New York Court of Appeals Decisions 2012
Date: December 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08669
Docket Number: 191
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Inepar S.A. Industria e Construc es (IIC) was a Brazilian power company that held a sixty percent stake in Defendant Inepar Investments, S.A., a corporation organized under the laws of Uruguay. Plaintiff…
Date: December 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08670
Docket Number: 205
Justia Opinion Summary: Three police officers pulled over Defendant's vehicle because of a defective rear brake light. While the vehicle was stopped, one of the officers asked the vehicle's occupants if they possessed any weapons. The offices…
Date: December 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08672
Docket Number: 87
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a national satellite television provider, purchased equipment used to deliver programming to its customers. Between March 2000 an February 2004, Petitioner did not pay sales or use taxes on its equipment…
Date: December 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08674
Docket Number: Mot No. 2012-797
Date: December 13, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08565
Docket Number: 216
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, among other charges. At his initial trial, the jury deadlocked on that charge but rendered a partial verdict convicting…
Date: December 13, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08566
Docket Number: 219
Justia Opinion Summary: Each of these consolidated appeals involved a police officer who responded to provide assistance at the World Trade Center following the September 11, 2001 attacks. Two officers sought accidental disability retirement…
Date: December 13, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08568
Docket Number: 240 SSM 41
Date: December 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08438
Docket Number: 158
Date: December 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08439
Docket Number: 186
Justia Opinion Summary: Supreme Court convicted Defendant of three crimes of terrorism under N.Y. Penal Law 490.25 premised on first-degree manslaughter, attempted second-degree murder and second-degree weapon possession, as well as…
Date: December 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08440
Docket Number: 207
Date: December 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08442
Docket Number: 222
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were owners of real property in the Town of Chester (Town), New York. Plaintiffs then lived in New Jersey, and their address there appeared on the deed. Plaintiffs subsequently moved without informing the Town…
Date: December 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08443
Docket Number: 224
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants were two owners of an apartment in a condominium (the Tomchinskys) and a company the Tomchinskys hired to renovate their unit (Company). Additional defendants were the condominium, its board of managers, and…
Date: December 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08444
Docket Number: 242 SSM 46
Date: November 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08169
Docket Number: 199
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant took an undercover police officer to meet a drug dealer, handled the cocaine transaction for the officer, and then gave him the drugs. For these acts, Defendant was charged with selling cocaine, facilitating…
Date: November 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08170
Docket Number: 202
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested and charged with two counts of driving while intoxicated and operating a vehicle with a backseat passenger under sixteen years of age without a seatbelt. Defendant moved to suppress her statements…
Date: November 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08172
Docket Number: 208
Justia Opinion Summary: Twenty passengers of the Ethan Allen, a public vessel operating as a tour boat, were killed and several others were injured when the boat capsized and sank. Claimants, individuals who were injured and the personal…
Date: November 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08174
Docket Number: 230 SSM 28
Date: November 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08175
Docket Number: 234 SSM 38
Date: November 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08176
Docket Number: 237 SSM 45
Date: November 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08052
Docket Number: 189
Justia Opinion Summary: A town and county squabbled in and out of court for five years over whether the county's department of human resources was required to provide the town with documentation of an employee's fitness to resume work before…
Date: November 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08053
Docket Number: 193
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs and Defendant formed and managed a limited liability company for the purpose of entering into a long-term lease on a building in Manhattan. Later, Defendant took sole possession of the property and bought…
Date: November 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08055
Docket Number: 198
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether the judge of the county court (Respondent) exceeded his authority when he disqualified the county district attorney (Petitioner) and his staff from prosecuting a case against…
Date: November 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 08056
Docket Number: 209
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder, attempted murder, assault, and weapons offenses. The theory of the defense at trial was that the real killer was not Defendant, but the leader of Defendant's gang, Simeon Nelson.…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07854
Docket Number: 183
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs were several dozen national and international citizens who resided in Israel and were injured in rocket attacks allegedly launched by Hizballah during the Second Lebanon War. Plaintiffs brought suit against…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07855
Docket Number: 194
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. During the court of Defendant's bench trial, the trial court restrained Defendant without articulating a specific justification for doing so. Defendant was…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07857
