11 results for 'judge:"Singas"'.
J. Singas finds that the appellate term should have suppressed evidence discovered during a traffic stop in defendant's trial on drug possession charges because whether the windows of defendant's vehicle had been "excessively tinted" to constitute probable cause had been subjective. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: May 16, 2024, Case #: 50, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. Singas answers a certified question by finding that human rights laws of New York state and city provide protections from employment discrimination to nonresidents who are not yet employed in city- or state-based jobs, but who proactively sought such employment. A South Asian-American journalist working outside New York claimed her race and sex kept her from a job in New York City because the occupation was not labeled a "diversity slot" by her employer. Thus, the alleged discrimination met the precedential test of having an impact within city-state boundaries.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: 20, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. Singas finds that defendant was properly convicted of murder, attempted murder, and assault stemming from an altercation outside a bar that resulted in a stabbing death and serious injury from a neck slashing. The jury was instructed on justification in light of the self-defense claims, but the court did not abuse its discretion by failing to revisit that information when deliberating jurors asked to be recharged on the elements of the alleged crimes. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 03, Categories: Self Defense, Jury Instructions
J. Singas finds that the appellate division improperly annulled a finding that a letter threatening legal action against a nonprofit constituted retaliation. An apartment complex owner sent the letter after the nonprofit sent an agent to pose as a prospective tenant, which led to the claim that the apartment complex attempted to steer her to a different building upon discovering she intended to bring her children to live with her. The matter should be remanded since the state division of human rights shifted the burden to the owner to prove the nonprofit acted in bad faith in alleging familial discrimination. Reversed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: February 15, 2024, Case #: 02, Categories: Anti-slapp, Housing
J. Singas finds that the appellate division properly dismissed workplace injury claims brought after a commercial trailer fell on a heavy-equipment mechanic when he was lifted by a front loader bucket so he could work underneath. Because the mechanic was involved in ordinary vehicle repair, he was not engaged in the kind of protected "elevation-related hazard" of erecting, demolishing, or altering a structure. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: 94, Categories: Tort, Labor
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J. Singas finds that defendant was properly convicted of committing a shooting at a house party based on a first-time in-court identification by a neighbor, who had not made a pre-trial identification even though she reported the shooting, because she established her reliability as an eyewitness before taking the stand. Defendant had not received formal notice but was made aware his neighbor would ID him at trial. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: December 14, 2023, Case #: 28, Categories: Witnesses, Identification
J. Singas finds that the appellate division properly held that confrontation violations had not occurred in convicting defendant, a nanny, of the stabbing deaths of two children in her care because the admission of "testimonial" autopsy reports and the failure to allow defendant to cross-examine the medical examiner who wrote the reports constituted harmless error in light of the overwhelming evidence of guilt, including the confession entered in mounting an insanity defense. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: November 20, 2023, Case #: 74, Categories: Confrontation, Evidence, Murder
J. Singas finds that the appellate division properly held that police followed inventory search protocol in discovering a firearm in defendant's vehicle following a traffic stop. Defendant challenges the constitutionality of the protocol, but such was followed as outlined in the department's written patrol guide. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: October 24, 2023, Case #: 68, Categories: Firearms, Search
J. Singas answers a certified question from the second circuit by finding that the plain language of New York insurance law does not apply to discretionary payments made into interest-bearing policy accounts as part of a universal life insurance policy. Unlike term or whole life policies that mandate fixed, periodic premiums and refund paid portions upon death, universal policies allow payments in any amount at any time that applies to the policy value.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: 59, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance
J. Singas finds that the appellate division properly held that ex post facto violations had not occurred when parole for defendant, a sex offender, had been held up by amendments barring release until he could find housing away from school grounds. The restriction resulted in additional time behind bars, but that occurrence was not so pervasive as to make the amendments unconstitutional.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: June 15, 2023, Case #: 47, Categories: Ex Post Facto, Sex Offender
J. Singas finds that the appellate division properly held that New York City police officers occupying tier three rankings for pension purposes could not apply non-police work performed earlier in their careers to retirement eligibility because retirement and social security law specifies that tier three participants should receive the same service credits as tier two members before July 1976 and should include only time spent on the police force. Affirmed.
Court: New York Court Of Appeals, Judge: Singas, Filed On: May 23, 2023, Case #: 39, Categories: Employment, Pensions