New York Court of Appeals, 1987

People v. Thomas

New York Court of Appeals · Decided November 24, 1987 · Wachtler and Judges Simons, Kaye, Alexander, Titone, Hancock, Jr., and Bellacosa Concur in Memorandum

70 N.Y.2d 859; 517 N.E.2d 1343; 523 N.Y.S.2d 457; 1987 N.Y. LEXIS 19068

Cases that cite this one

3 later published cases cite this decision.

People v. Dotson (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 2006)
People v. Brito (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York 1991)
People v. Alvarez (N.Y. 1987)

This list shows which later cases cite this one. It does not say how they treated it, and no review of that has been done. Not a substitute for Shepard’s or KeyCite — verify before relying.

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

The order of the Appellate Division should be reversed and a new trial ordered. The trial court was without authority to condition its approval of defendant’s request for substitution of his retained counsel on retained counsel’s stipulation that if substituted, he would not move for a continuance. As contrasted with People v Arroyave (49 NY2d 264), defendant’s retained counsel here, just before jury selection was to commence, stated unequivocally to the court that if his motion for a continuance were denied he would proceed to trial.

Chief Judge Wachtler and Judges Simons, Kaye, Alexander, Titone, Hancock, Jr., and Bellacosa concur in memorandum.

Order reversed, etc.

Case-law data current through December 31, 2025. Source: CourtListener bulk data.