Summary
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed dismissal of Shawn Williams's claim for damages under Court of Claims Act § 8-b arising from his vacated murder conviction and imprisonment. The court held that Williams failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that he did not commit the charged acts, citing deficiencies in his alibi evidence and the credibility of the recanting eyewitness. The court also dismissed the appeal from the underlying decision because no appeal lies from a decision.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether an appeal lies from a Court of Claims decision.
- Whether Williams established by clear and convincing evidence that he did not commit any of the acts charged, as required for recovery under Court of Claims Act § 8-b.
- Whether the Court of Claims properly assessed the credibility of the recanting eyewitness, the alibi witnesses, and the identification expert.
Holdings
- No appeal lies from a decision, so the appeal from the Court of Claims decision was dismissed.
- Williams failed to establish by clear and convincing evidence that he did not commit any of the acts charged in the accusatory instrument; therefore, dismissal of his unjust-conviction claim was proper.
- The record supported the Court of Claims' findings that the recanting eyewitness's testimony was incredible and that Williams's identification expert was unpersuasive.
Key quotations
“The Legislature enacted Court of Claims Act § 8-b in 1984 to allow innocent persons to recover damages from the state where they can prove by clear and convincing evidence that they were unjustly convicted and imprisoned”
“Clear and convincing evidence is "a higher, more demanding standard than the preponderance standard"”
“to meet [his or] her burden of presenting clear and convincing evidence of [his or] her innocence, [a claimant must] demonstrate that the evidence makes it highly probable that what [he or she] claims is what actually happened with said evidence being neither equivocal nor open to opposing presumptions”
Factual background
Williams was convicted of second-degree murder based principally on an eyewitness identification and was sentenced to twenty-five years to life. The eyewitness later recanted, and the conviction was vacated in 2018. In his subsequent unjust-conviction claim, Williams relied on alibi evidence, the recantation, and expert identification testimony, but the Court of Claims found the testimony contradictory, lacking in specific recollection, or otherwise unpersuasive.
Procedural history
Williams was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to twenty-five years to life. After a prosecution witness recanted, the Supreme Court, Kings County, vacated the conviction in 2018. Williams then brought a Court of Claims Act § 8-b claim against the State; following a nonjury trial, the Court of Claims dismissed the claim. The Appellate Division dismissed the appeal from the decision because no appeal lies from a decision and affirmed the judgment.