’s Decision in its entirety here
