You are here: / Court of Appeals

Tag Archive for: Court of Appeals

,

THE POLICE MAY STOP A VEHICLE IN THE EXERCISE OF THE “COMMUNITY CARETAKING” FUNCTION IF THERE IS CAUSE TO BELIEVE SOMEONE IN THE VEHICLE NEEDS ASSISTANCE; THE QUICK OPENING AND CLOSING OF A PASSENGER DOOR WAS NOT ENOUGH (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, reversing the Appellate Division, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Troutman, over a two-judge concurrence, recognized that a vehicle may be stopped by the police exercising the “community caretaking” function if the police have cause to believe someone in the vehicle needs assistance. Here defendant’s car was stopped after the passenger door opened and closed quickly. The defendant driver was arrested after admitting he possessed ecstasy. The Court of Appels, after describing the criteria for a “community caretaking” vehicle stop, found that the quick opening and closing of the passenger door was not enough to conclude an occupant needed help:

We conclude that the police may stop an automobile in an exercise of their community caretaking function if two criteria exist. First, the officers must point to specific, objective, and articulable facts that would lead a reasonable officer to conclude that an occupant of the vehicle is in need of assistance. Second, the police intrusion must be narrowly tailored to address the perceived need for assistance. Once assistance has been provided and the peril mitigated, or the perceived need for assistance has been dispelled, any further police action must be justified under the Fourth Amendment and Article I, section 12 of the State Constitution. People v Brown, 2024 NY Slip Op 02765, CtApp 5-21-24

Practice Point: The police may stop a vehicle if there is cause to believe someone in the vehicle needs assistance. Here the quick opening and closing of a passenger door was not enough to justify the stop.

 

, ,

THE “RELIGIOUS EMPLOYER” EXEMPTION FROM MANDATED INSURANCE COVERAGE FOR MEDICALLY NECESSARY ABORTIONS DOES NOT VIOLATE THE FREE EXERCISE CLAUSE (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Wilson, determined the US Supreme Court ruling in Fulton v Philadelphia, 593 US 522 (2021) did not render the “religious employer” exemption to the mandated insurance coverage for medically necessary abortions unconstitutional. The opinion is too detailed and comprehensive to fairly summarize here:

Plaintiffs, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany and a variety of entities ranging from churches to religiously affiliated organizations to a single individual, provide medical insurance plans to their employees. They have challenged a regulation promulgated by the Department of Financial Services as violative of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. The challenged regulation requires New York employer health insurance policies that provide hospital, surgical, or medical expense coverage to include coverage for medically necessary abortion services (see 11 NYCRR 52.16 [o] [1]). Their challenge is to the regulation’s exemption for “religious employers,” which is defined by four factors (see 11 NYCRR 52.2 [y]). Plaintiffs’ claim, in essence, is that the exemption is too narrow, such that the First Amendment rights of certain types of religiously affiliated employers are violated because they do not meet the terms of the exemption. * * *

Under Fulton, both the regulation itself and the criteria delineating a “religious employer” for the purposes of the exemption are generally applicable and do not violate the Free Exercise Clause. Neither the existence of the exemption in the regulation nor the defined criteria allow for “individualized exemptions” that are standardless and discretionary, nor do they allow for comparable secular conduct while discriminating against religious conduct. Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany v Vullo, 2024 NY Slip Op 02764, CtApp 5-21-24

Practice Point: The 2021 US Supreme Court ruling in Fulton v Philadelphia did not render the “religious exemption” regulation promulgated by the NYS Department of Financial Services unconstitutional. The regulation exempts certain religious employers from mandated insurance coverage for medically necessary abortions.

 

,

THE DETECTIVE’S TESTIMONY AT THE SUPPRESSION HEARING THAT THE VEHICLE WAS PULLED OVER BECAUSE OF “EXCESSIVELY TINTED WINDOWS” WAS NOT SUFFICIENT TO DEMONSTRATE PROBABLE CAUSE FOR THE STOP; SUPPRESSION SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, reversing the Appellate Term, determined the police officer’s testimony at the suppression hearing the vehicle in which defendant was a passenger was stopped based on “excessively tinted window” was not sufficient to demonstrate probable cause for the vehicle stop. Therefore the drugs seized from the defendant should have been suppressed:

