You are here: / / DEFENDANT’S FOR CAUSE CHALLENGE TO A JUROR REQUIRED FURTHER INQUIRY...
,

DEFENDANT’S FOR CAUSE CHALLENGE TO A JUROR REQUIRED FURTHER INQUIRY BY THE JUDGE; IN THE ABSENCE OF A SUFFICIENT INQUIRY AND THE ELICITATION OF AN UNEQUIVOCAL ASSURANCE OF THE ABILITY TO BE IMPARTIAL, THE DENIAL OF THE CHALLENGE WAS REVERSIBLE ERROR (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing defendant’s convictions and ordering a new trial, determined that a for-cause challenge to a juror should have been should have been granted:

… [T]he People provided evidence that the defendant had engaged in a campaign of harassment, intimidation, and embarrassment over a period of more than two years in which he, inter alia, shared nude photographs and sexually explicit videos of the complainant with her family and employers, accessed the complainant’s social media accounts and posted similarly explicit material, and repeatedly called emergency service providers and requested emergency responses to the complainant’s home in Queens. * * *

… [D]uring voir dire, prospective juror No. 16, J. M., acknowledged a prior experience being a defendant in what he characterized as a “frivolous” civil suit. J. M. initally stated that he did not “think” his experience would affect his ability to evaluate the case fairly, and then later affirmed that he could not give his complete assurance that he would be able to put the experience aside. Based on the totality of the record, these statements raised a serious doubt about J. M.’s ability to be impartial. At that point, it was incumbent upon the Supreme Court to conduct a follow-up inquiry to elicit some unequivocal assurance of J. M.’s ability to be impartial or to excuse the prospective juror … . Since the defendant exhausted his peremptory challenges, the denial of his for-cause challenge to J. M. constitutes reversible error … . People v Wilson, 2025 NY Slip Op 02940, Second Dept 5-14-25

Practice Point: If a juror cannot state he or she will be able to evaluate the case fairly, the judge must make an attempt to elicit an unequivocal assurance of the juror’s ability to be impartial. Absent such an unequivocal assurance, the denial of defendant’s for cause challenge is reversible error (where, as here, all of defendant’s peremptory challenges have been exhausted).

 

You might also like
Attorney Whose Testimony Would Support Client Should Have Been Disqualified Under Advocate-Witness Rule, However, the Motion to Disqualify the Attorney’s Firm Was Properly Denied
EVIDENCE THE CHILD HAD RECANTED THE CHILD’S TESTIMONY THAT FATHER SEXUALLY ABUSED THE CHILD WAS VAGUE AND WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO REBUT THE ABUSE FINDING (SECOND DEPT).
Contractor Working for Tenant Could Not Impose Mechanic’s Lien on Property Owner; Owner Acquiesced In, But Did Not Affirmatively Consent to, Work
ALTHOUGH THERE WAS A STORM IN PROGRESS WHEN PLAINTIFF SLIPPED AND FELL, THERE WAS A QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER THE ICY CONDITION EXISTED PRIOR TO THE STORM, DEFENDANT’S SUMMARY JUDGMENT MOTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (SECOND DEPT).
Failure to Serve In Manner Stated in Order to Show Cause Is a Jurisdictional Defect.
Failure to Hold a Hearing on Mother’s Petition for Custody and Failure to Inform Father of Right to Counsel Required Reversal of Custody Determination
FACT THAT PLAINTIFF WAS RIDING HIS BICYCLE THE WRONG WAY ON A ONE-WAY STREET WHEN HE WAS STRUCK DID NOT ENTITLE DEFENDANT TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT, THERE CAN BE MORE THAN ONE PROXIMATE CAUSE OF AN ACCIDENT.
QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER AUTOMOBILE LIFT WAS INTENDED TO BE USED WITHOUT A PROTECTIVE DEVICE AND WHETHER WARNINGS WERE ADEQUATE.

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 © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

ALTHOUGH THE INFORMANT WHO CALLED 911 ABOUT A “MAN WITH A GUN” WAS... IN THIS CHILD VICTIMS ACT CASE, THE ALLEGED FREQUENCY OF THE ABUSE BY A TEACHER...