The Supreme Court announced today that it has granted review in two new cases. In one case, the Court granted certification. In the other, there was a dissent in the Appellate Division, but the Supreme Court also granted certification. Each case results from an unpublished opinion of a three-judge Appellate division panel.
The Bank of New York Mellon v. Corradetti is the case with the appeal as of right. The question presented there, as phrased by the Supreme Court Clerk’s office, is “Among other issues, did the evidence at trial establish that defendants’ signatures on the mortgage documents were forgeries?” The Appellate Division majority affirmed a trial level finding of forgery, but the dissent contended that there was not substantial evidence in the trial record to support that conclusion.
The other case is State v. Little. The question presented there is “In this case in which defendant was charged with weapons offenses, was it reversible error for the judge to ask potential jurors during voir dire whether it would affect their ability to be fair and impartial if the State did not produce a gun, and for the prosecutor to dismiss jurors based on their answers to that question?” Reversing and remanding for a new trial, the Appellate Division found error in that voir dire.