New York Criminal Lawyer Blog

Published on: January 9, 2019

New York Appellate Court Affirms Prior Ruling Rejecting Claims of an Involuntary Guilty Plea

by Stephen Bilkis

People v. M., NY Slip Op 07924

The court held that the order of the Appellate Court should be confirmed. The defendant claims that his plea of guilty was involuntary. He argued that the indictment must be dismissed because the People didn’t notify the grand jury that the defendant wished to call a particular witness. The defendant argues that the prosecutor’s conduct impaired the integrity of the grand jury proceeding and his motion to dismiss isn’t forfeited by his plea of guilty.

The Appellate Court held that the plea was entered voluntarily. When the plead guilty, he forfeited his argument that his motion to dismiss his indictment should have been granted. The court granted leave to appeal and this court affirms (29 NY3d 1130 [2017].

Published on: November 18, 2018

New York Appellate Court Reverses Prior Decision, Allowing Defendant to Represent Himself in Murder Trial

by Stephen Bilkis

(People v C, NY Slip Op 06849)

The right to self-representation is an important part of being an American (People v. McIntyre 36 NY2d 10, 14 [1974]. This is a right that is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and New York State law (Fraretta v CA 422 US 806 [1975], NY Constitution Art. 1). This right, however, isn’t absolute and must be made in a timely manner (Mc Intyre 36 NY2d; Martinez v Ct of Appeal 4^th Appellate District, 528 US 152, 161-162 [2000].

In this case, the defendant tried to invoke his right to proceed pro se. There is a three-prong approach to determine when this right can be invoked. It must be made in a timely manner, there must have been an intelligent waiver of counsel, and the defendant must not have engaged in conduct which would prevent an orderly disposition of the issues. This appeal deals with the first prong of this test.

Published on: October 23, 2018

Appellant Challenges Alleged Violation of 4th Amendment Search and Seizure Law

by Stephen Bilkis

People v O.X.

The court held that the Appellate Order should be affirmed in this case. The question of this case is whether a 4^th amendment consent to search a premises is a question of law or fact (People v. McFarlane 21 NY 3d 1034). The court said that the voluntariness of the consent in this instance is up for dispute. Although the court’s power to review the affirmed findings of fact are limited. The findings of the trial court are supported by the record (People v Morales 42 NY2d 129, 138 [1977]).

Judge Rivera stated that there was a home visit by law enforcement for the purposes of making a warrantless arrest. It is not justified by another exception of the warrant requirement.