Docket Number: 200
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07858
Docket Number: 201
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree. In a statement given shortly after the homicide, and at trial, Defendant admitted fatally stabbing her estranged boyfriend but claimed she had done so while…
Date: November 20, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07859
Docket Number: 206
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree. A trial was later held pursuant to N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law, article 10, after which a jury found that Respondent was a detained sex offender who suffered from…
Date: November 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07846
Docket Number: 184
Date: November 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07847
Docket Number: 185
Date: November 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07848
Docket Number: 187
Justia Opinion Summary: East Midtown Plaza Housing Company, a limited-profit housing company organized under the Mitchell-Lama Law, sought to withdraw from the Mitchell-Lama program and become a private cooperative apartment complex. A vote was…
Date: November 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07849
Docket Number: 188
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether an action for negligence and breach of contract lies against an insurance broker for failure to procure adequate insurance coverage where the insured receive the policy without…
Date: November 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07850
Docket Number: 192
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether the parties' contract language specifying that Seller's "sole remedy" was liquidated damages and Seller had "no further rights" against the defaulting purchaser (Buyer), trumped…
Date: November 19, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07851
Docket Number: 197
Justia Opinion Summary: Having decided to arrest Defendant for driving with a revoked license, a police officer also decided to impound the car he was driving. The officer did not inquire whether Defendant's passenger, who was not the…
Date: October 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07221
Docket Number: 151
Date: October 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07223
Docket Number: 153
Justia Opinion Summary: The lawyer who represented Defendant at a pre-trial hearing and at trial was simultaneously representing, in an unrelated matter, a police officer who testified for the People that Defendant had confessed to one of the…
Date: October 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07224
Docket Number: 155
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this appeal was whether the City of New York's 2010 plan for indigent defense, permitting representation by both institutional providers and private attorneys in cases in which a conflict of interest…
Date: October 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07225
Docket Number: 164
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff broke her hip when she tripped and fell while rollerblading in her residential neighborhood in the Town of Amherst. Plaintiff and her husband brought a negligence action against the Town. Supreme court granted…
Date: October 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07227
Docket Number: 168
Justia Opinion Summary: The question presented by these consolidated appeals was whether a defendant must preserve the argument that he was deprived of the right to a public trial when his family members were excluded from the courtroom during…
Date: October 30, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07228
Docket Number: 172
Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent had an extensive criminal record that included various sexual offenses involving nonconsenting or underage, adolescent victims. A licensed psychologist examined Respondent and concluded that he suffered from a…
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07141
Docket Number: 160
Justia Opinion Summary: Travelers Indemnity Company issued to Plaintiff an insurance policy covering direct physical loss of or damage to a building. The policy contained an exclusion for loss or damage caused by earth movement, which included…
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07142
Docket Number: 173
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs acquired a homeowners' insurance policy from Defendant effective as of the closing date of the home they had entered into a contract to purchase. The closing date was scheduled to take place on March 31 but…
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07143
Docket Number: 176
Justia Opinion Summary: Shareholders commenced this action against Corporation seeking a declaration that Corporation must repurchase their shares of preferred stock after Corporation merged with two other corporations. Shareholders owned…
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07144
Docket Number: 178
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07145
Docket Number: 179
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested and arraigned on charges of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The accusatory information was titled "Complaint/Information" and contained some factual information. Defendant…
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07146
Docket Number: 180
Date: October 25, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07147
Docket Number: 182
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant contested his second violent felony offender adjudication, predicated upon a prior conviction in Pennsylvania that occurred when he was eighteen years old, contending (1) because he could have been accorded…
Date: October 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07046
Docket Number: 157
Date: October 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07047
Docket Number: 161
Justia Opinion Summary: At Defendant's trial for second-degree murder, the trial judge agreed with the defense attorney that a reasonable view of the evidence supported his request to submit the lesser-included offenses of first- and…
Date: October 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07048
Docket Number: 162
