Defendant's Guide to Criminal Appeals Review & Parole in New York

208 Pages·2007·0.44 MB·English

DEFENDANTS’ GUIDE
TO APPEALS,
REVIEW AND PAROLE
IN NEW YORK
FIRST EDITION
by
BRUCE R. BRYAN
Adjunct Professor of Law,
Cornell Law School
Attorney at Law
333 East Onondaga Street
Syracuse, New York 13202
Constitution Press. LLC
© 2005 Bruce Robert Bryan
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
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Printed in the United States of America.
“I was in prison and you came to me. . . .”
The Purpose Of This Guide
This Guide is intended to provide a basic overview of
criminal appeals, post-conviction proceedings and parole in
New York. It is written in simple language. It is important for
you to understand the appellate and parole system so that you
may participate and communicate effectively with your attorney
to produce the best possible appeal, post-conviction motion,
and parole application or parole appeal. Also, if you must
represent yourself, this Guide should be an invaluable tool.
The Appendix in the back of this book contains important
additional information and forms that show how to apply the
advice contained in this Guide.
Because the aim of this Guide is to give you a basic
understanding, it may omit exceptions that apply to your case.
This Guide is only a starting point for understanding your rights
and options. You should discuss your case in detail with your
attorney regarding your legal issues and any exceptions that
may apply. Also, detailed legal research should disclose the
rules and exceptions that may apply to your case.
This Guide should also be helpful to lawyers and law
students as an introduction to criminal appeals, post-conviction
proceedings and parole in New York. Effective representation
begins with a basic understanding of the appellate process.
SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 WHAT CAN YOU DO AFTER CONVICTION?
Chapter 2 FINDING THE RIGHT ATTORNEY AND YOUR
ROLE AS A CLIENT
Chapter 3 CONDUCTING LEGAL RESEARCH
Chapter 4 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN AN APPEAL?
Chapter 5 EFFECTIVE ORAL ARGUMENTS
Chapter 6 MOTIONS FOR PERMISSION TO APPEAL TO
THE COURT OF APPEALS
Chapter 7 440 MOTIONS
Chapter 8 PETITIONS FOR FEDERAL WRITS OF
HABEAS CORPUS
Chapter 9 PAROLE HEARINGS AND APPEALS
APPENDIX
BIBLIOGRAPHY
CONTENTS
Page No.
Chapter 1 WHAT CAN YOU DO AFTER
CONVICTION? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
440 Motions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Federal Writs Of Habeas Corpus . . . . . . . . . 3
Parole Applications and Parole Appeals . . . . 4
Chapter 2 FINDING THE RIGHT ATTORNEY
AND YOUR ROLE AS A CLIENT . . . . . . . . 5
Your Right To An Attorney On A
Direct Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Retaining An Appellate Attorney . . . . . . . . . . 6
Communicating With Your Attorney . . . . . . . 7
Your Role In An Appeal Or Post-Conviction
Proceeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Chapter 3 CONDUCTING LEGAL RESEARCH . . . . . . 9
The Difference Between State and
Federal Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Basics About Criminal Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Different Books Have Different Purposes . . 14
Case Reporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Treatises And Legal Encyclopedias . . . . . . 17
Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Digests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Reference Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Ordering Books That Are Not In The
Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Shepardizing Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Computerized Research And Unpublished
Opinions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Understanding Precedent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Understanding The Reason You Are
Citing A Case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Case Citation Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 4 WHAT IS INVOLVED IN AN APPEAL? . . . 29
Understanding The Appellate Court System
In New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
How An Appeal Is Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Components Of An Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
What Is A Record And An Appendix? . . . . . 34
Identifying The Issues To Be Raised On
Your Appeal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Assembling And Reading The Record . . . . 37
The Importance Of The Brief . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Understanding Appellate Judges . . . . . . . . 38
Purpose Of The Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Criticisms That Judges Have Of Briefs . . . . 41
Parts Of The Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
People’s Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Reply Brief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Oral Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Court’s Decision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 5 EFFECTIVE ORAL ARGUMENTS . . . . . . . 45
Object Of Oral Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Knowing Your Audience: The Judges . . . . . 45
A Good Brief Helps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Outline The Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Familiarizing The Judges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Getting To The Heart Of The Case . . . . . . . 46
Handling Questions From The Bench . . . . . 46
The Importance Of Credibility . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Chapter 6 APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION TO
APPEAL TO THE COURT OF APPEALS . 48
Some Issues Are Not Appealable To The
Court Of Appeals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
In Which Court Do You Make The
Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Thirty-Day Time Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Motion For Re-Argument . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Contents Of The Application . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Factors That A Judge Considers . . . . . . . . 51
Exhausting Your State Remedies . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter 7 440 MOTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
The Eight Grounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Statutory Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
The Nuts And Bolts Of A 440 Motion . . . . . 56
There Is No Time Limit For Filing A
440 Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Gathering Facts To Support Your
440 Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Alternatives For The Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Appealing From The Denial Of A
440 Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Chapter 8 PETITIONS FOR FEDERAL
WRITS OF HABEAS CORPUS . . . . . . . . . 71
One Year Time Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Petitions Are Governed By Federal Law . . . 72
You Must Be In Custody And Have
Exhausted Your State Remedies . . . . . . . . 72
Preservation Of A Federal Issue . . . . . . . . . 73
Where Do You File The Petition . . . . . . . . . 73
Alternatives For The Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Appealing A Denial To The Second Circuit 74
Chapter 9 PAROLE HEARINGS AND APPEALS . . . 75
The Parole Board And Parole Officer . . . . . 75
The Parole Board Is Required To Consider
A Number Of Factors Regarding Parole . . . 75
Your Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Improving What Your Folder Says
About You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Your Institutional Record . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Certificate Of Earned Eligibility . . . . . . . . . . 77