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 reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the publication should be mailed to: Permissions Constitution Press, LLC 8233 Turnstone Drive Manlius, New York 13104 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