You are here: / / THE RECORD DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SELECTED UNSWORN JUROR COULD NOT RENDER...

THE RECORD DID NOT DEMONSTRATE A SELECTED UNSWORN JUROR COULD NOT RENDER AN IMPARTIAL VERDICT BECAUSE OF AN OUT-OF-TOWN MEETING ON THE DAY BEFORE THE TRIAL WAS LIKELY TO CONCLUDE, THE PEOPLE’S FOR CAUSE CHALLENGE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED, NEW TRIAL ORDERED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined the judge should not have granted the People’s for cause challenge to a selected by unsworn juror. Although the juror had an important out-of-town meeting on the day before the trial was to conclude, the record did not demonstrate the juror could not render an impartial verdict on that ground:

The record did not justify the court’s discharge for cause of a selected but unsworn juror. Both defendant and the People initially declined to challenge the juror peremptorily or for cause. However, the prosecutor challenged the juror for cause, over defense objection, after the court, concerned about an important out-of-town meeting that the prospective juror was scheduled to attend on a day before the anticipated conclusion of the trial, announced that it would grant such a challenge. Although subsequent questioning demonstrated that rescheduling the meeting would be inconvenient for the juror, it did not establish that the juror, who never directly asked to be excused for hardship or otherwise, had “a state of mind that [was] likely to preclude him from rendering an impartial verdict based on the evidence adduced at the trial” … . By way of contrast, in People v Williams (44 AD3d 326, 326 [1st Dept 2007], lv denied 9 NY3d 1010]), we found that the selected but unsworn juror at issue was unfit for service because her scheduling conflict involving a funeral “would make it difficult for her to focus on the trial.” Here, the juror’s responses did not establish a sufficient basis to sustain a challenge for cause, which was the only issue presented to and ruled upon by the court. People v Manning, 2020 NY Slip Op 01308, First Dept 2-25-20

 

You might also like
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER QUITCLAIM DEED WAS UNCONSCIONABLE; DOCTRINES OF PROCEDURAL AND SUBSTANTIVE UNCONSCIONABILITY DISCUSSED.
SUPREME COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE REMOVED THE INCAPACITATED PERSON’S (IP’S) SON AS GUARDIAN OF THE PROPERTY WITHOUT HOLDING A TESTIMONIAL HEARING, CRITERIA FOR REMOVAL EXPLAINED (FIRST DEPT).
THE ARBITRATOR-PANEL DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO RECONSIDER A PARTIAL FINAL AWARD IN THIS DISPUTE BETWEEN AN INSURER AND THE INSURED, THE PANEL INITIALLY FOUND THAT A $10 MILLION SETTLEMENT PAID BY THE INSURED WAS NOT A COVERED LOSS, BUT SUBSEQUENTLY REVERSED ITSELF (FIRST DEPT).
The Agency’s Determination Was Based Upon Its Own Precedents and Related Jurisprudence and Was Therefore “Rationally Based”—The Determination Should Not, Therefore, Be Disturbed by a Court—A Court May Not Substitute Its Own Judgment for that of the Agency
PLAINTIFFS-TENANTS STATED CLAIMS FOR TENANT HARASSMENT, PRIVATE NUISANCE, INTENTIONAL INFLICTION OF EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES FOR FAILURE TO PROVIDE ELECTRICITY, WATER, HEAT AND VENTILATION (FIRST DEPT).
JUDGE WHO DID NOT HEAR THE ORAL ARGUMENT COULD DECIDE THE SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION ON A PURELY LEGAL QUESTION (FIRST DEPT).
Tax Law Amendment Allowing New York to Collect Capital Gains Tax from a Nonresident Shareholder in an S Corporation Should Not Have Been Applied Retroactively to a Transaction Which Took Place Three and a Half Years Before the Amendment
COURT OF APPEALS 2009 RULING THAT LANDLORDS RECEIVING J-51 TAX BENEFITS CANNOT DEREGULATE NEW YORK CITY APARTMENTS APPLIES RETROACTIVELY IN THIS CLASS ACTION FOR RENT OVERCHARGES BROUGHT BY TENANTS; THE CLASS, HOWEVER, SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN EXPANDED AFTER THE ACTION WAS COMMENCED (FIRST DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

PEOPLE’S REQUEST TO DENY DISCLOSURE BECAUSE OF CONCERNS FOR WITNESS SAFETY... ALTHOUGH MOVING MONEY THROUGH A NEW YORK BANK IS ENOUGH TO CONFER PERSONAL JURISDICTION...