• Filed under , Appeals , Civil Rights , Criminal Defense

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The Appellate Division, Third Judicial Department, today unanimously affirmed a judgment the Firm had won two years ago, based upon a post-trial “440” motion, vacating the manslaughter conviction of client Gregory Thayer and granting him a new trial.  The appeal was briefed by law firm principal Joel Rudin and Of Counsel Jacob Loup and was argued by Mr. Rudin.

The basis of the lower court’s ruling, and of the Appellate Division’s decision, was the ineffective assistance of a local lawyer hired by Mr. Thayer to assist his principal defense attorney, Robert C. Gottlieb, of Manhattan.  Testimony Mr. Rudin elicited at an evidentiary hearing showed that, after Mr. Gottlieb indicated to the trial judge, sitting in Kingston, in upstate Ulster County, that Mr. Thayer intended to waive a jury and assert a defense of temporary insanity to the court only, the judge’s law clerk indicated to local counsel that the judge was not inclined to accept this defense and that the defendant would be better off with a jury.  However, as the 440 court and the Appellate Division found, the law clerk asked the local lawyer to keep their meeting secret and the local lawyer, fearing for his own relationship with the judge and law clerk, failed to tell Mr. Gottlieb or their mutual client.  The Appellate Division agreed with the 440 court that this failure not only deprived Mr. Thayer of his constitutional right to the effective assistance of counsel, but meant as well that his waiver of his absolute right to a jury trial was deficient.  The Appellate Division’s decision may be found here.  Our Brief may be found here.