You are here: / Bruce Freeman

Entries by Bruce Freeman

,

PETITIONER-REPORTER PREVAILED IN THE FOIL ACTION DESPITE THE AVAILABILITY OF SOME OF THE REQUESTED INFORMATION ON A PUBLIC WEBSITE; THEREFORE PETITIONER WAS ENTITLED TO ATTORNEY’S FEES AND LITIGATION COSTS (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined petitioner-reporter’s request for an unredacted telephone directory for employees of the county police department should have been granted because the county did not demonstrate the information was exempt from disclosure. In addition, petitioner should have been awarded attorney’s fees and litigation costs because petitioner had prevailed in […]

, ,

THE JURY’S FINDING THAT THE SCAFFOLD PROVIDED ADEQUATE PROTECTION FOR THE PLAINTIFF IN THIS SCAFFOLD-FALL CASE WAS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE; NEW TRIAL REQUIRED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, setting aside the defense verdict and ordering a new trial in this Labor Law 240(1) scaffold-fall action, determined the scaffold did not adequately protect the plaintiff: The scaffold on which plaintiff was working at the time of his accident failed to adequately protect him from a height-related hazard when his core drill […]

, ,

THE CIVIL RIGHTS LAW, NOT THE CPLR, CONTROLS COUNTERCLAIMS FOR ATTORNEY’S FEES AND PUNITIVE DAMAGES IN A STRATEGIC LAWSUIT AGAINST PUBLIC PARTICIPATION (SLAPP) ACTION (FIRST DEPT). ​

The First Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court in this Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) proceeding, determined that the criteria for dismissal of counterclaims are those in the Civil Rights Law, not the CPLR: In this Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) action, the court’ s application of CPLR 3212(h) to the underlying summary judgment […]

, ,

PLAINTIFF STOOD UP FROM A DESK AND TRIPPED OVER THE BOTTOM DRAWER WHICH HAD PARTIALLY OPENED; THERE WERE QUESTIONS OF FACT WHETHER THE CONDITION WAS OPEN AND OBVIOUS AND WHETHER DEFENDANT HAD ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF THE CONDITION (SECOND DEPT).

The Second Department, reversing Supreme Court, determined the negligence action alleging plaintiff stood up from a desk and tripped on the bottom desk drawer should not have been dismissed. The defendant did not demonstrate the condition was open and obvious and did not demonstrate it did not have actual or constructive notice of the condition: […]

,

THE MAJORITY AFFIRMED DEFENDANT’S CONVICTIONS FOR TWO SEPARATE MURDERS WHICH WERE TRIED TOGETHER; A TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT ARGUED THE TWO PROSECUTIONS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SEVERED BECAUSE OF THE WEAKNESS OF THE EVIDENCE AND THE PROBABILITY THE JURY WOULD NOT CONSIDER THE EVIDENCE OF EACH MURDER SEPARATELY (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department affirmed defendant’s convictions over a two-justice dissent arguing that the two charged murders should have been tried separately: Defendant argued that the People had joined “two underwhelming cases” in hopes that the jury would be more likely to convict a “common suspect.” In opposing the motion, the People argued that the counts […]

IF THE PEOPLE WERE AWARE OF DEFENDANT’S LOCATION OUT-OF-STATE AND DID NOT EXERCISE “DUE DILIGENCE” IN SECURING HER RETURN TO NEW YORK THE SPEEDY TRIAL CLOCK WOULD NOT STOP RUNNING BASED SOLELY ON HER ABSENCE; HEARING REQUIRED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing County Court, determined defendant had raised questions of fact whether the People were aware of her location in Virginia between her indictment in 2013 and her return to New York in 2018. County Court, therefore, should have held a hearing on her “speedy trial” motion to dismiss. If the People were […]

,

ALTHOUGH DEFENDANT WAS IN A PRISON AS A VISITOR WHEN THERE WAS A CANINE ALERT TO DRUGS ON HER PERSON, THE CIRCUMSTANCES WERE SUCH THAT ANY QUESTIONING SHOULD HAVE BEEN PRECEDED BY THE MIRANDA WARNINGS; A REASONABLE PERSON WOULD NOT HAVE FELT FREE TO LEAVE; BECAUSE THEY WERE CLOSE IN TIME, BOTH HER ORAL STATEMENT AND HER POST-MIRANDA WRITTEN STATEMENT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED (THIRD DEPT). ​

The Third Department, reversing County Court, determined the defendant, who, as a visitor in a prison, was taken aside by an investigator after a canine alert to the presence of drugs on her person, was subjected to “custodial interrogation” requiring suppression of her admission to having drugs and her subsequent written statement: … [W]hen the canine […]

, ,

THE CONCLUSIONS OF THE PEOPLE’S ACCIDENT-RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT (WHO WAS NOT CALLED TO TESTIFY AT TRIAL) WOULD HAVE HAD AN IMPACT ON THE CONCLUSIONS DRAWN BY THE DEFENSE ACCIDENT-RECONSTRUCTION EXPERT; WITHHOLDING THE EVIDENCE FROM THE DEFENSE WAS A BRADY VIOLATION REQUIRING REVERSAL AND A NEW TRIAL (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s vehicular homicide and manslaughter convictions and ordering a new trial, determined expert opinion evidence constituted Brady material which was wrongfully withheld from the defense. The People’s accident-reconstruction expert in question, who did not testify at the trial, was named Pinzer. The defense accident-reconstruction expert, named Silver, testified in the CPL 440 hearing […]

, ,

A POOR-QUALITY VIDEO SHOWED THE SHOOTING AND THE SHOOTER GETTING INTO THE DRIVER’S SEAT OF THE CAR WHICH WAS STOPPED AFTER A CHASE; THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE ANY OF THE OCCUPANTS GOT OUT OF THE DRIVER SIDE OF THE CAR; TWO OF THE OCCUPANTS HAD CLOTHES SIMILAR TO THOSE WORN BY THE SHOOTER; DEFENDANT’S CONVICTION WAS SUPPORTED BY LEGALLY SUFFICIENT EVIDENCE; BUT DEFENDANT’S CONVICTION WAS REVERSED AS AGAINST THE WEIGHT OF THE EVIDENCE (THIRD DEPT),

The Third Department, reversing defendant’s manslaughter conviction, determined the verdict was not supported by the weight of the evidence. The shooting was captured on a video and showed the shooter getting into the driver’s seat of a vehicle which drove off. After a chase the vehicle was stopped and three persons got out of the car. […]

,

COUNTY COURT DID NOT CORRECTLY APPLY THE CRITERIA OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SURVIVORS JUSTICE ACT (DVSJA) WHEN CONSIDERING DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR RESENTENCING; THE THIRD DEPARTMENT DETERMINED DEFENDANT WAS ENTITLED TO A MORE LENIENT SENTENCE UNDER THE ACT AND RESENTENCED HER TO TIME SERVED (THIRD DEPT).

The Third Department, reversing County Court and resentencing defendant to time served, determined County Court did not comply with the criteria of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA) when considering defendant’s motion for resentencing under the act. Defendant had been convicted of killing her paramour and was sentenced to ten years in prison: The […]

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