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Unfotunatly I was unable to attend Any court sessions because of personal conflicts that I have had to deal with in the past week. So what I was able to do is call the court where most of my classmates went and get an address on the web where I was able to download the exact cases that they viewed. Between this and talking to them I was able to Formulate opinions based on this information.
The first case that I reviewed was People versus Freddy Lambert. The prosecutor was Richard Nahas. The defending attorney was Robin Nichinsky. This case was an appeal to a previous burgalory conviction in the second degree and attempted criminal trespass is the second degree back on June 12, 1997. The judge was John Cataldo. He was sentenced as a second felony offender to concurrent terms of five years and one year respectively. It was a unanimous decision based on the law and facts to be convicted of attempted criminal trespass in the second degree and dismissing that count of the indictment.
The evidence was legally sufficient to support the defendant's conviction of attempted burglary in the second degree. The verdict was not against the weight of the evidence. The jury rejected the defendant's explanation for his conduct. They believed that he tried to enter the premises with criminal intent, but the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction of criminal trespass in the second degree. This was because there was no evidence of an attempt to enter the premises. It was decided that the criminal trespass conviction was against the weight of the evidence. Since the defendant did not ask the court to look at his past criminal record and take it into consideration, there will be no appellate review of this case.
The second case was the People versus Hector Rodriguez. It was held at 862 The People of the State of New York. The prosecuting attorney was Michael Sobie, and the defending attorney was Peter Blum. It would be redundant to say that this case was also in appeal because all the cases I observed were in appeal because it was appellate court. On December 5, 1995 the defendant was convicted upon his pleas of guilty to robbery in the second degree, and attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree. Judge Phylis Skloot Bamberger sentenced the defendant as a second felony offender, to consecutive terms of five years and one and a half to three years, respectively. This decision was unanimous.
The court denied the defendants motion to suppress statements and identification testimony as fruit of an unlawful arrest because it was found that the defendant was provided with sufficient information about the means for his arrest. The deciding factor was the defendants failure to use his opportunity to protest the courts ruling before the hearings were ordered. This established the defendants abandonment of the issue.
The third case was the People versus Eugene Merritt. It was held at 877 The People of the State of New York. The prosecutor was Jessica Bier, and the defending attorney was Catharine Easterly. Judge Martin Rettinger rendered a May 6 1997 decision convicting the defendant, after a jury trial, of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree. Sentencing him to concurrent terms of five to ten years. This was also a unanimous decision.
The defendant requested an assignment of new council. Since the defendant did not establish good cause for such substitution the court denied the defendants request. When the judge made this decision the defendant was very hostile with his council. This did not help his cause, by any means.
The fourth was the People versus Allen Callendar. It was held at 868 The People of the State of New York. The prosecutor was Annica Jin. The defending attorney was Steven Feinman. On November 18, 1997 judge James Yates convicted the defendant of criminal possession of stolen property in the third degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, and unauthorized use of a vehicle in the second degree. The judge sentenced him as a second felony offender to concurrent terms of three to six years, two to four years and one and a half to three years, respectively.
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