The 2012-2013 term of the New York Court of Appeals saw the untimely death of Judge Theodore Jones, the mandatory retirement of Judge Carmen Ciparick, and the appointment of Judges Jenny Rivera and Sheila Abdus-Salaam. As a result, from late November to early June, the court did not have its full complement of seven members. Nonetheless, it issued 89 opinions in criminal law cases, of which many are noteworthy.
In People v. Rudolph, the court held that if a defendant is eligible to be treated as a youthful offender (Y/O), a sentencing court "must determine whether he or she is to be so treated."1 "Must" is the word used in CPL §720.20(1), and the court held that it means what it says. Compliance with the statutory command cannot be dispensed with "even where [i] defendant has failed to ask to be treated as a youthful offender, or [ii] has purported to waive his or her right to make such a request." Rudolph overruled People v. McGowen, a 35-year-old precedent.2