Vehicle and Traffic Law § 375 (12-a) (b) generally provides that “[n]o person shall operate any motor vehicle upon any public highway, road[,] or street” with windows which have a light transmittance of less than 70%. * * *

When a defendant challenges “the sufficiency of the factual predicate for the stop,” it is the People’s burden “to come forward with evidence sufficient to establish that the stop was lawful” … . “Summary statements that the police had arrived at a conclusion that sufficient cause existed will not do” … . * * *

… Detective Fortunato’s testimony that the tint was “excessive” is … a legal conclusion that the tint violated the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Yet, the People failed to elicit any factual basis for this conclusion. The detective did not testify, for example, that the windows were so dark that he could not see into the vehicle … or that he had training and experience in identifying illegally tinted windows or conducting this type of stop … . Nor did the detective testify that he measured the tint after stopping the vehicle and the results confirmed that the tint level violated the Vehicle and Traffic Law, which could have provided objective, corroborative evidence of the reasonableness of his conclusion … . People v Nektalov, 2024 NY Slip Op 02725, CtApp 5-16-24

Practice Point: To demonstrate probable cause for a vehicle stop based upon “excessively tinted windows” there must be some demonstration the tint violated the Vehicle and Traffic Law (less that 70% light transmittance). Simply testifying the windows were “excessively tinted” is not enough.

 

, ,

AN UNAMBIGUOUS CONTRACT PROVISION CONSTITUTES “DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE” WHICH WILL SUPPORT A MOTION TO DISMISS PURSUANT TO CPLR 3211 (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals determined the provision of the contract which prohibited plaintiffs from bringing a breach of contract suit was unambiguous. An unambiguous contract constitutes “documentary evidence” which supports a motion to dismiss:

On a motion to dismiss based on documentary evidence pursuant to CPLR 3211 (a) (1), dismissal is warranted only if the documentary evidence conclusively establishes a defense as a matter of law … . A motion to dismiss based on a written agreement that contains a material ambiguity must be denied because such an agreement does not conclusively establish the asserted defense as a matter of law … . Ambiguity exists if the agreement, “read as a whole, fails to disclose its purpose and the parties’ intent . . ., or when specific language is ‘susceptible of two reasonable interpretations’ ” … . On the other hand, the agreement is unambiguous and should be enforced on its plain terms “if the language it uses has ‘a definite and precise meaning, unattended by danger of misconception . . ., and concerning which there is no reasonable basis for a difference of opinion’ ” … .

Contrary to plaintiffs’ contention, Section 8.05 unambiguously bars them from commencing an action on their own behalf to enforce their third-party beneficiary rights under the Agreement. Section 8.05 negates any right of the Holders except as “expressly set forth” therein, and it expressly sets forth the right of the Required Holders or the Holder Committee to commence certain types of actions or proceedings. Nothing in Section 8.05 expressly sets forth a right of the Holders to commence an action on their own behalf or otherwise. Mulacek v ExxonMobil Corp., 2024 NY Slip Op 02724, CtApp 5-16-24

Practice Point: Here the contract unambiguously limited the authority to bring a breach of contract action to a certain class of shareholders which did not include plaintiffs. The contract constituted “documentary evidence” which supported dismissal of the complaint pursuant to CPLR 3211(a)(1).

 

,

UNDER THE WORKERS’ COMPENSATION LAW PRESUMPTION IN SECTION 21, AN ASSAULT AT WORK IS EMPLOYMENT-RELATED AND COMPENSABLE ABSENT SUBSTANTIAL EVIDENCE THE ASSAULT WAS MOTIVATED BY PERSONAL ANIMOSITY (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Halligan, reversing the Appellate Division, determined the presumption that injury from an assault at work is employment-related and compensable applied in this hospital-shooting case. A former hospital employee entered the hospital wearing a white medical coat and shot six people in a non-public area, killing one. Petitioner, a first-year resident, was one of the wounded. Petitioner did not know and had never had any contact with the shooter. The Appellate Division held that there was no connection between petitioner’s employment and the shooting and, therefore, the presumption the assault was work-related did not apply:

The Appellate Division essentially inverted Seymour’s “nexus” standard by requiring the Board to come forward with evidence of a nexus to employment. Instead … Seymour stands for the principle that “an assault which arose in the course of employment is presumed to have arisen out of the employment, absent substantial evidence that the assault was motivated by purely personal animosity” (… see … Seymour, 28 NY2d at 409 [presumption cannot be rebutted by the inference of personal animosity “in the absence of substantial evidence to support it”]). To the extent the Appellate Division has read Matter of Seymour to require an additional affirmative showing of a “nexus” with employment when there is a workplace assault, such a showing is not required.

