People v. Adams
New York Court of Appeals
20 N.Y.3d 608, 987 N.E.2d 272, 964 N.Y.S.2d 495 (2013)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Keith Adams (defendant) sent offensive text messages to a City of Rochester court judge. Adams was charged with two counts of harassment. The charges were unrelated to the victim’s position as a judge. Adams’s counsel made a plea offer to the district attorney. The district attorney told Adams’s counsel that ordinarily the offer would be sufficient but nevertheless rejected the offer due to the victim’s position as a judge. For her part, the judge told Adams’s counsel that she did not want the charges to be reduced. The district attorney did not make any plea offers to Adams. Adams moved to disqualify the district attorney from the case, claiming that the office was not impartial. The office appeared before the judge regularly. The district attorney denied the impartiality claim but did not present any examples of similar cases in which the office drew such a hard line against taking a plea deal. The county court denied the motion. Adams appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Pigott, J.)
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