You are here: / / THE FOR CAUSE CHALLENGES TO TWO JURORS WHO SAID THEY WOULD TEND TO BELIEVE...
,

THE FOR CAUSE CHALLENGES TO TWO JURORS WHO SAID THEY WOULD TEND TO BELIEVE THE TESTIMONY OF POLICE OFFICERS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED; NEW TRIAL ORDERED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and ordering a new trial, determined that two jurors who stated they would tend to believe the testimony of police officers should have been excused for cause:

The first prospective juror stated in response to a question concerning police officers that she “was raised to respect them” and that, because “they’re the people that are protecting you, you should trust them.” When further probed about weighing the credibility of a police officer’s testimony against a defendant’s testimony, she stated that she would “most likely [believe] the police officer.” The second prospective juror stated that, because of his work as an emergency medical technician, he saw police “in a very positive light.” When asked the same question about whose version of events he would believe, the prospective juror stated “[t]o be completely honest, probably the first responder police officer.”

Further, both prospective jurors repeated that they would likely believe a police officer’s account of an event over a defendant’s version after the court attempted to rehabilitate them … . Thus, their respective affirmative answers when the court asked them if they could be fair and impartial were “insufficient to constitute . . . unequivocal declaration[s]” that they could set aside their stated bias in favor of police officers … . After the court denied his challenges for cause, defendant used peremptory challenges to remove the two prospective jurors from the venire and, therefore, “[b]ecause defendant exhausted all of his peremptory challenges before the completion of jury selection, reversal is required” … . People v Smith, 2023 NY Slip Op 03647, Fourth Dept 6-30-23

Practice Point: Here the for cause challenges to two jurors who said they would tend to believe the testimony of police officers should have been granted. Because defendant exhausted all peremptory challenges, reversal was required. The fact that the jurors said they could be fair and impartial was not enough to warrant denial of the challenges.

 

You might also like
THE SENTENCING COURT INDICATED IT COULD NOT DEVIATE FROM ITS SENTENCING AGREEMENT WITH THE PEOPLE BUT SENTENCING COURTS HAVE DISCRETION; SENTENCE VACATED AND MATTER REMITTED FOR RE-SENTENCING (FOURTH DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THE CANDIDATE’S RESIDENCE WAS BEING RENOVATED AND SHE TEMPORARILY LIVED ELSEWHERE SHE INTENDED TO RETURN TO THE RESIDENCE WHICH WAS INDICATED ON THE DESIGNATING PETITION, THE DESIGNATING PETITION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INVALIDATED (FOURTH DEPT).
JUROR MISCONDUCT, INCLUDING COMMUNICATIONS WITH THIRD PARTIES AND WEB BROWSING IN VIOLATION OF THE JUDGE’S ADMONITIONS, WARRANTED A NEW TRIAL IN THIS MURDER CASE (FOURTH DEPT).
Injury While Trying to Pick Up a Fallen 3000 Pound Roll of Paper Was a Foreseeable Consequence of an Alleged Equipment Defect Which Caused the Roll to Fall
THE MAJORITY HELD THE DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS INSIDE THE STOPPED VEHICLE RAISED A REASONABLE SUSPICION DEFENDANT WAS ARMED, JUSTIFYING A PAT DOWN SEARCH; THE DISSENT ARGUED THE DEFENDANT’S ACTIONS WERE EQUIVOCAL AND INNOCUOUS (FOURTH DEPT).
PLAINTIFF WAS IN A TRENCH WHEN HE WAS STRUCK BY THE BUCKET OF AN EXCAVATOR WHICH WAS ON THE EDGE OF THE TRENCH ABOVE HIM IN THIS LABOR LAW 240 (1), 241 (6) AND 200 ACTION; THERE WERE QUESTIONS OF FACT ABOUT WHETHER THE INJURY WAS THE RESULT OF THE USUAL AND ORDINARY DANGERS OF A CONSTRUCTION SITE AS OPPOSED TO A RISK CONTEMPLATED BY THE LABOR LAW (FOURTH DEPT).
Biogas Facility Which Is Located on a Farm and Which Produces Electricity from Manure Is Not Entitled to a Tax Exemption Pursuant to the Former Version of RPTL 483-a
THE SORA HEARING JUDGE SHOULD NOT HAVE GRANTED AN UPWARD DEPARTURE, INCREASING DEFENDANT’S SORA RISK LEVEL, BASED ON INFORMATION WHICH WAS NOT IN THE RISK ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT (RAI) OR RAISED BY THE PEOPLE AT THE HEARING; TO DO SO VIOLATED DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO DUE PROCESS (FOURTH 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

DEFENDANT SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT’S DISCUSSION OF PLAINTIFF CROSS-COUNTY... RESPONDENT JUVENILE WAS NOT INFORMED THE FACT FINDING HEARING IN THIS JUVENILE...