Justia Opinion Summary: The primary question in this commercial dispute involving, among other things, the right to a leasehold to certain commercial property, was whether, pursuant to the "necessary affects" requirement under N.Y. C.P.L.R.…
Date: October 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07049
Docket Number: 167
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant's paramour, Maria, obtained an order of protection requiring Defendant to refrain from contacting her in any manner and to stay away from her. Defendant violated the order and was charged with criminal contempt…
Date: October 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07051
Docket Number: 171
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether the New York City School Construction Authority (Authority) violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) during a construction project by failing to discuss in an…
Date: October 23, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 07054
Docket Number: 228 SSM 37
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06986
Docket Number: 154
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a credit union, commenced this declaratory judgment action against Defendants, the state department of taxation and finance, its commissioner, and the state. The credit union asserted it was not required to…
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06987
Docket Number: 156
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants were indicted for enterprise corruption based in essential part on their commission of numerous predicate offenses. There was proof before the grand jury that three of them repeatedly purchased stolen credit…
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06988
Docket Number: 163
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06989
Docket Number: 166
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, the Court of Appeals considered whether a written letter from the assistant commissioner of the fire department of the city of New York to Petitioner firefighter advising him that he violated the…
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06990
Docket Number: 174
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the high profile disappearance of Michele Harris, the mother of four young children and Defendant's estranged wife. After a lengthy retrial, a jury convicted Defendant of murder in the second degree.…
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06991
Docket Number: 175
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants owned land on the shore of a pond. Both Plaintiffs and Defendants claimed to be the owners of the land under the pond that was adjacent to Defendants' waterfront land. The parties' claims depended on the…
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06992
Docket Number: 177
Date: October 18, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06994
Docket Number: 227 SSM 36
Date: September 11, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06108
Docket Number: 215 SSM 29
Date: August 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 06045
Docket Number: 213 SSM 26
Date: June 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05196
Docket Number: 119
Justia Opinion Summary: After a non-jury trial, Claimant was convicted of having committed various sex offenses. The appellate division reversed and ordered a new trial. The reversal was premised upon the manner in which certain exculpatory…
Date: June 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05197
Docket Number: 120
Justia Opinion Summary: The New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation (NYC OTB) was a public benefit corporation charged with operating an off-track pari-mutuel betting system within the City. Later, NYC OTB filed for bankruptcy and shut…
Date: June 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05198
Docket Number: 123
Justia Opinion Summary: In these two cases, Defendants were convicted of violent felonies. Their sentences were required by law to include a period of post-release supervision (PRS), but in each case the court failed to impose a PRS term. In…
Date: June 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05199
Docket Number: 130
Justia Opinion Summary: After a trial, Defendant was convicted for stealing copper pipes. A few months before trial, however, the pipes were returned to their rightful owner without the notice to Defendant required by N.Y. Penal Law 450.10.…
Date: June 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05200
Docket Number: 132
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action, a real estate company that prepared due diligence reports for a developer in connection with the potential purchase of commercial properties alleged that a rival brokerage firm was unjustly enriched when…
Date: June 28, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05201
Docket Number: 211 SSM 21
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05120
Docket Number: 121
Justia Opinion Summary: Nicole Tausend, the beneficiary of a trust together with her father, Ronald, commenced a N.Y.C.P.L.R. 78 proceeding against Ronald and the partnership (NJR) formed by Ronald for the purpose of acquiring and selling…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05121
Docket Number: 122
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted on one count of grand larceny in the second degree and four counts of forgery in the second degree for stealing money from her employer. Defendant pleaded guilty to the entire indictment, and the…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05122
Docket Number: 124
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was a rezoning proposal for Sunset Park, a predominantly residential neighborhood in Brooklyn. Following public hearings, the Department of City Planning (DCP), the lead agency here, prepared an…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05123
Docket Number: 125
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of several charges stemming from relationships she allegedly had with two underage students who attended a school where Defendant was a teacher. Defendant moved to vacate her conviction on the…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05124
Docket Number: 126
Justia Opinion Summary: Following the collapse of two investment vehicles known as SIV-Lites, Oddo Asset Management (Plaintiff) commenced this action against Barclays Bank PLC, Barclays Capital Inc. (collectively, Barclays), and The McGraw-Hill…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05125
