People v. Kalan

New York Court of Appeals

People v. Kalan

140 N.E.2d 357, 2 N.Y.2d 278, 159 N.Y.S.2d 480, 1957 N.Y. LEXIS 1234

CourtNew York Court of Appeals

DecidedJanuary 24, 1957

StatusPublished

Cited by10 cases

This text of 140 N.E.2d 357 (People v. Kalan) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

People v. Kalan, 140 N.E.2d 357, 2 N.Y.2d 278, 159 N.Y.S.2d 480, 1957 N.Y. LEXIS 1234 (N.Y. 1957).

Pincite

Opinion

Per Curiam.

When this appellant filed his appeal, as of right, in the court below it was apparent that he was penniless, and unable to employ counsel or to pay for a transcript of the trial minutes; that he was in prison and physically unable to inspect the transcript of the minutes which had been filed in the Clerk’s office of Queens County pursuant to section 456 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. While we do not decide that failure to appoint counsel will always constitute a deprivation of constitutional rights, we nonetheless hold that, under the circumstances of this case, refusal to assign counsel upon defendant’s request prevented an effective use of the right to appeal in violation of the constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. (N. Y. Const., art. I, §§ 6, 11.)

The judgment should be reversed and the appeal remitted to the Appellate Divison for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

Conway, Ch. J., Desmond, Dye, Fuld, Froessel, Van Voorhis and Burke, JJ., concur.

Judgment reversed, etc.

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Per Curiam.

When this appellant filed his appeal, as of right, in the court below it was apparent that he was penniless, and unable to employ counsel or to pay for a transcript of the trial minutes; that he was in prison and physically unable to inspect the transcript of the minutes which had been filed in the Clerk’s office of Queens County pursuant to section 456 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. While we do not decide that failure to appoint counsel will always constitute a deprivation of constitutional rights, we nonetheless hold that, under the circumstances of this case, refusal to assign counsel upon defendant’s request prevented an effective use of the right to appeal in violation of the constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection. (N. Y. Const., art. I, §§ 6, 11.)

The judgment should be reversed and the appeal remitted to the Appellate Divison for further proceedings in accordance with this opinion.

Conway, Ch. J., Desmond, Dye, Fuld, Froessel, Van Voorhis and Burke, JJ., concur.

Judgment reversed, etc.

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Bluebook (online)

140 N.E.2d 357, 2 N.Y.2d 278, 159 N.Y.S.2d 480, 1957 N.Y. LEXIS 1234, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-kalan-ny-1957.

Opinion

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