Opinion ID: 774017
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Post-Trial Initiatives in the State Courts

Text: 33 On May 18, 1990, Leka filed a motion under N.Y. C.P.L.R. §330.30 for an order setting aside the verdict. On May 31, the trial court denied his motion without a hearing and sentenced Leka principally to a term of twenty years to life in prison. Leka is now incarcerated. 34 Leka pursued a direct appeal in the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, and also moved in the trial court to have the conviction vacated under N.Y. C.P.L.R. §440.10, claiming, inter alia, that newly discovered evidence -including the observations of Chiusano, Gonzalez, and Garcia -cast doubt on his conviction and that these witnesses' accounts were suppressed by the prosecution. 35 The trial court rejected Leka's §440.10 motion in a written opinion. See Section 440.10 Opinion. The court did not explicitly address Leka's Brady claim, but in rejecting Leka's contention that the evidence of Chiusano, Gonzalez, and Garcia was newly discovered, the trial court found that Leka ma[d]e no showing as to why the evidence contained [in the Chiusano, Gonzalez, and Garcia affidavits] could not have been obtained for use at trial. Id. at 5-6. 36 On February 18, 1992, the Appellate Division consolidated Leka's direct appeal with his appeal from the denial of his motions made under § 330.30 and §440.10. On November 28, 1994, the Appellate Division affirmed. See New York v. Leka, 619 N.Y.S.2d 144 (2d Dep't 1994). The Appellate Division expressly affirmed the ruling that Leka failed to satisfy the requirements for newly discovered evidence. See id. at 146 (The allegations set forth in the moving papers failed to meet the requirements for newly-discovered evidence.) (citations omitted). The Appellate Division did not address Leka's Brady claim. See id. (The defendant's remaining contentions, including those raised in his supplemental pro se brief, are... without merit.). 37 On March 14, 1995, the New York Court of Appeals denied Leka's petition to appeal. See New York v. Leka, 650 N.E.2d 1336, 627 N.Y.S.2d 334 (N.Y. 1995).