Docket Number: 127
Justia Opinion Summary: The common issue presented by these two consolidated appeals was whether an appeal lies from an oral order issued by a criminal court on a pre-trial matter. In People v. Elmer, the People appealed from an oral decision…
Date: June 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05126
Docket Number: 131
Justia Opinion Summary: Ronald and Margaret Marchard owned property in the Village of Bayville through which runs a dirt road called the Travelled Way. The Marchands asserted that the road was private property, while the Village maintained that…
Date: June 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05089
Docket Number: 129
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, a justice of the town court, commenced a proceeding to review a determination of the State Commission on Judicial Conduct that sustained six charges of misconduct against him and determined that he should be…
Date: June 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05090
Docket Number: 133
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of second degree murder upon evidence that he killed his fiancee by inflicting numerous knife wounds. Although Defendant had sought to interpose the affirmative defense that his homicidal acts had…
Date: June 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05091
Docket Number: 147
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs claimed that the City of New York was contractually obligated to pay rent subsidies to their landlords under the Advantage New York program until expiration of their leases. State and Federal reimbursement for…
Date: June 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05095
Docket Number: 212 SSM 23
Justia Opinion Summary: In Soundview Park in the Bronx, a New York City police officer observed a knife on Defendant's person and seized it while issuing Defendant a summons for trespass and questioning him about his presence in the park after…
Date: June 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 05093
Docket Number: 88
Justia Opinion Summary: At issue here was national assets stolen by President Ferdinand Marcos. Victims of Marcos' human rights abuses ("Pimentel class") obtained a judgment against Marcos' estate and, in enforcing the judgment, sought to…
Date: June 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04664
Docket Number: 100
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose from a criminal homicide prosecution against defendant. The primary issue presented on appeal was whether an Administrative Judge exceeded his authority pursuant to 22 NYCRR 127.2(b) by considering the…
Date: June 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04668
Docket Numbers: 109, 110
Justia Opinion Summary: Public school students filed complaints with the SDHR, claiming that their respective school districts engaged in an "unlawful discriminatory practice" under Article 15 of the Executive Law, Executive Law 290, et seq. At…
Date: June 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04669
Docket Number: 112
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted, on his plea of guilty, of third degree robbery, a felony. Defendant was sentenced as a second degree felony offender, on the basis of a previous conviction in the United States District Court for…
Date: June 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04670
Docket Number: 93
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when a tower crane operated by Joy collapsed during construction of a high-rise condominium, killing seven people and injuring dozens, damaging several buildings and destroying one. At issue was the…
Date: June 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04373
Docket Number: 101
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, owner of a New York City loft, brought an action in ejection against defendant because she occupied an apartment in the loft for which she had not paid any rent since 2003. The court held that the landlord had…
Date: June 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04374
Docket Number: 103
Justia Opinion Summary: In a parental rights case, at issue was whether the Family Court could direct continuing contact between parent and child once parental rights have been terminated pursuant to Social Security Law 384-b. The court…
Date: June 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04375
Docket Number: 113
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and co-defendant were convicted of first-degree robbery. At issue was whether the Supreme Court's error in denying defendant's request for a severance based on the improper joinder of certain counts relating…
Date: June 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04377
Docket Number: 95
Date: June 7, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04378
Docket Number: 98
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant challenged his conviction for aggravated assault upon a police officer or a peace officer, an element of which is the assailant's use of a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. Defendant was charged with that…
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04272
Docket Number: 102
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree. At issue was whether defendant could open the door to the admission of testimony that would otherwise be inadmissible under the Confrontation Clause. The court held…
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04273
Docket Number: 105
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder for the intentional killing of one victim, accompanied by the killing of another victim with the intent to cause her serious injury or death, and second-degree criminal…
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04274
Docket Number: 107
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought suit against Clarkson University and his head coach to recover damages sustained from being hit in the jaw by a fastball. At issue was whether a college baseball pitcher assumed the risk of injury…
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04275
Docket Number: 134
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04279
Docket Number: 149 SSM 22
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04276
Docket Number: 90
