Court Filings

The Appellate Division, Third Department reversed a Supreme Court order and granted petitioner Junarian Walker's motion for counsel fees under CPLR 8601. Walker, an incarcerated person in a residential mental health unit, had a 120-day special housing sanction imposed after threats; Supreme Court annulled the sanction as violating the HALT Act and SHU Exclusion Law but denied fees, finding the state's position substantially justified and citing special circumstances. The appellate court held the state's position was not substantially justified and no special circumstances made a fee award unjust, so the case is remitted to determine the fee amount.

The Fifth District reversed the circuit court’s summary denial of ground four of Christopher Owens’s Rule 3.850 postconviction motion and remanded for further proceedings. Owens had alleged his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to prosecutor comments during voir dire that arguably commented on his constitutional right to remain silent. The panel found the record attached below still lacked sufficient context to evaluate prejudice under Strickland and therefore did not conclusively refute Owens’s claim, so the court ordered either an evidentiary hearing or additional records be attached to the denial order.