Kramer Levin Obtains Unanimous Reversal of Conviction on Appeal for Pro Bono Client

On Jan. 7, 2021, the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Department unanimously reversed the conviction of C.A. for burglary and sexual abuse in the first degree, and ordered a new trial. The Court held that a juror, a retired former NYPD detective, “acted extensively as an unsworn expert witness” in jury deliberations by providing opinions regarding the feasibility of obtaining forensic evidence, whether evidence relating to a set of keys in evidence was suppressed and defendant’s truthfulness. It further held that “[t]hese opinions, which were communicated to and apparently influenced the jury, were within the scope of the juror’s specialized expertise and were explicitly offered on the basis thereof, and at least some of these opinions concerned material issues, including defendant’s credibility and whether he entered the victim’s apartment by mistake.” The Court also held that evidence found on defendant’s phone that he accessed a pornography website “should have been excluded at trial as improper propensity evidence,” and that even if “it may have been admissible to establish defendant’s intent in entering the victim’s apartment, its probative value was outweighed by prejudice.”

The Kramer Levin team consists of Litigation associates Daniel M. Ketani and Danielle Moody, and paralegals Billy Jump and Santo Cipolla.