The Office of the Appellate Defender (OAD)
is one of New York City’s oldest providers of appellate representation to poor people convicted of felonies, the City’s second oldest institutional indigent defense office, and a national model of effective, innovative, and holistic defense representation.
OAD'S MISSION
OAD strives to ensure that poor people convicted of felonies receive full and equal access to justice by providing exceptional appellate representation, improving the quality of indigent defense representation through education and training, and advocating for systemic reform of New York City’s criminal justice system.
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OAD NEWS
Indictment Dismissed
Today, in People v. Coulibaly, the First Department vacated OAD’s client’s conviction and dismissed his indictment after finding that trial counsel incorrectly calculated his client’s speedy trial time. Kudos to our Volunteer Appellate Defender co-counsel at MilbankLLP! You can read the decision here.
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The Latest About OAD
In OAD’s May 2019 Newsletter, you can learn more about: OAD’s holistic post-conviction representation model; OAD’s First Monday in October Counsel for Justice Honoree, Tony West; and OAD’s available Staff Attorney positions! Check it out here.
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OAD to NYC Mayor and NYS Governor: Banishment is Not Good Public Policy
On April 8, 2019, OAD joined forces with Appellate Advocates, the Bronx Defenders, Brooklyn Defender Services, the Center for Appellate Litigation, the Center for Community Alternatives, the Legal Aid Society, the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, New York County Defender Services, and the Sex Law Policy Center in a letter urging Mayor DeBlasio and Governor…
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Indictment Dismissed
On April 26, 2019, in People v. Taylor, the Appellate Division dismissed the indictment of an OAD client after finding an “unreasonably long” delay in sentencing. The Court held that the prosecution “offer[ed] no excuse for more than one year of the delay in defendant’s sentencing, a period that began when the prosecution received actual…
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OAD Joins NYC Defenders in Urging Accuracy and Transparency in DNA Testing and Analysis
On February 15, 2019, OAD joined with New York City indigent and post-conviction defense providers to urge the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to conduct a transparent and collaborative review to determine whether and to what extent a controversial method for evaluating DNA mixtures has been used in New York City criminal cases. You…
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AD1 Reverses OAD Client’s Conviction: Cumulative Errors Deprived Right to a Fair Trial
In People v. Ortiz, the First Department reversed Mr. Ortiz’s conviction because numerous errors—including the improper admission of testimony about cell-site data by an unqualified lay witness—deprived Mr. Ortiz of his right to a fair trial. The decision is available here: http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2019/2019_00221.htm Mr. Ortiz was represented by OAD Staff Attorney, Victorien Wu.
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