New York Court of Appeals

“ The first question to be considered is one of jurisdiction. It is insisted, in behalf of the defendants in error, that the judgment of the New York Court of Appeals is not subject to review in this court. ”

“ The same rule which is being used here to cut off petitioner's appeal says that when a defendant not represented by counsel is sentenced, 'the defendant shall be advised of his right to appeal and if he so requests, the clerk shall prepare and file' the notice of appeal for the defendant. Here petitioner took the equivalent steps: he executed the notice of appeal for his lawyer on Thursday. But the lawyer's associate fell ill, and the Court of Appeals treated Saturday in a way most apt to confuse and trap even a perfectly healthy New York lawyer familiar with local New York practice. ”

“ But a trial in court is never, as respondents in their brief argue this one was, 'purely a private controversy * * * of no importance to the public.' The state, whose interest it is the duty of court and counsel alike to uphold, is concerned that every litigation be fairly and impartially conducted and that verdicts of juries be rendered only on the issues made by the pleadings and the evidence. The public interest requires that the court of its own motion, as is its power and duty, protect suitors in their right to a verdict, uninfluenced by the appeals of counsel to passion or prejudice. ”

“ A popular impression exists at the present time that a man convicted of murder has but to appeal his case on some technical ground in order to secure a reversal, and thus escape the consequences of his crime. How wide of the mark such a belief may be, at least so far as one locality is concerned, is shown by the fact that in New York State, from 1887 to 1907, there were 169 decisions by the Court of Appeals on appeals from convictions of murder in the first degree, out of which there were only twenty-nine reversals. ”

“ Furthermore, notwithstanding a few broad words relied upon by the plaintiffs in error, we doubt if the court of appeals meant to lay down the proposition which we have said that we would not discuss, or to go further than to decide that the whole evidence was not sufficient to entitle the plaintiffs to go to the jury in an action for malicious prosecution, as that action is limited in New York. ”

“ Now in New York those worthy, well-meaning, elderly judges of the court of appeals have never had such an experience in their lives.
They don’t know. They don’t visualize to themselves how that brakeman feels. They are not able to present to their minds the risks incident to the ordinary, everyday performance of his duties. ”

“ Appeals in criminal causes are, however, much rarer and also much less often successful than is generally supposed. About eleven thousand persons were convicted of felonies in the County Courts of New York during the five years from 1898 to 1902, inclusive of each, and of these less than nine in a thousand pursued an appeal, not a third of whom secured a judgment of reversal. ”

“ If a guilty plea without counsel should be held admissible in New York, the proper case in which to raise the issue of the propriety of its admission is on appeal to this Court on conviction after trial. ”

“ But the majority thinks there was not enough evidence to present the issue to the jury at all.
Thus, there appears to be no good basis for finding that "clear and unambiguous" intent is necessary to create a charitable trust under the law of New York. The strong policy of New York trust law and of trust law generally is to uphold charitable trusts whenever possible and to construe their terms liberally. ”

“ As is well known to all lawyers, a restraining or injunction order is never granted by a state or federal court in New York without notice to the defendants except when proof is submitted to the judge by affidavit or verified complaint which shows that, unless the defendant be immediately enjoined, irreparable loss or damage will result to the applicant before the matter can be heard on notice. ”

“ The trial judge, too, has a heavy responsibility resulting from broad powers to set aside a verdict if he thinks the evidence does not warrant it. [18] Petitioners submitted such a motion, which the judge denied, thus adding the weight of his own approval to the jury verdict.
An attack on the fairness of New York procedure is that petitioners could not take the witness stand to support, with their own oaths, the charges their counsel made against the state police without becoming subject to general cross-examination. State law on the subject is disputed and uncertain. ”

“ To overcome this apparent defect of the record the affidavit urged the presumption of regularity of judicial proceedings to support the conclusion, in the absence of a clear showing to the contrary, that the judge must have performed his duty under New York's laws to advise petitioner of his right to counsel. The District Attorney contended that petitioner's motion though verified was not sufficient to overcome this presumption, especially since petitioner's conviction occurred 14 years ago. ”

“ However, as I read the record, New York's procedure was not invoked in the trial court or attacked on appeal and is not properly before us. The New York procedure providing for a preliminary hearing could be set in motion, and its validity questioned, only if objection was made to the admissibility of the confession. It is clear that counsel for petitioner in the trial court-a lawyer of 50 years' trial experience in the criminal courts, including service on the bench-did not object to the introduction of the statements made by the petitioner or ask for a preliminary hearing. ”

“ Right to Counsel
The Caviezels maintain that the district court erred in dismissing for lack of standing their claim that the form used by the New York State Education Department in assessing vaccination exemption requests chilled their right to utilize counsel by directing them to describe their objection to vaccination “in [their] own words.” J.A. 43. See generally Baywood Elec. Corp. v. N.Y. State Dep't of Labor, 232 A.D.2d 553, 554, 649 N.Y.S.2d 28, 29 (2d Dep't 1996) (commenting that due process affords party to administrative hearing “opportunity to be represented by counsel”) . ”