285 Main Street
PO Box 433
Catskill, NY 12414
(518) 821-6194
david@davidewoodinllc.com
Notable Appellate Accomplishments |
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| 2023 | People v Maurer | 533074 | On behalf of criminal defendant, successfully argued SORA classification order should be reversed and case remanded for a new SORA hearing, where county court improperly based its upward departure decision on circumstances including factors not specifically identified by the People as bases for their request for an upward departure from defendant's presumptive classification, namely, his concurrent conviction for failing to register as a sex offender, and the facts underlying his juvenile delinquency adjudication. |
| 2022 | People v Adrian | 112597 | On behalf of criminal defendant convicted of assault after a jury trial, successfully argued conviction should be reversed and case remanded for a new trial where trial court had unreasonably denied defense counsel's request for an adjournment to permit adequate review of newly disclosed video evidence, and record contained sufficient evidence of intoxication to require defendant's requested jury instruction on the legal effect of defendant's intoxication with respect to the element of intent. |
| 2021 | People v Teixeira-Ingram | 111933 | On behalf of criminal defendant, successfully argued that conviction should be reversed, defendant's statements suppressed, and defendant restored to pre-plea status, for failure of the People to prove at a hearing that defendant had been advised of and had waived his rights under Miranda v Arizona. |
| 2020 | Matter of Murray | 530318 | On behalf of civil claimant, successfully defended decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant was an employee, not an independent contractor, of a business logistics company that acted as a broker between delivery drivers and clients seeking to have products transported from one location to another, where claimaint worked as a driver delivering auto parts, and company retained control over important aspects of the work including screening applicants, assigning drivers, setting pay rates, reimbursing expenses, establishing performance standards, requiring valid licenses and insurance, and handling client complaints. |
| Matter of Pomponio | 526902 | On behalf of civil claimant, successfully defended decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant was an employee, not an independent contractor, of a photography and wire service company that provides images to the media, where claimaint worked as a runner physically transporting digital image cards from photographers at NYC fashion shows to employer's photo editors at the Lincoln Center complex. | |
| Matter of Martell | 526902 | On behalf of civil claimant, successfully defended decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant as a newspaper delivery carrier was an employee, not an independent contractor, of a newpaper corporation that established the delivery routes, determined the rate of pay for each route, provided carriers with customer lists containing the suggested order of delivery, handled customer complaints, imposed monetary penalties for unsatisfactory deliveries, prohibited carriers from inserting their own flyers into the newspapers without prior approval and required carriers to maintain a valid driver's license and their own liability insurance, and otherwise exercised overall control over the work performed by claimant and others similarly situated | |
| 2019 | Matter of Hennesey | 526903 | On behalf of civil claimant, successfully defended decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant as a newspaper delivery carrier was an employee, not an independent contractor, of a newpaper corporation that established the delivery routes, determined the rate of pay for each route, provided carriers with customer lists containing the suggested order of delivery, handled customer complaints, imposed monetary penalties for unsatisfactory deliveries, prohibited carriers from inserting their own flyers into the newspapers without prior approval and required carriers to maintain a valid driver's license and their own liability insurance, and otherwise exercised overall control over the work performed by claimant and others similarly situated |
| People v Colon | 109015 | On behalf of criminal defendant, successfully argued sentence should be vacated and defendant remanded for resentencing, where record did not demonstrate that supreme court reached a determination as to whether the defendant was eligible for youthful offender treatment, and if so, whether he should be granted YO treatment. | |
| 2017 | People v Coon | 108309 | On behalf of criminal defendant, successfully argued that a further irrevocable prison sentence of 2 to 6 years imprisonment was illegal, where defendant admitted violating terms of consecutive conditional discharge involving ignition interlock device, but had already fully served one irrevocable definite sentence of imprisonment on underlying DWI conviction. |
| Matter of Armbruster | 521398 | On behalf of civil claimant, successfully defended decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant as a licensed practical nurse was an employee, not an independent contractor, of a health and wellness company that provided nurses to perform health screening and testing to corporate clients, and exercised overall control over the work performed by claimant and others similarly situated | |
| People v Banks | 521294 | On behalf of criminal defendant, successfully argued defendant's plea must be vacated and the matter remitted for further proceedings, where factual recitation of details of the crime elicited from defendant by county court was not only inconsistent with the crime to which he was pleading, but in fact negated an element of that crime, and county court failed to conduct any further inquiry prior to accepting the plea to ensure defendant understood the nature of the charge and that the plea was intelligently entered. | |