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, where defendant's conviction for depraved indifference murder was reversed on appeal, the issue before the court was whether, in accord with the principles of double jeopardy, defendant was impliedly…
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04277
Docket Number: 91
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when a mid-twentieth century historian sought disclosure of unredacted transcripts of interviews from a New York City Board of Education investigation, under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), Public…
Date: June 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04278
Docket Number: 97
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. At issue was whether defendant could appeal an order modifying the conditions of a sentence of probation. The court concluded…
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04200
Docket Number: 111
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of three drug crimes and subsequently sought an order declaring that neither of two statements of predicate felony conviction created a basis for Supreme Court to determine that he was subject to…
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04201
Docket Numbers: 114, 115
Justia Opinion Summary: These appeals involve a similar issue, albeit in different contexts. At issue in People v Dais was whether the People could introduce a new predicate felony statement at the resentencing proceeding to demonstrate that…
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04203
Docket Number: 83
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, and endangering the welfare of a child. At issue was whether plaintiff, suing his former criminal defense attorney in legal…
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04204
Docket Number: 86
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of depraved indifference murder resulting from conduct creating a grave risk of serious injury or death of a child under 11, Penal Law 125.25[4]. At issue was whether the evidence was sufficient…
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04205
Docket Number: 89
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04206
Docket Number: 92
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of kidnapping in the second degree, as well as burglary, endangering the welfare of a child, and two weapons offenses. At issue was whether it was possible for a parent who had custodial rights to…
Date: May 31, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 04207
Docket Number: 96
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an employee of the New York City Fire Department, applied for and received workers' compensation benefits from the city. Plaintiff subsequently commenced this action against the city and its Parks and…
Date: May 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03575
Docket Number: 144 SSM 16
Date: May 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03571
Docket Number: 64
Justia Opinion Summary: The Commission is constitutionally charged with the oversight of all correctional facilities in the state. At issue was the enforceability of a subpoena deuces tecum issued by the Commission commanding Elmhurst, a health…
Date: May 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03572
Docket Number: 70
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of Promoting a Sexual Performance by a Child and Possessing a Sexual Performance by a Child. At issue was whether the evidence proffered at defendant's trial was legally sufficient to support his…
Date: May 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03573
Docket Number: 81
Justia Opinion Summary: The People filed a misdemeanor information charging defendant, a registered level-three sex offender, with two counts of failing to personally verify his home address with local law enforcement every 90 days and two…
Date: May 8, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03574
Docket Number: 82
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was a 15% partner in defendant Peconic Partners (hedge fund), as well as Chief Compliance Officer. Plaintiff alleged that he was subsequently fired after a dispute with Peconic Partners' CEO and President…
Date: May 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03471
Docket Number: 135
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners commenced this special proceeding seeking a declaration that Chapter 16 of Laws of 2012, insofar as it expanded the size of the New York State Senate from 62 to 63 districts, was unconstitutional.…
Date: May 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03476
Docket Number: 145 SSM 18
Date: May 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03472
Docket Number: 66
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved Baygold's lease with MPH, the owner of the premises, for a ten-year term. Baygold, with the consent of MPH, thereafter subleased the premises to its affiliate, Monsey Park. Monsey Park, with MPH's…
Date: May 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03473
Docket Number: 67
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when defendant was charged in the state of Washington with raping and kidnapping two teenage girls and subsequently moved to New York. Rulings of administrative agencies could ordinarily be reviewed only…
Date: May 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03474
Docket Number: 74
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was acquitted of intentional murder but convicted of, among other things, depraved indifference murder, felony murder, and kidnapping in the first degree. The Appellate Division affirmed, concluding that the…
Date: May 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03475
Docket Number: 80
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds. Before defendant pleaded guilty, the trial judge observed to defense…
Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03362
Docket Number: 142 SSM 12
Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03357
Docket Number: 55
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when claimant was working as a phlebotomist for New York Neurologic Associates when a computer monitor fell off a shelf and struck her upper back. At issue was whether the Worker's Compensation Board must…
Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03358
Docket Number: 72
