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IT IS REVERSIBLE ERROR FOR A JUDGE TO NEGOTIATE A PLEA DEAL WITH A CODEFENDANT IN EXCHANGE FOR TESTIMONY AGAINST THE DEFENDANT (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined the trial judge should not have negotiated a plea deal with a codefendant in exchange for testimony against the defendant:

… [T]he court committed reversible error when it “negotiated and entered into a [plea] agreement with a codefendant[,] requiring that individual to testify against defendant in exchange for a more favorable sentence” … . Here, “by assuming the function of an interested party and deviating from its own role as a neutral arbiter, the trial court denied defendant his due process right to [a] fair trial in a fair tribunal’ ” … . We therefore reverse the judgment and grant a new trial before a different justice on counts one and two of the indictment … . People v Lawhorn, 2019 NY Slip Op 09223, Fourth Dept 12-20-19

 

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SPEED BUMP NOT OPEN AND OBVIOUS AS A MATTER OF LAW.
A MOTION TO SET ASIDE A VERDICT PURSUANT TO CPL 330.30 (1) MUST BE BASED UPON MATTERS IN THE RECORD WHICH HAVE BEEN PRESERVED FOR APPEAL; A MOTION TO SET ASIDE A VERDICT PURSUANT TO CPL 330.30 (2) CAN BE BASED UPON JUROR MISCONDUCT OF WHICH THE DEFENDANT WAS NOT AWARE PRIOR TO THE VERDICT; BUT HERE THE DEFENSE WAS AWARE OF THE ALLEGED MISCONDUCT PRIOR TO THE VERDICT AND DID NOT OBJECT (FOURTH DEPT).
PURELY CONCLUSORY ALLEGATIONS IN A COMPLAINT WILL NOT SURVIVE A PRE-ANSWER MOTION TO DISMISS (FOURTH DEPT).
ALTHOUGH NO SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP EXISTED BETWEEN BROKER AND PLAINTIFF, CAUSE OF ACTION BASED UPON PLAINTIFF’S SPECIFIC REQUEST FOR FLOOD INSURANCE (WHICH WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE POLICY) SURVIVED SUMMARY JUDGMENT.
SUPREME COURT SHOULD HAVE CONDUCTED A HEARING ON THE MOTION TO SET ASIDE THE VERDICT ALLEGING RACIAL BIAS AMONG JURORS (FOURTH DEPT).
Court’s Failure to Inquire to Ensure Guilty Plea Was Knowing and Voluntary Required Vacation of the Plea (In the Absence of Preservation)
PLAINTIFF ALLEGED HE WAS DENIED PROPER MEDICAL CARE IN THE NIAGARA COUNTY JAIL AND SUED THE JAIL DOCTOR, THE COUNTY AND THE SHERIFF; THE CAUSES OF ACTION ALLEGING THE VIOLATION OF PLAINTIFF’S CIVIL RIGHTS PURSUANT TO 42 USC 1983 SURVIVED MOTIONS TO DISMISS; OTHER CAUSES OF ACTION WERE DEEMED TIME-BARRED; ACTIONS ALLEGING THE COUNTY WAS VICARIOUSLY LIABLE FOR THE ACTS OF THE SHERIFF WERE DISMISSED; THE RELATION-BACK DOCTRINE DID NOT APPLY BECAUSE THE COUNTY AND SHERIFF WERE NOT DEEMED “UNITED IN INTEREST” (FOURTH DEPT). ​
FATHER’S PETITION TO MODIFY SUPPORT SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED, ALTHOUGH FATHER VOLUNTARILY LEFT A BETTER PAYING JOB IN VIRGINIA, HE DID SO TO BE NEARER TO HIS SON WHO HAD MOVED WITH MOTHER TO NEW YORK FROM VIRGINIA (FOURTH DEPT). ​

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