PART 218. Uniform Rules For The Trial Courts In Capital Cases [ Suspended ]

[ Suspended ]

218.1 Record transcription and reproduction; settlement
218.2 Capital sentencing determination and findings form
218.3 Notice to the capital defender office
218.4 Stays of execution: automatic or determined by superior court
218.5 Case history
218.6 Remittitur
218.10 [Repealed]
218.20 to 218.22 [Repealed]
218.30 to 218.32 [Repealed]

Section 218.1 Record transcription and reproduction; settlement.

(a) During the course of capital proceedings before the superior court, and at all times thereafter, the clerk of the superior court shall take all necessary steps to insure the accuracy and completeness of the record of the proceedings.

(b) The court reporter shall take, and keep electronically, minutes of all capital proceedings occurring in the superior court. Transcription shall proceed in compliance with any relevant superior court order and the Court of Appeals Capital Appeal Management Order (22 NYCRR 510.4[c][4]; 510.8[a]). Where a copy of the minutes of any proceedings in the superior court was ordered during the course of the superior court proceedings, defense counsel and the prosecutor shall preserve their respective copies of the transcript. Transcripts shall be settled pursuant to CPLR 5525(c) within such time limits and pursuant to such additional procedures as may be set by Court of Appeals order.

(c) Upon the filing of a notice of appeal, the superior court clerk shall expeditiously assemble, reproduce, and transmit to appellant the record of the proceedings. Appellant shall be responsible for the timely preparation and filing of the record on appeal in accordance with the Capital Appeal Management Order issued by the Court of Appeals pursuant to 22 NYCRR 510.4(c)(4) or 510.8(a).

(d) The record on appeal shall comply with 22 NYCRR 510.11(b), and be stipulated to or settled on motion. The parties may stipulate to the correctness of the contents of the record on appeal using the process provided by CPLR 5525(c)(1). Where the parties are unable to agree and stipulate to the contents of the record on appeal, appellant shall move, on notice, to settle the record in the superior court from which the appeal is taken.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Jan. 24, 1996; repealed, new filed Oct. 24, 1997; amd. filed Jan. 16, 2003 eff. Feb. 5, 2003. Amended (b).

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Section 218.2 Capital sentencing determination and findings form.

In all criminal actions in which a separate sentencing proceeding is conducted in accordance with the procedures set forth in section 400.27 of the Criminal Procedure Law, the superior court shall provide the jury with a Sentencing Determination and Findings Form, as prescribed by the Court of Appeals, on which the jury must record its determination of sentence and its specification of those mitigating and aggravating factors considered and those mitigating factors established by the defendant. The superior court judge shall instruct the jury on how to complete the form and shall ensure that the form is properly completed.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.3 Notice to the capital defender office.

(a) The clerk of the superior court in whose office a judgment that includes a sentence of death has been entered shall notify the capital defender office by the end of business on the day such determination is handed down.

(b) Notice to the capital defender office required pursuant to subdivision (a) of this section shall consist of telephone, facsimile, electronic mail or other prompt electronic means of communication, which shall be followed by first class mail notification within two business days after rendition of the sentence.

(c) The clerk of the superior court shall retain a written record of the electronic and written notice given pursuant to subdivision (b) of this section.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.4 Stays of execution: automatic or determined by superior court.

(a) Upon appeal from a judgment including a sentence of death (CPL 460.40 [1]). The taking of an appeal by a defendant directly to the Court of Appeals from a superior court judgment including a sentence of death stays the execution of such sentence until determination of the appeal.

(b) Initial CPL article 440 proceedings (CPL 460.40[3]). Upon motion to the superior court judge or justice who signed the warrant of execution, a defendant sentenced to death shall be granted a stay of execution of a death warrant issued pursuant to Correction Law, article 22-B to allow the defendant an opportunity to prepare and timely file an initial motion in superior court pursuant to CPL 440.10 or 440.20. The order staying execution shall provide that the stay of execution shall continue until (1) the time for taking an appeal to the Court of Appeals from the superior court's denial of such CPL article 440 motion has expired, or (2) if an appeal is taken, until the Court of Appeals determines the appeal.