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when a real estate developer hired HOD to act as general contractor for the construction of two multi-family residences. HOD entered into a subcontract with Well Built for the masonry work. At issue was…
Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03359
Docket Number: 76
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when plaintiff worked as a collision shop technician and suffered several injuries on the job. Workers' Compensation Law 15(6) provided that compensation for any disability, partial or total, shall not…
Date: May 1, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03360
Docket Number: 78
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of manslaughter in the first degree and the issue on appeal was whether there was sufficient evidence to sustain his conviction. Defendant maintained that there was insufficient evidence that he…
Date: April 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03227
Docket Number: 65
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioners provide protection and advocacy services to individuals with developmental disabilities. After receiving a complaint regarding the discharge practices of respondent, petitioners requested access to the…
Date: April 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03228
Docket Number: 68
Date: April 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03229
Docket Number: 71
Justia Opinion Summary: Pursuant to a contract with the State of New York, defendant agreed to provide various courier services via air and ground transportation. Plaintiffs own a trucking company and served as an independent contractor to…
Date: April 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03230
Docket Number: 73
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the first degree and conspiracy in the second degree. On appeal, defendant raised several issues, including the contentions that he should have been…
Date: April 26, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 03232
Docket Number: 79
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault, a violent felony offense. At issue was whether "a determinate sentence of imprisonment actually imposed" included the mandatory period of postrelease…
Date: April 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02420
Docket Number: 116 SSM 8
Date: April 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02413
Docket Number: 48
Justia Opinion Summary: Husband and wife divorced after almost 30 years of marriage and their settlement agreement set forth a comprehensive division of marital property. At issue was whether husband had presented facts sufficient to support…
Date: April 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02414
Docket Number: 49
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff commenced this CPLR 78 proceeding to compel the District Attorney and the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), Public Officers Law 84, et seq., to comply with his records requests regarding Avrohom Mondrowitz.…
Date: April 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02415
Docket Number: 52
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose from a contract between the school district and DJH to perform heating, ventilation, and air condition work. The contract required DJH to obtain a performance bond which DJH secured from Nova, a…
Date: April 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02417
Docket Number: 59
Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from a dispute over the ownership of the land upon which a boardwalk and dock was constructed by the deceased. At issue was whether plaintiff estate established that its decedent acquired title to a…
Date: April 3, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02418
Docket Number: 61
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of criminal charges related to an underlying dispute regarding cab fare. On appeal, the court addressed the relation between a claim of right defense and a mistake of fact defense in the…
Date: March 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02338
Docket Number: 2012-158
Date: March 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02339
Docket Number: 39
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff represented psychiatrists who treated patients eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid and defendants were responsible for administering Medicaid in New York and for implementing and enforcing medicaid…
Date: March 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02341
Docket Number: 44
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a former member of the New York City Police Department, was charged with twelve counts of perjury in the first degree. The charges arose after defendant falsely answered questions posed to him on…
Date: March 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02342
Docket Number: 46
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, who worked as a teacher's assistant, was alleged to have sexually abused a four-year-old boy left in her care. Defendant was convicted of all counts charged and she subsequently appealed. At issue was the…
Date: March 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02343
Docket Number: 51
Justia Opinion Summary: Verizon attached a box to a building that plaintiffs owned and used the box to transmit telephone communications to and from Verizon's customers in other buildings. Plaintiffs claimed that Verizon took their property…
Date: March 29, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02344
Docket Number: 57
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, an auto parts distributor with operations in multiple states, secured general liability, automotive liability, and workers' compensation policies from defendants for annual coverage periods between September…
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02254
Docket Number: 117 SSM 13
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02247
Docket Number: 35
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was indicted for several crimes after he drove a pickup truck into a police officer, injuring her seriously. After defendant was convicted of second degree assault, defendant wanted the jury to consider one of…
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02248
Docket Number: 37
