NYCBA Members Newsletter

Welcome to the March 2007 issue of our Newsletter.

President's Message:

What is the New York Criminal Bar Association and who are it’s members? The New York Criminal Bar Association is an association of criminal defense attorneys who practice before the state and federal courts here in the New York. Through its membership you glimpse the depth and history of a group of individuals, whose dedication to the representation of the accused is unparalleled across the country.

First the organization has a rich and storied history with legendary attorneys who throughout their stellar careers have set a tremendous standard of excellence and professionalism. The organization also has its mainstay members who have built a career, in part, based upon the excellence that has preceded them in the courtroom. The younger members of the organization will define our future direction and ensure the continuation of courtroom excellence and professionalism.

The attorneys who comprise our membership are involved in every aspect of criminal defense litigation from ensuring that indigent defendants are properly represented in the lower criminal courts, to the representation of defendants in complex federal death penalty cases across the country, to advancing cutting edge issues in the appellate courts from the New York Appellate Term, to the United States Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Our membership is involved in representing defendants in the total gamut of criminal cases from those who hop the subway, to those charged with international terrorism and compelling capital offenses.

The goal over the next 22 months is to continue to equip the membership with the information and tools that are required to serve the interests of rendering justice in the courtrooms in which we serve. Together we will look closely at everything from the day to day issues of practicing law, to understanding how the use of the modern digital era can enhance our capabilities as advocates, so the organization can continue to effectively serve as a meeting of the minds, a collective source of wisdom and information needed to continue the high standard of excellence in the courtroom. Everyone will be called upon to contribute towards this goal. Through our collective efforts it should be a rewarding time as we accomplish the task of serving our membership in its quest to provide excellence and professionalism in the representation of individuals charged with a crime.

Yours for a better defense,

Anthony Ricco,
President
email: tonyricco@aol.com

CLE Program On February 27, 2007:

On February 27, 2007 the NYCBA held its inaugural Black History Month Program. The program had a dual focus. The first portion of the program featured African-American members of the federal judiciary providing a historical perspective on the judges of African-American ancestry who have served on the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the Southern District of New York, Eastern Districts of New York and as Magistrate Judges in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

The speakers for the historical portion of the program were the Hon. Barrington Parker, Judge of the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Hon. Sterling Johnson, District Judge Eastern District of New York, Hon George Daniels, District Judge Southern District of New York and Hon. Ronald Ellis, Magistrate Judge Southern District. In addition to the historical perspective each judge added interesting personal observations of being an African-American members of the federal judiciary.

The second portion of the program was an excellent lecture by the Hon George Bundy Smith, recently retired Associate Justice of the New York State Court of Appeals. Judge Smith provided a brief history of the African-Americans who served on the New York State Court of Appeals, then launched a very interesting and informative lecture on the development of the jurisprudence surrounding depraved indifference and intentional murder. Judge Smith provided an excellent legal analysis and outline as well as several invaluable practice tips.

This was an outstanding program that not only provided CLE credit but a truly human learning experience as well. The program set the bar high but we will surely produce another outstanding program next February.

NYCBA Web Site Features

Each month, we try to point out some of the latest resources that we have posted on our Website at www.nycrimbar.org/. In keeping with that tradition, we note the following item:

• We have posted on the "Decisions" section of our website a copy of Judge Gleeson's decision in Portalatin v. Graham, No, 06 CV 5002 (JG) (E.D.N.Y. March 22, 2007),in which Judge Gleeson concluded that New York State's persistent felony offender statute (N.Y. Penal Law § 70.10) (PFO) violates a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial because it allows judges to enhance the criminal defendant’s sentence beyond what the jury verdict alone would allow. Judge Gleeson also concluded that the statutory scheme mandated by § 70.10 is both contrary to, and an unreasonable application of, the principles established by Apprendi v. New Jersey, 530 U.S. 446 (2000) and Blakely v. Washington, 542 U.S. 296 (2004), notwithstanding the New York Court of Appeals recent decision in People v. Rivera, 5 N.Y.3d 61 (2005). For more on this decision, see "Federal Judge Faults State Sentencing," by Tom Perrotta, New York Law Journal, March 28, 2007.
  
  
  
• We have posted on the "Legal Research" section of our website a copy of the 2006 version of the Risk Assessment Guidelines and Commentary under New York's Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA).
  
  
  
• We have also posted on the "Legal Research" section of our website a copy of Harlan J. Protass' "Post-Booker Sentencing Law in the Second Circuit: A Case Law Primer," which was posted on his Second Circuit Sentencing Blog, on March 19, 2007.
  
  
  
• Finally, we have posted on the "Other Links - Miscellaneous" section of our website a copy of the full special report entitled "A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Use of National Security Letters," as prepared by the Office of the Inspector General, March 2007.
  
  

What's New On The Internet:

• We have posted on the Computer Tips section of our website an interesting article entitiled "Ten Must-Have Web Sites for Solo Practitioners," by Rick Georges, Esq., which was posted on the Law.com website on March 12, 2007.
  
  
  
• We note that the new New York State Sex Offender Management and Treatment Act that Governor Spitzer has signed into law is now available on the Internet.

Annual Dues:

If you have not already paid your annual dues to the New York Criminal Bar Association, please do so at your earliest convenience. Payment was due on January 1, 2007. Payment may be made by sending your check, made payable to the “New York Criminal Bar Association,” to Michael K. Bachrach, NYCBA Treasurer, 276 Fifth Avenue, Suite 501, New York, New York, 10001. Payments may also be made by faxing or emailing your credit card authorization to Mr. Bachrach at (866) 328-1630 or michael@mbachlaw.com.

If you have any questions regarding membership dues please call Michael at (646) 797-2776, or email him at the above email address. A copy of our Membership Application/Renewal Form is attached to this newsletter for your convenience.

Member News:

In the past, we have periodically reported on recent news about our members. Due to an increasing interest in this topic, we have created a new section on our website where people can turn to learn about the latest victories and successes of our members. This new section can be accessed by clicking on the "Members Info" button at the top of the main Members page of the NYCBA Website, and then clicking on the item called "Members News."

If you wish to post your own story about a specific case or a motion that you have won, or about an issue or an argument that you feel would be of interest to your fellow members, please follow the guidelines set forth below and send your suggested write-up to nycrimbar@nyc.rr.com:

(1) the full text of the proposed announcement must be provided by the member requesting the news to be posted in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect format;

(2) because such announcements usually generate requests for additional information, you must provide the full name of the case and its citation or docket number, the court, the judge, the date of the event and a brief summary of event, including any statement as to its relative significance;

(3) to allow us to easily verify the accuracy of the post, you must provide us with a citation to the case (e.g., a Westlaw or Lexis citation, or a copy of a newspaper article that reported the event). If the information is only verifiable from a court document – as opposed to Westlaw, Lexis, or a newspaper article – then you must provide us with a copy of the court document.

(4) We reserve the right to edit any member submissions at our discretion. In addition, on occasion we may also reprint certain of these news items in the NYCBA Newsletter to the extent that time and space permits.

We hope you will enjoy this new section of our website; and we welcome any suggestions you may have about this new section or our publication guidelines.

Comments and Newsletter Contributions Welcome:

Comments and suggestions about, and contributions to, this Newsletter are most welcome; and we encourage you to let us know what features you would like to see included in the Newsletter. Please send your comments by email directly to our committee at: nycrimbar@nyc.rr.com.

Internet and Newsletter Committee:
Scott Tulman, Chair
Harvey Fishbein
Michael K. Bachrach
Peter G. Schmidt