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IMPORTANT WITNESS RECANTED HER TRIAL TESTIMONY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department determined defendant motion to vacate his conviction should not have been denied without a hearing. A prosecution witness recanted her trial testimony:

The motion was based on the affidavit of a prosecution witness who recanted her trial testimony that defendant admitted to her that he started a certain house fire. That testimony formed the basis for defendant’s conviction of arson in the second degree. Notably, the witness averred that, “Before the trial[,] the police investigator told me if I testified on [defendant’s] behalf they would take my daughter away. I am still concerned about this.” The People did not submit an opposing affidavit from any of the police officers involved in the case. The court denied the motion without a hearing upon finding that the witness’s recantation was unreliable.

We conclude based on the totality of the circumstances that the court erred in denying that part of the motion with respect to the conviction of arson in the second degree without first holding a hearing … . The witness’s “trial testimony, if false, was extremely prejudicial to defendant inasmuch as, without that testimony, there would have been no basis for the jury to convict defendant” for setting the fire at issue in the arson in the second degree count … .  People v Grant, 2018 NY Slip Op 02951, Fourth Dept 4-27-18

​CRIMINAL LAW (VACATE CONVICTION, IMPORTANT WITNESS RECANTED HER TRIAL TESTIMONY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/ EVIDENCE (CRIMINAL LAW, VACATE CONVICTION, IMPORTANT WITNESS RECANTED HER TRIAL TESTIMONY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/VACATE CONVICTION, MOTION TO  (RECANTED TESTIMONY, IMPORTANT WITNESS RECANTED HER TRIAL TESTIMONY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))/RECANTED TESTIMONY (VACATE CONVICTION,  IMPORTANT WITNESS RECANTED HER TRIAL TESTIMONY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT))

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JURY INSTRUCTION ALLOWED CONVICTION ON A THEORY NOT IN THE INDICTMENT, COUNT... THE TRIAL JUDGE RESERVED DECISION ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR A TRIAL ORDER...