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff sued his former employer alleging causes of action for failure to pay wages in violation of Labor Law 190-198 and breach of contract. The employer subsequently appealed the Appellate Division's order, arguing…
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02249
Docket Number: 38
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff commenced a putative class action against Bloomberg alleging a violation of General Obligations Law 5-901 and 5-903; breach of contract; unjust enrichment; negligent misrepresentation; violation of General…
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02250
Docket Number: 41
Justia Opinion Summary: In a workers' compensation action, the court was asked to determine whether the future medical benefits that a compensation carrier had been relieved of paying due to a claimant's successful prosecution of a third-party…
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02251
Docket Number: 53
Justia Opinion Summary: This action arose from practices employed in connection with the handling of claims made under retrocessional reinsurance treaties providing what was known as "non-life" coverage. At issue was the sufficiency and…
Date: March 27, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02252
Docket Number: 58
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree. On appeal, defendant argued that the accusatory instrument charging him with that crime was jurisdictionally deficient because it failed…
Date: March 22, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02120
Docket Number: 33
Justia Opinion Summary: Abacus commenced this action against ADT and Diebold to recover damages under tort and contract theories for losses incurred during a burglary of the bank. The court affirmed the dismissal of the complaint with one…
Date: March 22, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02121
Docket Number: 34
Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was on parole in January 2009 when he was arrested for arson in the third degree and related offenses stemming from two separate incidents involving the same victim. Petitioner subsequently commenced a CPLR 70…
Date: March 22, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02122
Docket Number: 42
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of robbery in the first degree, and robbery in the first degree. At issue was whether CPL 430.10 precluded the Appellate Division from…
Date: March 22, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02125
Docket Number: 50
Justia Opinion Summary: The Town commenced this proceeding to challenge the DEC's denial of portions of its request for information under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), Public Officers Law 87[2][g]. Specifically, the Town, a…
Date: March 22, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02126
Docket Number: 54
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when the superintendent of the school district preferred eight charges of misconduct and/or incompetence against petitioner, then the business manager for the school district. At issue was whether persons…
Date: March 22, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 02127
Docket Number: 60
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of second degree murder. The Appellate Division reversed and ordered a new trial, holding that there was a violation of CPL 310.20(2) and that harmless error analysis could not be applied. The…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01318
Docket Number: 15
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when defendants' daughter revealed to her parents that plaintiff had raped and molested her when she was 10 and 12 years old. Defendants notified plaintiff's wife about her husband's alleged actions and…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01319
Docket Number: 16
Justia Opinion Summary: Under Real Property Tax Law 523-b, the State Legislature authorized Nassau County to establish the Nassau County Assessment Review Commission (ARC) for the purpose of "reviewing and correcting all assessments of real…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01320
Docket Number: 20
Justia Opinion Summary: Insurer commenced the instant suit against insureds, alleging eight causes of action and requesting a declaration that the insurer's policy provided no coverage or duty to indemnify any amount paid or payable by insured…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01321
Docket Number: 21
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when defendant, landlord, without giving notice to or receiving permission from plaintiff, entered the demised premises at issue and installed cross-bracing between two existing steel support columns on…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01322
Docket Number: 23
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was injured when he fell from a ladder in a factory while cleaning a product manufactured by his employer. The product in question was a steel "wall module" made by the third party defendant. At issue was…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01323
Docket Number: 7
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a nontenured teacher, commenced this action against defendants asserting causes of action for prima facie tort and tortious interference with prospective contractual relations. The complaint alleged, inter…
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01325
Docket Number: 85 SSM 5
Date: February 21, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01324
Docket Number: 9
Justia Opinion Summary: The Helseths first learned of the underlying foreclosure action and a scheduled auction sale of the property at issue when they were informed by their real estate broker that potential buyers had inquired about the lot.…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01142
Docket Number: 10
Justia Opinion Summary: RECAP, a tax-exempt charitable organization and owner of properties in the City of Middletown, commenced a CPLR article 78 proceeding against the City, challenging the legally of the City's tax assessments. In this…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01143
Docket Number: 12
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of attempted first degree assault, second degree assault, and unlawful imprisonment for attacking his wife. At issue was whether defendant's identity was so conclusively established as to prevent…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01144
