New York Law Watch
Appellate Division, Fourth Department
The Fourth Department sits in Rochester and hears appeals from the twenty-two western counties, including Erie, Monroe and Onondaga. Its criminal docket is large and it publishes memoranda on most appeals it decides.
For Appellate Division, Fourth Department, Law Watch lists 169 indexable decisions dated March 27, 2026 to October 9, 2026 across 4 decision weeks.
283 decision records: 169 meet the substance floor; 114 records are held from search listings.
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Recent decisions
- People v Reynolds2026 NY Slip Op 05894
The court affirmed the convictions, finding that the search warrants satisfied the Aguilar-Spinelli test for probable cause despite the defendant’s hearsay objections. Additionally, the court determined that the defendant’s waiver of the right to appeal in the second appeal was invalid, though his specific challenges to the indictment were unpreserved.
- People v Washington2026 NY Slip Op 05893
The court held that police officers executing a search warrant for a vehicle may lawfully detain occupants for a reasonable period to ensure officer safety and prevent flight. Consequently, the suppression of the firearm recovered during a pat-frisk of the defendant was properly denied.
- People v Quashawn C.2026 NY Slip Op 05892
The court reversed the judgment and vacated the guilty plea because the trial court abused its discretion in denying the removal of the adolescent offender’s case to Family Court. The People’s motion to prevent removal failed to meet statutory requirements for sworn facts based on personal knowledge and did not establish the requisite extraordinary circumstances.
- People v Hemingway2026 NY Slip Op 05891
The court affirmed the denial of the defendant’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea, finding no abuse of discretion and rejecting the argument that the lower court considered the wrong plea transcript. Additionally, the court held that it was not required to state on the record its specific reasons for denying the defendant’s request for youthful offender treatment.
- Matter of Farley2026 NY Slip Op 05890
The appeal is dismissed because no appeal lies as of right from an order entered sua sponte that did not decide a motion made upon notice. The court declined to treat the notice of appeal as an application for leave to appeal.
- Caswell v New York State United Teachers2026 NY Slip Op 05889
The court held that a union membership agreement provision requiring the payment of dues until the start of the annual revocation window is not an unenforceable penalty provision. The court affirmed that the plaintiff remained obligated to pay dues until the window period began, rejecting the claim that the provision was grossly disproportionate to actual damages.
- People v Sherman2026 NY Slip Op 05888
The court affirmed the conviction for criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, finding the evidence legally sufficient and not against the weight of the evidence. However, the sentence was vacated and the matter remitted for resentencing because the trial court failed to follow the mandatory statutory procedures for sentencing a persistent violent felony offender.
- People v Wallace2026 NY Slip Op 05887
The court affirmed the judgment, finding that the defendant’s oral waiver of the right to appeal was valid and that his claims regarding a Brady violation and sentencing were forfeited or unpreserved. The court further determined that the defendant received meaningful representation and that the valid appeal waiver encompassed his challenge to the severity of the sentence.