A former firefighter convicted of growing marijuana in a Queens basement should have been allowed to respond to new evidence introduced in the prosecution’s rebuttal with new evidence of his own, a divided federal appeals panel has ruled, vacating the conviction and ordering a new trial.
A 2-1 panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled on Wednesday that the firefighter, Patrick Murray, was denied a fair trial before Eastern District Judge John Gleeson (See Profile). Judge Pierre Leval (See Profile) wrote the majority opinion, joined by Robert Sack (See Profile). Judge Peter Hall (See Profile) dissented.
