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MOTHER VIOLATED A COURT ORDER BY RELOCATING TO ARIZONA WITH THE CHILD; HOWEVER, HER ALLEGATIONS OF DOMESTIC ABUSE BY FATHER WERE CREDIBLE AND WARRANTED GRANTING HER CROSS PETITION TO RELOCATE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Troutman, determined mother’s cross petition to relocate with the child was properly granted, despite mother’s violation of a court order prohibiting her from permanently leaving Monroe County with the child without father’s consent, or without a court order allowing relocation. Mother testified that father was abusive and she feared for her life at times. Father denied all allegation of abuse. Family Court found mother’s testimony credible and did not credit father’s testimony:

Courts place considerable weight on the effect of domestic violence on the child … , particularly when a continuing pattern of domestic violence perpetrated by the child’s father compels the mother to relocate out of legitimate fear for her own safety … , or where the father minimized the past incidents of domestic violence … . Indeed, where domestic violence is alleged in a petition for custody, “the court must consider the effect of such domestic violence upon the best interests of the child” … .

… [T]he court appropriately considered the fact that the mother unilaterally removed the child from the jurisdiction, determining that the mother “did not relocate to separate the father from the child, but instead acted in good faith to escape the threat of domestic violence” … . Although the court did not countenance the mother’s decision to relocate without permission, “it was the father’s [violent] conduct that prompted [her] move to [Arizona] in the first instance and triggered the resulting disruption of his relationship with his daughter” … . Furthermore, although the court did not expressly engage in the analysis required under Tropea (87 NY2d at 740-741), according deference to the court’s factual findings and credibility assessments … we conclude that “there is a sound and substantial basis in the record supporting the court’s determination that ‘relocation would enhance the child[‘s life] economically, emotionally, and educationally, and that the child[‘s] relationship with the father could be preserved through a liberal parental access schedule including, but not limited to, frequent communication and extended summer and holiday visits’ ” … . Matter of Edwards v Ferris, 2021 NY Slip Op 04306, Fourth Dept 7-9-21

 

SENTENCE MUST BE PRONOUNCED ON EACH COUNT OF THE CONVICTION; SENTENCE VACATED AND REMITTED FOR RESENTENCING (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, vacating defendant’s sentence and remitting for resentencing, noted that sentence must be pronounced for each count of the conviction:

… County Court erred in failing to “pronounce sentence on each count” of the conviction (CPL 380.20). Although the certificate of conviction states that defendant was sentenced on each count to concurrent terms of incarceration of nine years with five years of postrelease supervision, the court, at sentencing, “failed to impose a sentence for each count of which defendant was convicted” … . People v Brady, 2021 NY Slip Op 03951, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

DECEDENT, WHO DIED TESTATE IN 2004, WAS AWARDED COMPENSATION BY CONGRESS IN 2015 BECAUSE HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN HELD IN IRAN AS A HOSTAGE FROM 1979 TO 1981; BECAUSE THE COMPENSATION WAS AWARDED AFTER HER DEATH, IT DOES NOT PASS BY WILL, BUT RATHER BY THE LAWS OF INTESTACY (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing Surrogate’s Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Centra, determined the funds awarded by Congress to the decedent, after the decedent’s death, do not pass by decedent’s will, but rather by the laws of intestacy. Decedent, who died in 2004, was the wife of a man held hostage in Iran from 1979 to 1981. In 2015 Congress awarded compensation to the hostages’ families:

Regarding property acquired by an estate after the death of the testator, case law is sparse, but is consistent with the language in EPTL 3-3.1 providing that only property that a testator is entitled to devise “at the time of his [or her] death” may be distributed pursuant to the terms of the will … . We are particularly persuaded by the decision in Shaw Family Archives Ltd. , which involved a dispute over ownership interest in Marilyn Monroe’s right of publicity after her death. The court determined that New York law did not permit a testator to dispose by will of property that she did not own at the time of her death … . The court cited to EPTL 3-3.1 and held that “[t]he corollary principle recognized by the courts is that property not owned by the testator at the time of his [or her] death is not subject to disposition by will” … .

We agree with the reasoning in Shaw Family Archives Ltd. that the New York rule is grounded in the testator’s lack of capacity to devise property he or she does not own at the time of death … . Matter of Keough, 2021 NY Slip Op 03948, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

HUSBAND’S PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF STOCK DID NOT LOSE THEIR SEPARATE-PROPERTY CHARACTER WHEN THEY WERE BRIEFLY PLACED IN THE PARTIES’ JOINT BANK ACCOUNT BEFORE BEING USED FOR THE DOWNPAYMENT FOR THE MARITAL RESIDENCE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing (modifying) Supreme Court, determined funds from the husband’s sale of stock were his separate property, even though the funds were briefly placed in a joint account before using them for the down payment on the marital residence:

… [D]efendant offered uncontroverted testimony, supported by documentary evidence, that he placed funds acquired from the sale of stocks he had purchased prior to the marriage into the parties’ joint bank account because it was his only checking account and he could not access the funds directly from the platform from which he sold the stock … . The funds remained in the account for only a matter of weeks before defendant withdrew a majority of them to pay a portion of the down payment for the marital home … . Thus, defendant established that the account was used “only as a conduit” for the sale of his stock … . The funds therefore maintained their character as separate property, and defendant is entitled to a credit for his portion of the down payment … . LaPoint v Claypoole, 2021 NY Slip Op 03947, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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THE ERIE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE (ECSO) IS NOT A SEPARATE ENTITY APART FROM THE COUNTY; THE COUNTY MAY BE SUED FOR THE ACTIONS OF CIVILIAN EMPLOYEES OF THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE PURSUANT TO RESPONDEAT SUPERIOR; HERE PLAINTIFF ALLEGED PLAINTIFF’S DECEDENT DIED IN HIS CAR AWAITING RESCUE DURING A SNOWSTORM (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined the Erie County Sheriff’s Office (ECSO) is not a separate entity apart from the county, and the county may be liable for the acts of the sheriff’s office’s civilian employees pursuant to respondeat superior. The lawsuit alleged the defendants failed to timely rescue plaintiff’s decedent who died in his car during a snowstorm:

A sheriff’s office has no legal identity separate from its corresponding county, “and thus an ‘action against the Sheriff’s [Office] is, in effect, an action against the [corresponding] County itself’ ” … . …

Although a “county may not be held responsible for the negligent acts of the Sheriff and his [or her] deputies on the theory of respondeat superior” … , we conclude that a county may be vicariously liable for the negligent acts of the sheriff’s civilian employees given the general rule that a sheriff’s office does not exist separately from its corresponding county … . Moreover, and contrary to defendants’ further contention, the County is not entitled to immunity under Executive Law § 25 because that statute was not pleaded as an affirmative defense in the answer (see CPLR 3018 [b] …). Abate v County of Erie, 2021 NY Slip Op 03940, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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COUNTY COURT DID NOT CONDUCT AN ADEQUATE INQUIRY INTO DEFENDANT’S COMPLAINTS ABOUT DEFENSE COUNSEL, CONVICTION REVERSED; TWO-JUSTICE DISSENT (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, over a two-justice dissent, determined County Court should have conducted a minimal inquiry to address defendant’s complaints about defense counsel. The dissenters argued County Court had, in fact, conducted an adequate inquiry:

… [W]e conclude that defendant’s complaints were sufficiently serious to trigger the court’s duty to inquire … . Indeed, the complaints suggested on their face the possibility of a complete breakdown of communication with defense counsel, either owing to or exacerbated by defense counsel’s alleged unwillingness to respond to any of defendant’s repeated inquiries over nearly 12 months of representation; were evidenced by defendant’s apparent confusion over the status of the separate indictments; and were never refuted by defense counsel, who remained silent in response to defendant’s repeated in-court complaints … . Further, the court itself appeared to acknowledge that defendant’s complaints, if true, established that there was “a problem” with the representation.

Thus, the court had a duty to conduct a minimal inquiry, which the court failed to do … .

From the dissent:

… [T]his is not a case where the court “erred by failing to ask even a single question about the nature of the disagreement or its potential for resolution” … . Instead, because the court “repeatedly allowed defendant to air his concerns about defense counsel” and reasonably concluded after listening to those concerns that they “were insufficient to demonstrate good cause for substitution of counsel” … , we would affirm. People v Robinson, 2021 NY Slip Op 03939, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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IN THE FACE OF DEFENDANT’S AND DEFENSE COUNSEL’S REQUEST FOR NEW COUNSEL, COUNTY COURT COMMITTED REVERSIBLE ERROR BY DENYING THE REQUEST WITHOUT MAKING A MINIMAL INQUIRY (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing defendant’s conviction, determined the court should have conducted in inquiry to evaluate defendant’s complaints about his attorney and his request for new counsel:

… [T]he court committed reversible error by failing to conduct an inquiry following defense counsel’s submission of a letter seeking to be relieved from the case and in light of defendant’s responses to that letter. In particular, the record establishes that defense counsel—prompted by defendant’s prior specific complaints about her failure to file motions, seek relevant evidence through discovery such as surveillance video of the incident, investigate specified witnesses, and engage in meaningful consultation and preparation—expressed a breakdown in trust and communication based on her interactions and appearances with defendant and sought to be relieved from representing defendant on the ground that she was unable to handle his case … . … “[D]efendant’s request on its face suggested a serious possibility of irreconcilable conflict with his lawyer, as evidenced by the [acknowledgment] of counsel that a complete breakdown of communication and lack of trust had developed in their relationship” … . “[W]here[, as here,] potential conflict is acknowledged by counsel’s admission of a breakdown in trust and communication, the trial court is obligated to make a minimal inquiry” … . People v Darwish, 2021 NY Slip Op 03936, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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ALTHOUGH THE ERRORS WERE DEEMED HARMLESS, A POLICE OFFICER SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO IDENTIFY DEFENDANT IN A SURVEILLANCE VIDEO AND POLICE OFFICERS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ALLOWED TO PROVIDE HEARSAY EVIDENCE AS MOLINEUX “BACKGROUND INFORMATION” (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined it was error to allow a police officer to identify the defendant in a surveillance video, and it was error to allow police officers to testify about what they learned from others (hearsay) about defendant’s involvement in the shooting. Although the errors were deemed harmless because of the overwhelming evidence, these two rulings are significant. The court noted there is no Molineux exception for hearsay for so-called background information:

​“A lay witness may give an opinion concerning the identity of a person depicted in a surveillance if there is some basis for concluding that the witness is more likely to correctly identify the defendant from the

than is the jury” … . Here, “there was no basis for concluding that the [officer] was more likely than the jury to correctly determine whether . . . defendant was depicted in the video” … .  The officer was not familiar with defendant, and there was no evidence showing that defendant had changed his appearance before trial … .

… [T]he court erred in permitting the People to elicit testimony from police officers regarding what they learned from others about defendant’s involvement in the shooting. The challenged testimony was hearsay that was not admissible under any cognizable exception to the hearsay rule. The People essentially argue that this testimony was admissible under People v Molineux (168 NY 264 [1901]) to complete the narrative with background information. We reject that argument and reiterate that “there is no Molineux exception to the rule against hearsay” … . There is also no general exception to the hearsay rule for testimony relating to background conduct, information, or explanation of a subject matter or event … . People v Harlow, 2021 NY Slip Op 03933, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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WHERE A MOTION TO VACATE A CONVICTION IS BASED UPON EVIDENCE OUTSIDE THE RECORD AND EVIDENCE IN THE RECORD, ALL OF THE EVIDENCE IS ADMISSIBLE IN THE HEARING ON THE MOTION; COUNTY COURT SHOULD NOT HAVE RESTRICTED THE PRESENTATIOIN OF DEFENDANT’S ALLEGATIONS OF INEFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE TO ONLY THOSE WHICH WERE OUTSIDE THE RECORD (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, reversing the denial of defendant’s motion to vacate his conviction, determined County Court should not have restricted the hearing to only the allegations of ineffective assistance that could not have been raised on direct appeal. Where a motion to vacate a conviction is based on evidence outside the record, as well as evidence on the record, all the evidence is admissible:

A “claim of ineffective assistance of counsel constitutes a single ground or issue upon which relief is requested . . . [Such] a claim . . . ‘is ultimately concerned with the fairness of the process as a whole’ ” … and must be ” ‘viewed in totality’ ” … . Although “[a] single error may qualify as ineffective assistance . . . when the error is sufficiently egregious and prejudicial as to compromise a defendant’s right to a fair trial” … , a defendant may also establish that he or she received ineffective assistance of counsel by arguing that the cumulative effect of multiple errors rendered defense counsel’s performance ineffective, even if those errors, “considered separately, may not have constituted ineffective assistance”… . Where, as here, a defendant alleges errors of defense counsel based on both matters appearing in the record and matters dehors the record, i.e., a ” ‘mixed claim,’ ” a “CPL 440.10 proceeding is the appropriate forum for reviewing the claim of ineffectiveness in its entirety” … . People v Mack, 2021 NY Slip Op 03982, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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THE STAIRWAY TO THE ATTIC, WHERE DRUGS WERE FOUND, WAS NOT PART OF THE APARTMENT DESCRIBED IN THE SEARCH WARRANT AND THE PEOPLE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE STAIRWAY WAS A COMMON AREA; DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO SUPPRESS SHOULD HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department determined defendant’s motion to suppress evidence found in a stairway leading to the attic should have been granted because the warrant did not authorize the search of that area and the People did not demonstrate the stairway was a common area:

… [T]he warrant at issue authorized a search of “865 woodlawn upper apt. buffalo, n.y. 2 ½ story wood frame house white with white trim. attached garage and common areas,” and drugs and drug packaging materials were found by the police behind a doorway on stairs leading to the attic. The doorway to the attic was in a hallway outside of the upper apartment and, as a result, the attic cannot be considered a part of the upper apartment itself … . …

The question thus becomes whether the area where the drugs and packaging materials were found constitutes a common area. Common areas of multi-unit buildings are those areas ” ‘accessible to all tenants and their invitees’ ” … . Here, the contraband was found by the police on the stairs leading to the attic, and a police officer testified at the suppression hearing that there was a closed door leading to the attic from the second floor common area. The officer in question was not present when the door was opened by other officers who executed the warrant, and he did not know whether the door had been locked. When asked whether “the door could have been locked and needed to be breached,” the officer answered, “That is entirely possible.” The People did not call any of the officers who were present when the door to the attic was opened, forcibly or otherwise, nor did they call the landlord or anyone who resided at the property.

Defendant testified that the door to the attic was closed and locked, and that, during the execution of the warrant, the door was broken down by the police. If the door was indeed locked, it cannot be said that the attic was accessible to all tenants and their invitees. People v Moore, 2021 NY Slip Op 03975, Fourth Dept 6-17-21

 

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