Breaking News and Updates
Court System Updates Client's Rights Statement, NYLJ, May 10, 2013
Mothers Convicted of Felonies May Get Chance to Stay Out of Prison, NY Times, May 8, 2013
DSM to Distinguish Paraphilias from Paraphilic Disorders, Psy. News, May 3, 2013
Federal Suit Claims Police Distort Marijuana Searches to Create Misdemeanors, NY Times, May 1, 2013
In Misdemeanor Cases, Long Waits for Elusive Trials, NY Times, April 30, 2013
Boise State Professor Invents DNA Tool to Help Prevent Contamination, KIVI TV, April 29, 2013
For the latest court opinions and filings, see US Sup Ct, 2nd Cir, and NY; for case summaries, see US Sup Ct Review, 2nd Cir Blog, NY Ct App Update, NY Criminal Defense, and 4th Dept.
NYSDA at Budget Hearing: Justice Is Still Not Being Done as Gideon Turns 50
Without adequate state funding, counties in New York cannot meet the responsibility for public defense services delegated to them by the State after Gideon v. Wainwright, NYSDA Executive Director Jonathan E. Gradess told legislators at a joint budget hearing on Feb. 6, 2013. See his testimony in support of funding for NYSDA's Public Defense Backup Center, the ILS Office, and other programs here (PDF). And see his testimony here.
Statement in Opposition to Audio-Visual Arraignments
As counties and public defense providers work toward making counsel available at initial court appearances (see the Indigent Legal Services Office RFP on this issue here), some suggestion has been made that clients, and perhaps lawyers, participate only remotely, via video. NYSDA opposes this long-discredited idea, as set out in this position paper.
50th Anniversary of Gideon v Wainwright: A Time for Advocacy
Fifty years after the U.S. Supreme Court decided its famous case recognizing the right to counsel, this vital constitutional guarantee remains unfulfilled. On March 18th and beyond, NYSDA and others will be observing Gideon’s golden anniversary by advocating for improvement in public defense services. Read more about the Gideon case and its anniversary here.
NYS Office of Indigent Legal Services
The purpose of the Office of Indigent Legal Services ("Office") is "to monitor, study and make efforts to improve the quality of services provided pursuant to article eighteen-B of the county law." Executive Law Article 30, Section 832(1). The Office does not provide legal assistance or lawyer referrals to individuals. Rather, it operates under the direction and pursuant to policies established by the Board to assist county governments and indigent legal services providers in the exercise of their responsibility under County Law Article 18-B to provide the effective assistance of counsel to those persons who are legally entitled to counsel, but cannot afford to hire an attorney. For more information about the Office, click here
Jonathan Gradess Interviewed on Capital Tonight (YNN) and Capital Pressroom
March 18th marks the 50th Anniversary of the landmark US Supreme Court decision in Gideon v. Wainwright. On Feb. 7th, NYSDA Executive Director Jonathan E. Gradess spoke with Liz Benjamin about Gideon's legacy and the current state of its right to counsel mandate in New York. See a video of the Capital Tonight interview here. And on Feb. 28th, Mr. Gradess was interviewed by Susan Arbetter. Hear the interview here..
NYSDA's Client Advisory Board Member King to Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Darryl King, a member of the New York State Defenders Association's Client Advisory Board, received the Eddie Ellis Life Time Achievement Award on November 30th. Created by Citizens Against Recidivism, Inc. the award honors the accomplishments of people who were formerly incarcerated.
2012 Expansion of DNA Databank—Effective August 1, 2012
Earlier this year, Governor Cuomo signed a bill to expand the list of designated offenders who are required to give a DNA sample [Executive Law § 995(7)] to include all persons convicted of a felony or a Penal Law misdemeanor, except for first-time offenders convicted of Penal Law § 221.10(1). (L 2012, ch 19, as amended by ch 55, Part A). The new list of designated offenses applies to convictions on or after August 1, 2012. A summary of the DNA legislation passed earlier this year appears in the January-March 2012 issue of the Public Defense Backup Center REPORT. (pp. 4-6). A list of the current DNA databank qualifying offenses is available on the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services' website at http://www.criminaljustice.ny.gov/forensic/dnaoffenses.htm.
NYSDA Joins a Host of Others – NYSACDL, It Could Happen to You, the NYCLU, NACDL, The Legal Aid Society of New York City, the New York State Bar Association, and The Innocence Project – Calling for Discovery and Innocence reforms.
Early and full disclosure to the defense of information that could help show a client's innocence would help prevent wrongful convictions. Need for such discovery reform, and support for the Lentol discovery bill (A. 6907) was stressed by NYSDA's Executive Director on May 30, 2012 during a press conference sponsored by The Innocence Project and the New York State Bar Association. Pending legislation highlighted at the event included bills requiring police to videotape interrogations in full as a way of preventing or revealing false confessions and mandating "double-blind" police identification procedures to avoid conscious or unconscious influence on witnesses to pick out a suspect. For more about the press conference, click here and here.
How and Why to Get Clients' and Witnesses' Rap Sheets
Lawyers representing clients in criminal and family court proceedings need to know what, if any, criminal histories their clients have, and also the criminal histories of potential witnesses in their clients' cases. A number of barriers exist to getting that information, especially for clients who lack financial means. NYSDA has prepared a document that describes why criminal history information is important, how attorneys can try to obtain it, and the reform measures needed to help public defense providers and their counties get the information efficiently at less cost. Read it here (PDF).