… [I]t is undisputed that the assault occurred in the course of Mr. Timperio’s [petitioner’s] employment, thereby triggering the WCL [Workers’ Compensation Law] § 21 (1) presumption. It is also undisputed that the record includes no evidence of the motivation for the assault or any indication of a prior relationship between the assailant and the claimant; Bello [the shooter] and Timperio never worked together, did not know each other, and had no prior communication. The Appellate Division therefore erroneously disturbed the WCB’s [Workers’ Compensation Board’s] determination that the claim is compensable. Matter of Timperio v Bronx-Lebanon Hosp., 2024 NY Slip Op 02723, CtApp 5-16-24

Practice Point: Here petitioner was shot at work by a former employee he did not know. The presumption that the assault was employment-related (section 21 of the Workers’ Compensation Law) applied because there was no evidence the assault was motivated by personal animosity. The injury from the assault was therefore compensable under the Workers’ Compensation Law.

 

,

HERE THE COURT OF APPEALS CLARIFIED ITS DEFINITION OF “TESTIMONIAL” EVIDENCE; A FORM DOCUMENT USED TO COLLECT PEDIGREE INFORMATION FROM EVERY NYC ARRESTEE IS NOT “AN OUT-OF-COURT SUBSTITUTE FOR TRIAL TESTIMONY,” I.E., THE FORM DOCUMENT IS NOT “TESTIMONIAL” AND CAN BE INTRODUCED AT TRIAL AS A BUSINESS RECORD WITHOUT THE TESTIMONY OF THE CREATOR OF THE DOCUMENT; HERE THE DOCUMENT INDICATED DEFENDANT LIVED IN THE BASEMENT AND WAS USED AT TRIAL TO PROVE HE CONSTRUCTIVELY POSSESSED A WEAPON FOUND IN THE BASEMENT (CT APP). ​

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Halligan, over an extensive dissenting opinion, determined a document created by the Criminal Justice Agency (CJA), which provides pretrial services in NYC, was not “testimonial” in nature and therefore could be introduced in evidence as a business record without affording the defendant the opportunity to confront the creator of the document. The document was created during an interview of the defendant. The defendant was charged with possession of a weapon found in the basement. The CJA document indicated defendant lived in the basement and was introduced at trial to prove his constructive possession of the weapon:

… CJA interviews “nearly all individuals arrested” in New York City “to make a pretrial release recommendation to the court” … . In interviewing arrestees to determine their suitability for pretrial release, CJA employees ask them questions regarding community ties and warrant history, including an arrestee’s address, how long they have lived there, their employment status, whether they expect anyone at their arraignment, their education, and other relevant queries. The CJA employee records the answers to these questions on a standardized form titled “Interview Report.” The employee also verifies the information provided by the arrestee with a third person, whose contact information the CJA employee obtains from the arrestee, and records that verification in a separate section of the form. The CJA employee then gives the completed form, including a recommendation on whether the arrestee is suitable for release, to the arraignment judge, the prosecutor, and defense counsel. * * *

We now clarify that in ascertaining whether out-of-court statements are testimonial, courts should inquire, as the U.S. Supreme Court has instructed, “whether in light of all the circumstances, viewed objectively, the ‘primary purpose’ of the conversation was to ‘creat[e] an out-of-court substitute for trial testimony’ ” … . When that standard is met, the statement should be deemed testimonial for purpose of the Confrontation Clause. * * *

We find it significant that a CJA interview report is routinely prepared for all arrestees in New York City. The information collected is the same in every case, regardless of the particular facts or the elements of the relevant crime: the interviewer collects a predetermined set of pedigree information from the defendant and makes a recommendation to the court as to the defendant’s suitability for pretrial release … . People v Franklin, 2024 NY Slip Op 02227 CtApp 4-25-24

Practice Point: The Court of Appeals clarified and brought up-to-date its definition of “testimonial” evidence. A document is testimonial if its primary purpose is to create an out-of-court substitute for trial testimony. Here a form document filled out during an intake interview of every NYC arrestee which collects pedigree information was not testimonial, i.e., it was not created as a substitute for trial testimony.  Therefore the document could be admitted at trial as a business record without the need for testimony by the creator of the document.

