New York Court of Appeals Decisions 2023

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) withheld 11 documents from a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request by Appellate Advocates, arguing that the documents were…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals of the State of New York held that the plaintiff, a certified diesel technician, was not engaged in an activity protected by Labor Law § 240 (1) when he was injured while repairing a trailer. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2017, two police officers observed Devon T. Butler, the appellant, engage in what they believed was a hand-to-hand drug transaction. After observing Butler fail to stop at a stop sign, the officers initiated a traffic…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a criminal matter, the Court of Appeals of New York held that when the prosecution calls a witness who may make a first-time, in-court identification of the defendant, they must ensure that the defendant is aware of…

Justia Opinion Summary: An incarcerated individual developed a mass under his armpit and was referred to a surgeon who had a contract with the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS). The surgeon performed a biopsy, which…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2021, Michael Bay was arrested for alleged harassment of his mother. After the prosecution filed a certificate of compliance (COC) indicating readiness for trial, the defense discovered that the prosecution had not…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, a worker, Thomas Lazalee, filed a claim for benefits after suffering a right thumb injury and carpal tunnel syndrome, for which he underwent surgery. His employer, Wegman's Food Markets, Inc., did not challenge…

Justia Opinion Summary: The New York Court of Appeals held that the New York State Independent Redistricting Commission (IRC) failed to fulfill its constitutional duties for redistricting maps after the 2020 census. The court affirmed a lower…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree in violation of Cal. Penal Law 265.03, holding that Supreme Court erred in permitting admission of prior bad…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction, upon a jury verdict, of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, criminal possession of marijuana in the fifth degree, and unlawful possession of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's conviction for one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that the record did not support the trial court's conclusion that Defendant was not in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's conviction for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that none of Defendant's contentions on appeal provided grounds for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, holding that Defendant's first challenge was…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction, holding Supreme Court should have suppressed a gun as the product of an impermissible stop because the police officers…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that requiring Defendant, who was not a sex offender, to register as a sex offender and comply with the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) in this case violated his due process rights and did…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction on two counts of murder in the second degree and one count of robbery in the second degree, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree, holding that the admission of two autopsy reports through an expert witness…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the appellate division affirming Defendant's convictions for second degree robbery and petit larceny, holding that admission of a criminalist's testimony and underlying…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals answered in the affirmative a certified question asked by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit asked the Court of Appeals in this case centering around a life insurance policy…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the appellate division affirming the judgment of Supreme Court granting in part Petitioners' combined N.Y. C.P.L.R. 78 proceeding and declaratory judgment action to challenge…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the appellate division reversing the decision of Supreme Court granting Plaintiffs summary judgment and enjoining enforcement of New York City Administrative Code 10-181,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the appellate division in this action, holding that substantial evidence supported the determination of the Tax Appeals Tribunal that Petitioner willfully failed to pay…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the appellate division affirming the judgment of Supreme Court granting Respondents' motions to dismiss Petitioners' amended N.Y. C.P.L.R. 78 petition as time-barred, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division affirming the judgment of Supreme Court denying Defendant's motion to suppress the firearm found in the vehicle he was driving, holding that the People…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the legislature's grant of rulemaking authority to the Commission on Forensic Sciences was sufficient to authorize the Commission's promulgation of the Familial DNA Search (FDS) Regulations…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals answered in the negative the question of whether Insurance Law 3203(a)(2), which requires insurers to refund a portion of a life insurance premium "if the death of the insured occurs during a period…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the charges against Petitioner, a Justice of the Whitehall Town Court and Whitehall Village Court, Washington County, were sustained by the evidence and that the sanction of removal from…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the trial court applying New York's Rape Shield Law, N.Y. C.P.L. 60.42, to exclude forensic evidence proffered by Defendant to demonstrate that that the evidence the prosecution…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the appellate division reversing the judgment of Supreme Court denying Petitioner's N.Y. C.P.L.R. 70 habeas corpus petition and dismissing the proceeding, holding that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division reversing Supreme Court's conclusion that the application of the Sexual Assault Reform Act (SARA) to Petitioner violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the conclusion of the appellate division that the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) court acted within its discretion by upwardly