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JUDGE WHO WAS THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY WHEN DEFENDANT WAS INDICTED WAS DISQUALIFIED FROM HEARING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO VACATE HIS CONVICTION (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing County Court’s summary denial of defendant’s motion to vacate his conviction, determined the judge, who was the District Attorney when defendant was indicted, was disqualified from handling the motion:

The Judge who denied defendant’s motion had been the Niagara County District Attorney when defendant was indicted in 2007 on the charges that resulted in the judgment now sought to be vacated and, in fact, had signed the indictment. Thus, we conclude that the Judge was disqualified from entertaining the motion pursuant to Judiciary Law § 14, which provides in relevant part that “[a] judge shall not sit as such in, or take any part in the decision of, an action, claim, matter, motion or proceeding to which he [or she] is a party, or in which he [or she] has been attorney or counsel” (emphasis added). Inasmuch as “this statutory disqualification deprived the court of jurisdiction,” the order on appeal is void … . We therefore reverse the order and remit the matter to County Court for further proceedings on the motion before a different judge … . People v Simcoe, 2020 NY Slip Op 01729, Fourth Dept 3-13-20

 

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