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LIQUIDATED DAMAGES CLAUSE IN NON-COMPETE COVENANT ENFORCEABLE, ATTORNEY’S FEES NOT ENCOMPASSED BY THE LIQUIDATED DAMAGES (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined the liquidated damages provision in the non-compete covenant was enforceable and the defendant should have been granted summary judgment on its claim for attorney’s fees pursuant to the employment contract. Plaintiffs had argued the liquidated damages encompassed the defendant’s attorneys’ fees: … [W]e conclude that the court properly determined that defendant met […]

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SCHIZOPHRENIA DIAGNOSIS DID NOT JUSTIFY AN UPWARD DEPARTURE IN THIS SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT (SORA) RISK ASSESSMENT PROCEEDING (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined County Court should not have granted the People’s request for an upward departure in this Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) risk assessment proceeding based upon a schizophrenia diagnosis: Although the risk assessment instrument prepared by the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders classified defendant as a presumptive level two risk, County Court […]

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THE JUDGE DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO GRANT DEFENSE COUNSEL’S REQUEST FOR A VIDEOTAPE OF AN INTERVIEW OF THE CHILD (ALLEGED) VICTIM IN THIS SEXUAL OFFENSE CASE, THE INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED BY A PRIVATE PARTY AND WAS DISCOVERABLE ONLY IF IT CONSTITUTED BRADY (EXCULPATORY) MATERIAL, THE JUDGE DID NOT VIEW THE TAPE TO DETERMINE WHETHER IT WAS BRADY MATERIAL (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined a County Court judge did not have the authority to grant the defense request for a videotape of an interview of the child (alleged) victim in this sexual offense case. The child was interviewed by a private child advocacy group (Bivona). The only ground upon which the court could grant the […]

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SENTENCING JUDGE DID NOT HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ASSURE DEFENDANT OF ADMISSION INTO THE SHOCK PROGRAM, DEFENDANT’S PLEA VACATED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, vacating defendant’s guilty plea, determined the sentencing court did not have the authority to promise defendant would go to “shock camp” and defendant had relied on the judge’s promise when he pled guilty: The record establishes that the court believed it had the authority to grant defendant admission into a shock incarceration […]

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THE TRIAL JUDGE RESERVED DECISION ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION FOR A TRIAL ORDER OF DISMISSAL ON THE RESISTING ARREST CHARGE AND DID NOT RULE ON IT AFTER CONVICTION, ON APPEAL THE FAILURE TO RULE CANNOT BE CONSIDERED A DENIAL, MATTER REMITTED FOR A RULING (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department noted that the trial judge reserved decision on defendant’s motion for a trial order of dismissal on the resisting arrest charge. Because the judge never ruled on the motion, the matter was remitted for a ruling: Defendant also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence with respect to the conviction of resisting arrest. […]

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IMPORTANT WITNESS RECANTED HER TRIAL TESTIMONY, MOTION TO VACATE CONVICTION SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DENIED WITHOUT A HEARING (FOURTH DEPT). ​

The Fourth Department determined defendant motion to vacate his conviction should not have been denied without a hearing. A prosecution witness recanted her trial testimony: The motion was based on the affidavit of a prosecution witness who recanted her trial testimony that defendant admitted to her that he started a certain house fire. That testimony formed the […]

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JURY INSTRUCTION ALLOWED CONVICTION ON A THEORY NOT IN THE INDICTMENT, COUNT DISMISSED, SENTENCING JUDGE DID NOT CONSIDER MITIGATING FACTORS AND INDICATED DEFENDANT WAS SENTENCED HARSHLY BECAUSE HE WENT TO TRIAL, SENTENCE REDUCED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined that the harassment jury instruction was defective because it allowed the jury to convict on a theory that was not alleged in the indictment. The Fourth Department further found that the 18-year sentence for rape was unduly harsh and reduced the sentence to eight years. The Fourth Department noted that the […]

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A DEFENDANT WHO REQUESTS A RESTITUTION HEARING IS ENTITLED TO ONE, EVEN WHERE A HEARING HAD BEEN HELD AFTER DEFENDANT’S FIRST TRIAL (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department noted that defendant had requested a restitution hearing and therefore the court was required to hold one. Defendant’s conviction in her first trial was reversed and a new trial was ordered. Even though a hearing had been held in the first proceeding, she was entitled to a hearing after the second trial: […]

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DEFENDANT ENTITLED TO DEMONSTRATE SHE WOULD NOT HAVE PLED GUILTY HAD SHE BEEN INFORMED OF THE DEPORTATION CONSEQUENCES, THE ISSUE SURVIVES THE WAIVER OF APPEAL AND THE FAILURE TO PRESERVE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined that defendant was entitled to attempt to demonstrate she would not have pled guilty had she been informed of the deportation consequence of her plea, even though the issue had not been preserved and she had waived her right to appeal: … [D]efendant, a noncitizen, contends that her felony guilty plea […]

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