departing to level three in determining Defendant's risk…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the appellate court reversing a county court order designating Defendant a level three sex offender and remitting the matter for consideration of whether an upward departure…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals modified the decision of the appellate division in this case challenging the devaluation of certain securities, holding that the relevant language in the governing agreements did not impose an…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this defamation suit involving a music producer and the singer and songwriter known as "Kesha" the Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division reversing Supreme Court's decision granting Defendant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that warrantless inspections authorized by New York regulations adopting a rule promulgated by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) requiring the installation of electronic…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the negligence claims brought in this case involving two separate murders on property owned by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) should advance to a jury trial. Bridget Crushshon…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that tier three police officers in the New York City Police Pension Fund (PPF) who might otherwise be eligible for retirement credit under certain statutory provisions may not use those…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that this dispute over an exempt class employee's termination was not arbitrable, thus reversing the order of the appellate division and denying a petition to compel arbitration, and that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction, following a jury trial, of second-degree murder and second-degree weapon possession, holding that Defendant's Sixth…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the appellate division affirming Defendant's conviction, following a jury trial, of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, holding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the appellate division affirming the judgment of Supreme Court denying the County of St. Lawrence's action seeking a declaratory judgment that Local Law No. 2-2021 of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division concluding that the underlying challenge to Local Law No. 9-2014 was not time barred by either a four-month or a six-year statute of limitations, holding…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the denial of Defendant's motion to suppress evidence seized as a result of a stop and frisk, holding that the circumstances of this case did not warrant a level three stop and frisk under…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part Defendant's criminal convictions, holding that the count of the indictment charging Defendant with aggravated family offense was jurisdictionally defective and must…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Appellate Division dismissing Plaintiffs' claims that Taxi and Limousine Commission and New York City breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In these consolidated cases in which both plaintiffs sought to recover for injuries sustained during organized sports practices for high school athletic teams and appealed from orders granting Defendants' motions for…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute between two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams and their co-owned regional sports network the Court of Appeals affirmed as modified the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the confirmation of a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reformulated a question certified to it by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and concluded that Plaintiff's allegations did not state a cognizable cause of action for breach…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that N.Y. Gen. Mun. Law 205-b does not authorize a claim against a fire district for the negligence of a volunteer firefighter when the firefighter's actions are otherwise privileged and subject…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of the appellate division affirming the summary denial of Defendant's N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law (CPL) 440 motion, holding that the district court's summary denial of Defendant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury action, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal brought by defendant New Jersey Transit Corporation and driver Renaud Pierrelouis (collectively, NJT), holding that NJT failed to preserve its…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the order of the Appellate Division affirming the decision of Supreme Court granting summary judgment against Plaintiff and dismissing its complaint alleging that Saratoga County erroneously…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the appellate division affirming the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of rape in the first degree, holding that Defendant's constitutional right to prompt…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the appellate division affirming the judgment of Supreme Court granting Defendant's motion to dismiss this breach of contract action for lack of personal jurisdiction,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the order of the appellate division affirming as modified the judgment of supreme court in favor of Plaintiff on her claim that Defendants had violated her due process rights during…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the inclusion of concise and relevant additional information does not void an otherwise proper notice to borrowers sent pursuant to N.Y. Real. Prop. Acts. Law (RPAPL) 1304 and thus does not…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the Department of Civil Service's (DCS) unilateral implementation of application fees for promotional and transitional civil service exams was not a term and condition of employment, as…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals held that the Department Environmental Conservation (DEC) may process renewal and modification applications when those applications seek to mine land that falls within the scope of an undisputed…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, holding that the trial court erred in admitting into evidence without proper…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed Defendant's conviction of one count each of attempted assault in the first degree and assault in the second degree and two counts of criminal contempt, holding that the trial judge committed…