Docket Number: 13
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of murder in the second degree for strangling his roommate. The primary issue on appeal was whether the trial court properly admitted evidence of defendant's uncharged murder to rebut defendant's…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01145
Docket Number: 18
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, Michael Stolzman and Judith Rost, commenced separate actions against various defendants, including Michael and Susan Oliver, alleging claims for a violation of the Dram Shop Act, General Obligations Law…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01147
Docket Number: 28
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of driving while ability impaired after a motor vehicle stop. On appeal, defendant maintained that the trial court erred in permitting the People to introduce as proof of consciousness of guilt…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01148
Docket Number: 4
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a park maintenance worker, sued several defendants, including GFC, claiming that a subcontractor's improper disposal of construction debris caused her serious and permanent injuries when, in the course of her…
Date: February 16, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01149
Docket Number: 5
Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned a dispute over ownership of Jacques Lipchitz's, the Russian-born cubist sculptor, bronze sculpture, "The Cry." Jacques' wife, Yulla, inherited the work of art after he died. Yulla subsequently entered…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01096
Docket Number: 1
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs sued defendants, claiming that Administrative Code of the City of New York 27-1031(b)(1) imposed absolute liability on defendants whose excavation work caused damage to adjoining property. The court held that,…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01100
Docket Number: 2
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when petitioner, owner of a residential apartment building, passed along the costs of a "major capital improvement" (MCI) to its tenants by filing an application with the DHCR once the work was completed.…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01097
Docket Number: 22
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01098
Docket Numbers: 25, 26
Justia Opinion Summary: These cases called upon the court to decide whether petitioners were required to exhaust an available internal appeal procedure before challenging the termination of their probationary employment at the City of New…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01099
Docket Numbers: 29, 30
Justia Opinion Summary: The Drug Law Reform Act of 2009 permitted resentencing for persons in the custody of the Department of Corrections who were serving an indeterminate sentence with a maximum term of more than three years for a Penal Law…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01101
Docket Number: 31
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the Drug Law Resentencing Act of 2009 (DLRA-3), certain defendants serving indeterminate sentences imposed pursuant to the now repealed Rockefeller Drug Laws for class B drug felonies, may apply for resentencing.…
Date: February 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 01102
Docket Number: 84 SSM 2
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00851
Docket Number: 11
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, defendant was indicted for charges related to the sexual assault of his step-granddaughter, Jane. When Jane was 19 years old, she informed police that she had been sexually assaulted by defendant on three…
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00852
Docket Number: 14
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00853
Docket Number: 17
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00854
Docket Number: 27
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when petitioner, a tenured assistance principal in the City's public school system, approached a principal at a middle school in the district to request favorable treatment for petitioner's son, a teacher…
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00856
Docket Number: 3
Justia Opinion Summary: This case arose when defendant agreed in three separate contracts to sell three properties to plaintiffs. At issue was whether a buyer in a damages suit like this one must show that it was ready, willing, and able to…
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00855
Docket Number: 32
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his convictions for health care fraud in the fourth degree and grand larceny in the third degree. The primary issue on appeal was the legal sufficiency of the evidence. The court held that defendant's…
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00857
Docket Number: 6
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff SPCA of Upstate New York is a New York corporation and plaintiff Cathy Cloutier is its executive director. Defendant AWCA is an Ohio not-for-profit corporation and its president, defendant Jean Levitt, was a…
Date: February 9, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00858
Docket Number: 8
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and second degree murder. The principal issues on appeal where whether courtroom seating arrangements wherein court officers stationed themselves directly behind defendant…
Date: January 12, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00107
Docket Number: 63 SSM 45
Date: January 10, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00089
Docket Number: 224
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, administrator of decedent's estate, brought this negligence and wrongful death action against defendant. At issue was whether the trial court, in awarding preverdict interest, properly discounted wrongful…
Date: January 5, 2012
Citation: 2012 NY Slip Op 00023
Docket Number: 229
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a longstanding dispute over who bore the burden of paying the educational costs for the children of St. Basil, a child car institution located within the boundaries of the school district and housed…
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