 

, ,

PLAINTIFF BROUGHT AN EMPLOYMENT DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION ACTION IN FEDERAL COURT; DEFENDANTS WERE AWARDED SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN THE FEDERAL ACTION; BECAUSE THE FEDERAL COURT DID NOT EXERCISE SUPPLEMENTAL JURISDICTION OVER PLAINTIFF’S NYS AND NYC HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CAUSES OF ACTION, PLAINTIFF PURSUED THEM IN STATE COURT; HOWEVER ALL THE STATE ISSUES HAD BEEN ADDRESSED IN THE FEDERAL ACTION; COLLATERAL ESTOPPEL PRECLUDED THE STATE ACTION (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Garcia, over an extensive dissenting opinion, determined that the employment discrimination and retaliation claims brought by plaintiff adjunct professor against New York University under the NYS and NYC Human Rights Law were precluded by the doctrine of collateral estoppel. Plaintiff had brought a federal action based upon the same facts which was dismissed, but the District Court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state and city Human Rights Law causes of action. Plaintiff therefore could pursue those causes of action in state court. But because all the issues had been sufficiently dealt with by the federal court, the collateral estoppel doctrine was triggered:

The courts below properly applied our established principles of collateral estoppel in the context of the unique requirements of the City Human Rights Law. Collateral estoppel “bars the relitigation of an issue of fact or law actually litigated and resolved in a valid court determination essential to the prior judgment” and so “the determination of an essential issue is binding in a subsequent action, even if it recurs in the context of a different claim” … . If there is identity of issues between the prior determination and the instant litigation, and the precluded party had a full and fair opportunity to contest the prior determination, collateral estoppel applies and the prior determination is binding in the subsequent action … . Russell v New York Univ., 2024 NY Slip Op 02226, CtApp 4-25-24

Practice Point: In an employment discrimination and retaliation case brought in federal court, a plaintiff can ask the federal court to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over New York State and New York City Human Rights Law causes of action. Where, as here, the federal court declines to exercise supplemental jurisdiction, the plaintiff may pursue those actions in state court. Here, because plaintiff lost the federal case, and all the issues raised in the state case were addressed in the federal case, the doctrine of collateral estoppel precluded the state action.

 

,

A GAP IN THE CHAIN OF CUSTODY OF THE DRUGS SEIZED FROM DEFENDANT AND A DISCREPANCY IN THE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE BAG CONTAINING THE DRUGS DID NOT RENDER THE DRUGS INADMISSIBLE (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Cannataro, over a two-judge dissent, determined a gap in the chain of custody and a discrepancy in the descriptions of the evidence did not render the evidence (white powder in plastic bags) inadmissible. Officer Lin, who seized the evidence, noted a rip in the larger plastic bag. But Osorio, the criminologist who analyzed the white powder, did not notice a rip in the larger bag:

… [T]he record indicates that the gap spanned, at most, only a few hours overnight and “[a]t all times, the drugs apparently remained safely under police control” in an identifiable location at a precinct station … . Officer Lin testified that she placed the evidence inside an envelope used to voucher drugs, and that the only other person in the office at the time was an administrative officer who was tasked with safeguarding such evidence. In leaving the evidence at the station to resume her patrol, Officer Lin followed a procedure intended to reduce opportunities for error and misconduct … . When Officer Lewis arrived to voucher the evidence, “the drugs were found precisely where they were supposed to be” … . * * *

Defendant also focuses on Osorio’s testimony that she did not “see” or write in her worksheet that there were rips in the plastic bags recovered from defendant, which he characterizes as irreconcilable with Officer Lin’s testimony about the torn condition of the larger bag. Defendant ignores that the bags were admitted into evidence at trial and the factfinder was expressly encouraged to examine them to confirm Officer Lin’s testimony. If the larger bag was torn in some way, Osorio’s mere failure to notice that defect would not support an inference of tampering. Because the bag is not part of the record on appeal, it is impossible to discern the existence or extent of any discrepancy, let alone conclude that it rendered the drugs inadmissible…. . People v Baez, 2024 NY Slip Op 02225, CtApp 4-25-24

Practice Point: Here the drugs seized from the defendant were left overnight in a room at the precinct before a voucher was created, and the officer who seized the drugs noticed a rip in the larger plastic bag but the criminologist who analyzed the drugs did not notice such a rip. Despite these issues, the chain of custody was sufficiently proven to render the drugs admissible in evidence.

