Fourth Department Reverses Conviction of Shapiro Arato Client and Orders New Trial
On June 29, 2018, a five-justice panel of the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court, Fourth Judicial Department, reversed the second-degree murder conviction of our client, Robert Neulander, and ordered a new trial. During Mr. Neulander’s trial, a juror repeatedly violated the trial court’s instructions not to discuss his case with third parties, engaging in numerous text-message exchanges with family and friends about the trial. To cover her tracks, the juror deleted these messages and lied to the court about her conduct. We argued that this juror misconduct deprived Mr. Neulander of a fair trial, and the Court agreed.
Copies of our briefs and the Court’s decision can be found here, here and here.
An audio recording of the appellate argument can be found here, beginning at 35:20.