So, my appeal of the ridiculous SORA order issued on January 5, 2024 was delivered yesterday. My previous attempts were thwarted by the arcane process known as “perfecting” an appeal in New York State.
Basically, my appeal was stymied by the RECORD ON APPEAL, an esoteric document that must be created and agreed upon by the parties of the appeal (in this case the Monroe County DA (“MCDA”) and myself). BUT the directions just state that the record must be certified, stipulated to or ordered (CPLR 5525).
The first obstacle was the fact that the Court Clerk doesn’t maintain these records, the County Clerk does… So there’s that peculiarity. When I got the certified record from the County Clerk, the Appellate Division, Fourth Dept. Court Clerk rejected my submission and told me that the certified record wasn’t sufficient to meet the certified requirement of 22 NYCRR 1250.7, but didn’t give me any further instructions.
The next obstacle was getting the MCDA to stipulate to the RECORD ON APPEAL because they just ignored my request. (Seems like an easy way for the DA to block appeals, NO?) I then attempted to get the County Court judge who made the decision I’m appealing to grant an order for the RECORD ON APPEAL and was also ignored. (Again, seems like an easy way for the Judge to block appeals, NO?)
After all this ignoring, the sixth month time limit to “perfect” my appeal was running out. So I petitioned the Court to extend the time, noting all the ignoring that had occurred. They granted my request on October 17, 2024 giving me until December 16, 2024 to perfect my appeal. And surprise surprise, with a copy of their order enclosed, the MCDA agreed to stipulate to the RECORD ON APPEAL.
Now, I wait to see if the Clerk, will finally accept my appeal. Like I’ve posted before, it shouldn’t be this hard to appeal decisions.
Update 11-21-2024: Got a letter from the Clerk yesterday, my appeal has been perfected. And has been schedule to be heard for the “session” beginning March 31, 2025.