 

,

DOCCS MUST MAKE SOME EFFORT TO FIND COMMUNITY-BASED EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATIONAL OR TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES FOR SEX OFFENDERS HELD IN THE RESIDENTIAL TREATMENT FACILITY AT FISHKILL CORRECTIONAL FACILITY (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Troutman, over two partial dissents by three judges, reversing (modifying) the appellate division, determined the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) must make some effort to find community-based employment, educational or training opportunities for sex offenders held in the residential treatment facility (RTF) at Fishkill Correctional Facility:

Plaintiffs are convicted sex offenders who were confined in the Fishkill RTF while on postrelease supervision (PRS). Since 2014, DOCCS has used the Fishkill RTF to confine convicted sex offenders past the maximum expiration dates of their carceral sentences in circumstances where the offenders are unable to find housing in compliance with the requirements of the Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA), which bars them from living within 1,000 feet of a school … . * * *

We agree with plaintiffs that DOCCS cannot categorically refuse to attempt to secure community-based opportunities for RTF residents. Crucially, while DOCCS surely has discretion in operating its RTF programs, the record here demonstrates that DOCCS is exercising no discretion with respect to community-based opportunities. DOCCS instead offers only speculation that the opportunities would be difficult to secure for the types of offenders housed in that RTF. To be sure, the statute [Correction Law § 73 [1]] establishes no percentage or threshold number of RTF residents who must be allowed outside the facility to engage in community-based activities. But defendants incorrectly construe the permissive phrase, “may be allowed to go outside,” to empower DOCCS to bar all RTF residents categorically from accessing community-based opportunities without considering whether such opportunities are available or appropriate. A comprehensive reading of the statutory provisions cannot support such a construction. By reading the permissive phrase in isolation, defendants read the definitional provision out of the statute, eviscerate the character and purpose of the RTF, and undermine the legislative intent. Alcantara v Annucci, 2024 NY Slip Op 02224, CtApp 4-25-24

Practice Point: The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision cannot interpret the Correction Law such that the purpose of the statute (here finding community-based employment, educational or training opportunities for sex offenders) is thwarted.

 

, ,

THE COMPLAINT SUFFICIENTLY ALLEGED BOTH BREACH OF CONTRACT AND ANTICIPATORY REPUDIATION OF THE CONTRACT (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Wilson, in a factually-complex case which cannot be fairly summarized here. determined the complaint adequately alleged both a breach and an anticipatory repudiation of a contract which encompassed the replacement by plaintiff developer of defendant’s single room occupancy building with a mixed-use residential and commercial building for a 40-year lease term:

” ‘An anticipatory breach of contract by a promisor is a repudiation of [its] contractual duty before the time fixed in the contract for . . . performance has arrived’ ” … . Under the doctrine of anticipatory repudiation or anticipatory breach, “if one party to a contract repudiates [its] duties thereunder prior to the time designated for performance and before [it] has received all of the consideration due . . . thereunder, such repudiation entitles the nonrepudiating party to claim damages for total breach” … . To constitute repudiation, “there must be some express and absolute refusal to perform” … that is “positive and unequivocal” … .

The first cause of action alleges [defendant] engaged in multiple acts that breached the ground lease agreement: a set of acts in refusing to sign the cure agreement tendered in 2015, and a 2021 statement that it would never sign any agreement. Contrary to the conclusions of the courts below, a claim for breach and a claim for anticipatory repudiation can both be stated on these facts at the pleading stage. * * *

Taking the facts alleged in the complaint as true, which we must do at this stage of the proceeding, [plaintiff] sufficiently demonstrated that [defendant’s] 2021 statement was both a new development and a distinct “material breach that escalated, for the first time, to an unequivocal repudiation” … . Audthan LLC v Nick & Duke, LLC, 2024 NY Slip Op 02223, CtApp 4-25-24

Practice Point: Here the complaint adequately alleged both a breach of contract and an anticipatory repudiation of the contract.

 

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