In this month’s column we first provide an update of the status of the vacancies on the Court of Appeals. We then discuss two criminal cases in which the Court reached opposite conclusions on whether a defendant had been deprived of effective assistance of counsel. We also discuss a criminal case in which the Court found that the failure of the police to electronically record a custodial interrogation does not necessitate an adverse inference instruction against the People. Lastly, we discuss a case in which the Court elaborated on the standing requirements for challenges to governmental actions in land use matters.

Composition of the Court

On Dec. 1, 2015 Governor Andrew Cuomo nominated Judge Janet DiFiore to be the Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals. As we noted in last month’s column, the Judiciary Law requires the New York State Senate to confirm or deny the appointment no later than 30 days after the nomination. The Court currently has six members by reason of the retirement of Judge Susan Read on Aug. 24, 2015, and that number will be reduced to five on Dec. 31, 2015, upon the retirement of Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman. A slate of nominees for Judge Read’s seat has not yet been sent to the governor.

This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.

To view this content, please continue to their sites.

Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now

Why am I seeing this?

LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.

For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]