The People of the State of New York, Respondent v. Julian Silva, Appellant; the People of the State of New York…

Summary

The Court held that trial courts erred as a matter of mode of proceedings when they failed to acknowledge and respond to jury notes requesting substantive information, vacating the attempted weapon possession conviction in People v. Silva and ordering a new trial in People v. Hanson. The Court affirmed the remaining convictions in Silva, finding no prejudice to those counts, and rejected the People’s argument that the presumption of regularity could save the error. Justice Smith dissented, arguing that only cases showing prejudice should be reversed.