Case Name: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. James Rooks, Appellant
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
Jurisdiction: New York
Decision Date: 1965-06-21
Citations: 24 A.D.2d 500
Docket Number: 
Parties: The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. James Rooks, Appellant.
Judges: 
Reporter: Appellate Division Reports
Volume: 24
Pages: 500–500

Head Matter:
The People of the State of New York, Respondent, v. James Rooks, Appellant.

Opinion:
Appeal by defendant from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Kings County, rendered April 29, 1964 after a jury trial, convicting him of murder in the first degree and sentencing him, by reason of his age of 15 years as of the time of the commission of the crime, to a mandatory term of life imprisonment. Action remitted to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with this decision. Part of the People's proof' consisted of a certain written statement made by the defendant upon arrest and prior to his arraignment. The issue of the voluntariness of such statement was raised during the trial by the defendant, and was submitted by the trial court to the jury for determination together with the other issues. Such procedure has now been held to be violative of the defendant's constitutional rights; he was entitled to a separate trial by the court alone of the issue as to the voluntariness of his confession (Jackson v. Denno, 378 U. S. 368; People v. Huntley, 15 N Y 2d 72). Accordingly, on the court's own motion this action is remitted to the trial court for further proceedings in accordance with the procedure prescribed by this court in its decisions of December 21,1964 (see, e.g., People v. Davis, 22 A D 2d 921), as modified and amplified by the Court of Appeals in its subsequent decision (People v. Huntley, supra). In the interim, the pending appeal in this action will be held in abeyance. Ughetta, Acting P. J., Brennan, Rabin, Hopkins and Benjamin, JJ., concur.