| People v Lemon | 521294 | On behalf of criminal defendant, successfully argued waiver of appeal was invalid, because record failed to reflect either that defendant had read and understood written waiver form, or that court had explained the significance of an appeal waiver or conveyed that it is separate and distinct from those rights automatically forfeited upon a guilty plea. | |
| Matter of Stewart | 521294 | On behalf of civil claimant, successfully defended decision of the Unemployment Insurance Appeal Board that claimant as part-time bookkeeper was an employee entitled to unemployment insurance benefits following termination of her employment, and not an independent contractor. | |
| 2015 | Pilatich v Town of New Baltimore and Hamilton | 520067 | On behalf of civil plaintiff, successfully argued summary judgment for Town and civil defendants was improperly granted, where plaintiff alleged private nuisance and trespass, defendants failed to make out prima facie case for summary judgment, and the record revealed material questions of fact including as to whether defendants knew or should have know that they were substantially and unreasonably interfering with plaintiff's use and enjoyment of property. |
| Lindine v Iasenza | 518926 | On behalf of civil defendant, successfully argued complaint alleging title by adverse possession was properly dismissed where plaintiff, co-owner of property with defendant, failed to allege 20 years of continuous exclusive possession necessary to overcome applicable presumption against adverse possession and failed to establish ouster of one co-owner by the other. | |
| People v Patricia Skerritt | 106153 | On behalf of criminal appellant, successfully argued restitution component of sentence illegally imposed, where restitution was ordered for uncharged crimes bearing no connection to the burglary for which appellant was convicted. | |
| People v Daquan Gray | 105469 | On behalf of criminal appellant, successfully argued defendant entitled to a new trial where county court erred in permitting the People to use evidence of defendant's withdrawn alibi notice to impeach his credibility on cross-examination, and error was not harmless because evidence of defendant's guilt was not overwhelming and there was significant probability that absent the error the jury would have acquitted defendant, as shown by the jury's clearly expressed interest in defendant's withdrawn alibi notice when making its credibility assessments. | |
| 2014 | Matter of the Estate of Susan G. Vosilla | 518715 | On behalf of named estate executor, successfully argued that objections claiming lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence were properly dismissed by surrogate, summary judgment admitting decedent's will to probate was properly granted, and application to reopen SCPA 1404 hearing was properly denied. |
| People v Malcolm Q. Jemmott | 105079 | On behalf of criminal appellant, successfully argued defendant's conviction should be reversed for further proceedings notwithstanding his plea to criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and sentence as a second felony offender to a prison term of 12 years, where defendant's statements to detective in police station were obtained in violation of defendant's right to counsel. Despite its alleged "sarcastic tone", detective by his actions indicated he understood defendant's initial statement to be a request for counsel by promptly ceasing his inquiries; further, when defendant later was twice asked whether he had requested counsel, defendant confirmed without equivocation that he had. Under these circumstances, a reasonable police officer would have understood defendant had asserted his right to counsel and, accordingly, defendant's subsequent purported waiver was ineffective and his statements following the initial request should have been suppressed. | |
| 2013 | Matter of the Estate of Arthur Buchting | 516257 | On behalf of objectant to probate, successfully argued that objections contesting testamentary capacity and undue influence were improperly dismissed by surrogate, where parties had stipulated their initial motions would be limited to issue of due execution, petitioner had not yet established decedent possessed testamentary capacity, and absent discovery summary judgment as to all issues was premature. |
| People v LePaul Gammons | 104811 | On behalf of criminal appellant, successfully argued defendant's conviction should be reversed, his plea vacated and his case remitted for further proceedings where the superior court information to which defendant pled was jurisdictionally defective, failing to charge any offense for which defendant was held for action of the grand jury or any lesser included offense. | |
| People v Ronald K. Oakley | 104157 | On behalf of criminal appellant, successfully argued the District Attorney should be disqualified from representing the People on defendant's appeal because, prior to being elected to that position, he was the County Judge who presided over and sentenced defendant in this matter. | |
| 2012 | Pilatich v Town of New Baltimore and Hamilton | 514670 | On behalf of civil plaintiff, successfully argued that summary judgment dismissing complaint as barred by statute of limitations was improperly granted by supreme court where plaintiff claimed a continuing private nuisance, and summary judgment was premature because issue had yet to be joined by service of an answer and supreme court gave no notice to the parties it would treat defendants' motion to dismiss as one for summary judgment. |
| People v Antoine Catnott | 104002 | On behalf of criminal appellant, successfully argued defendant's conviction should be reversed, his plea vacated and his case remitted for further proceedings where the record before county court failed to reflect that defendant's written waiver of indictment was executed in open court as strictly and unequivocally required by CPL 195.20. | |