New York Court of Appeals Decisions 2022

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that, in accordance with N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law. (CPL) 730, when a defendant is not in custody, a court has only the authority to either order a competency examination on an out-patient basis or…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals concluded that "regular salary or wages" within the meaning of N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law 207-a(2) includes monetary compensation to which current firefighters are contractually entitled based on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the appellate division reversing Supreme Court's order granting the petition filed by the City of Yorkers pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R. 75 to permanently stay arbitration of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the appellate term holding that the evidence was legally insufficient to support Defendant's conviction of harassment in the second degree beyond a reasonable doubt, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division affirming the conclusion of County Court that N.Y. Corr. Law 168-a(3)(b) required it to designate Defendant a sexually violent offender because he was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that, for purposes of New York's Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) 9-406, an "assignee" includes the holder of a presently exercisable security interest in an assignor's receivables. New Style…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals declined to expand the Court of Appeals' special duty doctrine to the facts in this case in which the victim's mother and brother, now serving prison terms, sexually assaulted, abused, and murdered…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the Appellate Division affirming Defendant's conviction for second-degree rape in satisfaction of the indictment against him, holding that the Appellate Division…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the Appellate Division reversing the judgment of Supreme Court dismissing the indictment against Defendant under N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law 210.35(5), holding that the prosecutor was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division and reinstated the original award for workers' compensation benefits in this case to the decedent's minor son, holding that N.Y. Work. Comp. Law (WCL)…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that Plaintiffs' original complaint alleging that Defendant breached the parties' written insurance policy and that Plaintiffs had fully complied with the requirements contained in the policy…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the Taylor Law, N.Y. Civ. Serv. 200 et seq., requires a municipality to engage in collective bargaining over the procedures for terminating municipal employees after they have been absent…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children (ICPC) does not apply to out-of-state, noncustodial parents seeking custody of their children who are not in custody of New York social…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the appellate decision affirming the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of two counts of robbery in the second degree and assault in the second degree, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division reversing the judgment of Supreme Court concluding that Petitioners did not establish that the recently amended Insurance Regulation 187, 11 N.Y.C.R.R.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division in this case, holding that an indemnification provision in the partnership agreement between Plaintiff and Defendant lacked express language or indicia of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed, as modified in accordance with this opinion, the order of the appellate division vacating Defendant's conviction of promoting prostitution in the second degree and otherwise affirming his…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Division affirming Supreme Court's judgment dismissing HSBC Bank USA, National Association's claim against the sponsor of an underlying transaction seeking to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the Appellate Term insofar as appealed from in this criminal case, holding that the court mistakenly relied on amended language in granting Defendant's motion to dismiss the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that a grievance complaint filed with the assessor or board of assessment review at the administrative level by a net lessee who is contractually obligated to pay real estate taxes on the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the Appellate Tern affirming Defendant's conviction of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree in satisfaction of the accusatory instrument, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the courts below granting a motion to dismiss Nonhuman Rights Project's petition for writ of habeas corpus seeking to secure the transfer of Happy, an elephant residing at…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of fraudulent accosting and sentencing him to time served, holding that the complaint was facially sufficient. On appeal, Defendant argued that the term…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the Appellate Division affirming as modified the order of Supreme Court ruling that the underlying action to foreclose on a mortgage was time-barred pursuant to N.Y. C.P.L.R.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's conviction of murder in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that the effect of the trial judge's erroneous evidentiary rulings in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that when an employer pays premiums to a mutual insurance company to obtain a policy for its employee and the insurance company demutualizes, the employee is entitled to the proceeds from…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the Appellate Division reversing Defendant's convictions for attempted use of a child in a sexual performance and other offenses and holding that a new trial was required…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals declared void the legislature's congressional and state senate maps, holding that judicial oversight is required to facilitate the expeditious creation of constitutionally-conforming maps for use in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court awarding damages in favor of Plaintiff alleging that a commercial talcum powder that his deceased wife used daily for a period of more than ten years during…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the first degree and robbery in the first degree, holding that there was no evidentiary error in the proceedings below. At issue on appeal was the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that separate schedule loss of use (SLU) awards for different injuries to the same statutory member are contemplated by N.Y. Work. Comp. Law **(WCL) 15 and that, when a complainant proves that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reiterated that plaintiffs must establish that a municipality owed them a special duty when they assert a negligence claim based on actions taken by the municipality acting in a governmental capacity…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the appellate division modifying and affirming the judgment of Supreme Court declaring that article 14 of the Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and breeding Law violates the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the Appellate Division modifying the order of Supreme Court by granting Plaintiff summary judgment on his claim brought under N.Y. Labor Law 241(6), holding that the section…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction, entered pursuant to a guilty plea, to the class A misdemeanor of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this residential mortgage-backed securities case, the Court of Appeals held that the contractual "sole remedy repurchase protocol" required that a trustee (Plaintiff) provide loan-specific pre-suit notice in order to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction of four counts of assault in the first degree for his participation in an attack involving two victims, holding that Defendant's allegations of error were unavailing.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that a loft unit located in an interim multiple dwelling covered by the provisions of the Loft Law but exempt from the rent regulations of the Loft Law, Multiple Dwelling Law article 7-C, by…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the two-hour rule in N.Y. Veh. & Traf. Law 1194(2)(a)(1) authorizing a chemical test to be taken from a motorist based upon deemed consent is not applicable to a Department of Motor…

Justia Opinion Summary: In response to questions certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Court of Appeals held that inferences of vesting of retiree health insurance rights when construing a collective…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that N.Y. Labor Law 198-b, which prohibits wage kickbacks, does not contain an implied private right of action. Plaintiff, who worked as a math teacher at Utica Academy of Science Charter…