N.Y. Supreme Court Justices to Hear Oral Arguments at Albany Law in 2014
Justices from the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Third Department, will hear oral arguments at Albany Law School on Wednesday, March 26, from 1:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Justices in attendance will be:
- Presiding Justice Karen Peters
- Associate Justice Elizabeth Garry '90
- Associate Justice John Lahtinen '70
- Associate Justice William McCarthy '88
The session is free and open to the public. Attorneys may enter the DAMC on the 4th floor; students should enter on the 5th floor.
Summary of Cases
These summaries are provided as a courtesy to the public attending this Court session. They are not intended to address the legal issues raised in a particular case and are distributed for background purposes only.
516518 - Citizens for St. Patrick's v St. Patrick's Church of West Troy
Defendant St. Patrick's Church of West Troy is a Roman Catholic church that was incorporated in 1875. Pursuant to its bylaws, St. Patrick's is managed by a five-member board of trustees, which includes the diocesan bishop or administrator, the vicar general of the diocese and the pastor of the church. Among other duties, the trustees are charged with administering all of the corporation's property and funds. In 2005, St. Patrick's was consolidated with several other parishes by decree of the bishop. Subsequently, in 2012, St. Patrick's agreed to sell its real property in the City of Watervliet, Albany County, to defendant PCP Watervliet, LLC, which sought to use the property to expand an existing Price Chopper grocery store. St. Patrick's successfully obtained judicial authorization for the sale of the property in a proceeding pursuant to Religious Corporation Law § 12 and N-PCL 511.
Plaintiffs, a citizen advocacy group comprised of, among others, parishioners of St. Patrick's, as well as several individual parishoners, filed a notice of pendency against the property and, after an unsuccessful attempt to intervene in the Religious Corporation Law proceeding, commenced this action challenging the conveyance to PCP Watervliet. Supreme Court granted St. Patrick's motion to cancel the notice of pendency and dismissed the summons and complaint, finding that plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the transfer of property by St. Patrick's. The court also denied plaintiffs' motion for a stay of its order. Plaintiffs now appeal.
517535 - Card v Cornell University
Defendant Cornell University contracted with defendant McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. to act as the general contractor in the construction of its new science building. McCarthy hired LeChase Construction Services, LLC as a subcontractor to perform, among other things, certain concrete work on the project. To that end, LeChase employees constructed an eight-inch-thick concrete half wall. McCarthy thereafter informed LeChase that the wall was not built in accordance with specifications – which required that the wall be 14 inches thick – and that LeChase would have to take corrective measures so that the wall complied with the construction plans. During the ensuing removal, the half wall fell on the feet of
plaintiff Carlos E. Plumley, the field supervisor for LeChase, and plaintiff Christopher Card, a LeChase employee. Inspection of the wall after the accident revealed that the vertical rebar connecting the wall to the existing concrete surface had been drilled much shallower than the depth specified in the construction plans.
Card and Plumley, as well as Plumley's wife, derivatively, commenced these actions alleging common-law negligence and violations of Labor Law §§ 200, 240 (1) and 241 (6) against McCarthy and Cornell. Following joinder of issue and discovery, defendants moved for summary judgment dismissing the complaints. Supreme Court partially granted defendants' motions by partially dismissing plaintiffs' claims under Labor Law § 241 (6) and by dismissing plaintiffs' claims of negligence and Labor Law § 200 violations as to Cornell only. The motions were otherwise denied. Defendants appeal.
517693 - Matter of Estate of Prevratil
In 2006, decedent made a will naming one of his two sons, petitioner Neil Prevratil, as executor and sole beneficiary of his estate. Decedent was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2010. In February 2011, decedent contacted the Herzog Law Firm to request that a new will be drawn. In April 2011, decedent's brother, Charles Prevratil, and sister-in-law, Deborha Prevratil, traveled to New York from their home in Florida to help decedent. On May 24, 2011, decedent executed a new will naming his other son, petitioner Frank A. Prevratil, as executor and, among other things, devising his real property – a rescue horse farm – to Charles Prevratil and decedent's friends, petitioners Sonya J. Stack and Rebecca L. Adrian (hereinafter collectively referred to as petitioners). Neil Prevratil received nothing.
Following decedent's death five days later, Neil Prevratil commenced the first of the instant proceedings, seeking to admit decedent's 2006 will to probate. Petitioners informed Frank A. Prevratil, who allegedly refused to offer the 2011 will for probate. Petitioners then cross-petitioned to admit the 2011 will to probate, and Frank A. Prevratil thereafter commenced the last of these proceedings, also seeking probate of the 2011 will. Neil Prevratil filed objections, and petitioners and Charles Prevratil moved for summary judgment dismissing the objections and admitting the
2011 will to probate. Surrogate's Court granted the motion, and Neil Prevratil now appeals.