(c) Subsequent CPL article 440 proceedings (CPL 460.40[3]).

(1) In the event a defendant sentenced to death files a motion for postconviction relief pursuant to CPL 440.10 or 440.20 subsequent to the final determination of an initial CPL article 440 motion, the superior court may grant a stay of execution of a death warrant issued pursuant to Correction Law, article 22-B only for good cause shown.

(2) By the end of business on the date a notice of appeal from a superior court order granting or denying a motion for a stay of execution has been filed, the clerk of the superior court, and appellant or appellant's counsel, shall notify the clerk of the Court of Appeals by telephone of such filing. Telephone notice to the Court of Appeals does not relieve the clerk of the superior court of the duties imposed by section 218.5 of this Part.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.5 Case history.

(a) Within 15 days after the filing of a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals in a case involving a sentence of death, except in those appeals taken pursuant to CPL 460.40(3) from an order of a superior court granting or denying a motion for a stay of execution, the clerk of the superior court in which the judgment or order being appealed from was rendered shall transmit to the clerk of the Court of Appeals a Case History including:

(1) the duplicate notice of appeal;

(2) a chronological list of all proceedings below giving rise to this particular appeal, noting which transcripts have been, or must be, prepared; and

(3) a list of all exhibits introduced in the proceedings below giving rise to this particular appeal.

The clerk of the superior court shall transmit to counsel for the parties copies of paragraphs (2) and (3) of this subdivision.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.6 Remittitur.

The remittitur of the Court of Appeals containing the court's adjudication, together with the return papers filed with the court, shall be sent to the clerk of the court to which the case is remitted, there to be proceeded upon according to law. Any order to effect the adjudication contained in the Court of Appeals' remittitur shall be sought, entered and enforced in the superior court.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.7 Capital case data reports.

(a) In each criminal action in which the defendant has been indicted for commission of an offense defined in section 125.27 of the Penal Law, except those in which the indictment is dismissed or the defendant is acquitted, the clerk of the superior court, within 45 days after the disposition of the action in such court, shall prepare and send to the Court of Appeals a Capital Case Data Report in the form prescribed by the Court of Appeals. Data reports shall be prepared by the clerk of the superior court by reviewing the record and upon consultation with the prosecutor and counsel for the defendant. Such data reports shall not constitute a part of the record in the underlying criminal action. The clerk of the superior court shall retain, in a confidential file kept separate from the record in the underlying criminal action, a copy of each such data report sent to the Court of Appeals, and may disclose a data report, or any part thereof, only upon order of the Court of Appeals for exceptional cause shown.

(b) All Capital Case Data Reports received by the Court of Appeals shall be compiled into a uniform Capital Case Data Report, which may consist of a computer data base containing the information in each Capital Case Data Report. Upon request, the Uniform Capital Case Data Report shall be made available to the parties on appeal to the Court of Appeals in cases where a sentence of death has been imposed.

(c) If the conviction or sentence in such criminal action is subsequently reversed or modified, the Capital Case Data Report shall be notated to reflect the reversal or modification. If an intermediate appellate court reverses or modifies the conviction or sentence, that court shall forward a copy of its remittitur to the Court of Appeals within 10 days after entry. If a new disposition in the action ensues in the superior court, the superior court clerk shall prepare a new Capital Case Data Report. Upon completion, the superior court clerk shall send the new Capital Case Data Report to the clerk of the Court of Appeals with a notice that the new report should be substituted in the data base for the previous report.

Historical Note
Sec. filed Oct. 24, 1997; amds. filed: April 7, 2000; Jan. 16, 2003 eff. Feb. 5, 2003. Amended (c).

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Section 218.10 [Repealed]

Historical Note
Sec. filed Jan. 24, 1996; repealed, filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.20 to 218.22 [Repealed]

Historical Note
Secs. filed Feb. 28, 1996; repealed, filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.

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Section 218.30 to 218.32 [Repealed]

Historical Note
Secs. filed Feb. 28, 1996; repealed, filed Oct. 24, 1997 eff. Nov. 19, 1997.