People v. Hill

67 A.D.2d 427, 415 N.Y.S.2d 541, 1979 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 10126
CourtAppellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York
DecidedApril 13, 1979
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 67 A.D.2d 427 (People v. Hill) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Hill, 67 A.D.2d 427, 415 N.Y.S.2d 541, 1979 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 10126 (N.Y. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Cardamone, J. P.

On the morning of September 9, 1971 Attica Prison was taken over by its inmates. The take-over and resulting riot began when 30 or more inmates — several of whom were carrying as weapons legs which had been ripped off chairs and desks — pushed against the A Tunnel Gate until it gave way. The prisoners streamed through the gate and into "Times Square”, a central area at which four corridors of the prison meet. In the resulting melee William Quinn, the Correction Officer in charge of "Times Square”, was struck in the head several times with a heavy board receiving head injuries which later resulted in his death. At least three key witnesses without hesitation identified appellant as the person who had struck Officer Quinn. At the conclusion of his trial on April 5, 1975 appellant Dacajeweiah (indicted as John Hill) was found guilty of murder by a unanimous jury verdict and was thereafter sentenced to a term of imprisonment from 20 years to life. Appellant takes this appeal from this judgment of conviction.

A number of issues are presented for our determination. They relate generally to (1) claimed inequities in the impaneling of the Grand Jury which indicted appellant; (2) the process by which the petit jury was selected; (3) alleged denial of due process rights arising from failure to accord a hearing on claims of electronic surveillance of defense strategy, invasion by an FBI informer of the defense camp, and improper curtailment of cross-examination of prosecution witnesses; (4) a claim that material to which appellant is entitled under Brady v Maryland (373 US 83) was improperly denied him; (5) alleged selective and discriminatory prosecution; and (6) claimed error in the refusal to dismiss the indictment in the interests of justice.

[431]*431I — GRAND JURY

The Grand Jury which indicted appellant and 61 other inmates was impaneled in Wyoming County, the county in which Attica is located, on November 29, 1971. From a pool of 51 persons, 23 grand jurors were ultimately selected. Of these 51 persons, 25 were excused for hardship reasons, because they disbelieved in capital punishment, or because they doubted their ability to serve impartially. Thus, out of a pool of 51 prospective grand jurors, only 26 remained from whom 23 would have to be chosen. As it turned out, 11 of the 23 grand jurors finally chosen had friends, relatives, or acquaintances who were employed at Attica or by law enforcement agencies or who were directly involved in the Attica events. At the commencement of the voir dire, appellant’s counsel moved for a change of venue. This motion was summarily denied on the ground that there is no provision in law for such a change of venue at the Grand Jury level.

There is no doubt that an accused individual has a constitutional right to have his case presented before a fair and impartial Grand Jury (see Castaneda v Partida, 430 US 482; Peters v Kiff, 407 US 493; People v Brophy, 304 NY 391). Appellant argues that his indictment was the result of prejudice on the part of the grand jurors because a number of the grand jurors were involved, to varying degrees, with the prison or law enforcement agencies. The Grand Jury minutes, however, reveal that all 23 grand jurors specifically stated that they had no bias against prison inmates and could deal fairly and impartially with the evidence presented before them. We conclude, therefore, that the motion for transfer of venue of the Grand Jury on the grounds stated was properly denied. Appellant’s other challenges to the Grand Jury are without merit.

II — PETIT JURY

On January 21, 1975 while examination of prospective petit jurors was still in progress, the United States Supreme Court handed down Taylor v Louisiana (419 US 522) in which it held that a jury selection system which operates to exclude women from jury service fails to comport with the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution.

On February 4, 1975 two weeks after Taylor and before the jury was impaneled, appellant made a written motion to [432]*432quash the petit jury panel on the ground that the automatic exemption for women from jury service, as then contained in subdivision 7 of section 665 of the New York Judiciary Law, violated the fair cross section requirement of the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. In his motion papers appellant alleged that the proportion of women on the venires seemed to be about 30%, and that this percentage was far below that of the population of women in the county, i.e., 53%. Appellant’s request for a hearing so that these percentages and other pertinent facts could be accurately determined was denied. Jury selection was completed on February 21, 1975. The petit jury included four women and two Blacks. The trial commenced on February 24, 1975.

A criminal defendant has a right to a petit jury drawn from a fair cross section of the community and a system that results in the systematic exclusion of women is constitutionally infirm (Duren v Missouri, 439 US 357; Taylor v Louisiana, 419 US 522, supra). "In order to establish a prima facie violation of the fair-cross-section requirement, the defendant must show * * * [inter alia] that the representation of [women] in venires from which juries are selected is not fair and reasonable in relation to the number of such persons in the community” (Duren v Missouri, supra, 99 S Ct, at p 668). Here the venire consisted of no less than 30% women and the petit jury contained four women or 3310%. Viewing the statistics in light of People v Parks (41 NY2d 36), it cannot be said that women were systematically excluded from jury service.

Further, appellant is not automatically entitled to a hearing upon raising a challenge to a jury panel pursuant to CPL 270.10. Appellant’s oral motion made on January 6, 1978 failed to specify sufficiently the facts substantiating his challenge to the jury panel and hence, his right to challenge it by way of a hearing was not preserved (People v Prim, 40 NY2d 946, 947). Also, in view of appellant’s allegation that in the weeks preceding his trial the percentage of women in the jury venires approximated 30% and the fact that four women served on his jury, it is not at all clear what other pertinent facts appellant could have established at such a hearing. At best, therefore, the failure to grant a hearing concerning this challenge to the panel was harmless error.

Finally, appellant’s various other challenges to the petit jury are without merit. Appellant offered no evidence showing [433]*433there was a systematic exclusion from the jury selection process of any other "distinctive groups in the community” (Taylor v Louisiana, supra, p 538).

Ill — DUE PROCESS CLAIMS

On December 20, 1974 Erie County Supreme Court Trial Justice King denied appellant’s motion for a pretrial hearing on the issue of electronic surveillance "of the defense camp”. In so doing, Justice King relied heavily on the determination made by Erie County Supreme Court Justice Moore in two related Attica cases where, upon applying the guidelines set forth in People v Cruz (34 NY2d 362), similar requests for hearings had been denied.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
67 A.D.2d 427, 415 N.Y.S.2d 541, 1979 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 10126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-hill-nyappdiv-1979.