People v. Smith

Defendants in these two cases were convicted of criminal offenses in local courts. The courts were not designated by law as a court of record and did not have a court stenographer present during the proceedings. Defendants filed a notice of appeal and provided as the record a transcript produced from an electronic recording device employed by the court to record the trial proceedings. Defendants did not file an affidavit of errors. The People moved for dismissal, arguing that Defendants’ failure to file an affidavit of errors pursuant to N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law 460.10 was a jurisdictional defect. The intermediate appellate courts come to opposite conclusions as to whether Defendants properly took their appeals within the meaning of N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law 460.10. The Court of Appeals reversed in one case and affirmed in the other, holding that, in accordance with the controlling statute, an affidavit of errors is a jurisdictional prerequisite for taking an appeal from a local criminal court where there is no court stenographer. View "People v. Smith" on Justia Law