105461 - People v Vanderhorst
In April 2011, defendant and codefendant Dhoruba Shuaib were at Hoffman Park in the City of Albany when a knife fight ensued between the victim and defendant, which resulted in defendant – by his own admission – fatally stabbing the victim in the chest. The altercation was witnessed by numerous bystanders and was captured on a video recording taken by a bystander on his cell phone. Defendant and Shuaib, who was alleged to have aided defendant by, among other things, restricting the victim's movements, were jointly indicted on one count of murder in the second degree.
Defendant's trial was thereafter severed from that of Shuaib. At the jury trial, defendant stipulated to the fact that he caused the victim's death, but maintained that his actions were justified because he believed that the victim was "going to kill [him]" (see Penal Law § 35.15). Ultimately, the jury acquitted defendant of murder in the second degree, but convicted him of the lesser included offense of manslaughter in the first degree. Defendant was subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison to be followed by five years of postrelease supervision. Defendant now appeals.
517145 - Bouchey v Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center
In November 2007, plaintiff Susan Bouchey (hereinafter plaintiff) allegedly suffered various injuries during the performance of a mammogram. Plaintiff and her husband, derivatively, commenced this action against defendant claiming, among other things, that it had negligently instructed plaintiff with regard to the process of obtaining a mammogram and failed to monitor plaintiff and/or heed her request for assistance during the procedure.
Following a bifurcated trial on liability, the jury found that, by failing to properly orient and instruct plaintiff during the mammogram, defendant committed
malpractice but that such negligence was not the proximate cause of plaintiff's injuries. Supreme Court subsequently denied plaintiffs' motion, pursuant to CPLR 4404 (a), for an order setting aside the verdict or, alternatively, for a new trial. Plaintiffs now appeal.
104040 - People v Walker
In June 2009, two men entered a Domino's Pizza establishment in the City of Troy, Rensselaer County – one through the front door and the other through a back entrance – wearing long-sleeved shirts, pants and bandanas covering their faces, and each carrying a loaded gun. When the only employee in the establishment, Forrest Geraw, rushed at the man who had entered through the front door, he was able to tackle him to the ground, but in so doing, was shot through his leg by the man's semi-automatic pistol. At that point, the second man entered through a back door, and as Geraw asked them both to leave, the second man shot him in the head and chest before both men walked out the front door. Geraw sustained serious injuries, which resulted in the loss of an eye, but he survived the attack. Troy police then obtained DNA from a hat worn by the first man, which had been left on the floor of the establishment. This DNA subsequently led Troy police to defendant, because it matched DNA found on a cell phone registered to him, which was left at the scene of a separate crime in Queens County. The man who entered through the rear of the establishment was not found or apprehended.
Defendant was then charged with attempted murder in the second degree, two counts of assault in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, criminal use of a firearm in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Prior to trial, defendant moved to, among other things, suppress any and all physical evidence seized by the Troy police, and County Court denied the motion. Prior to the presentation of any evidence, the People offered defendant a plea deal which would have required him to plead guilty to the top count and provide the name of the other person involved in the Domino's shooting; in exchange, they would seek a sentence of 14 years' incarceration. Defendant rejected this offer. Following a jury trial, defendant was convicted of attempted murder in the second degree, burglary in the second degree, criminal use of a firearm in the first degree and
criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree. Defendant was thereafter sentenced to an aggregate term of 25 years' incarceration. Defendant now appeals.
517036 - Newell v Ellis Hospital
Plaintiff, a resident of the City of Cohoes, Albany County, was injured when she fell from the operating table after being extubated following surgery at defendant Ellis Hospital. Plaintiff commenced this action exactly three years later. Defendant Hakan Attaroglu, the anesthesiologist, thereafter moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely, maintaining that the action sounded in medical malpractice and was thus barred by the 2½-year statute of limitations. Plaintiff then cross-moved to amend the complaint to delete any reference to "the standards of medical profession." Defendant Danilo Cosico, the assistant surgeon, then also cross-moved to dismiss the complaint as untimely under the medical malpractice statute of limitations.
Supreme Court denied plaintiff's motion to amend, granted the motions of Attaroglu and Cosico, and dismissed the complaint against them. Plaintiff now appeals.
517658 - Matter of Palmateer v DiNapoli
Petitioner was employed as a correction officer. In June 2010, he filed applications for performance of duty disability retirement benefits pursuant to Retirement and Social Security Law § 507-b, alleging that he was permanently incapacitated due to injuries to his knees sustained in August 2007 and July 2009. Petitioner's applications were denied and petitioner requested a redetermination.
Following a hearing, the Hearing Officer concluded that petitioner's permanent disability was not the result of an act of an inmate and upheld the denial of benefits. Respondent State Comptroller adopted the Hearing Officer's determination. Thereafter, this CPLR article 78 proceeding was commenced and Supreme Court transferred the matter to this Court for consideration of the substantial evidence question (see CPLR 7804 [g]).
