Appeal Denied

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

John Ingrassia recently received a favorable decision from the New York Court of Appeals, which denied a prosecution request to overturn a decision from the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division, which vacated our client’s felony conviction for endangering the welfare of a vulnerable person.

Mr. Ingrassia had successfully persuaded the Appellate Division that his client did not receive effective assistance of counsel prior to her entering a guilty plea. That attorney had failed to secure vital medical records showing that the child had findings consistent with the child having suffered from a potentially fatal dermatological condition resulting from having taken a medication that she was prescribed.

The theory of the prosecution’s case was that our client had recklessly burned the disabled child when bathing her with excessively hot water. Our client’s prior counsel recommended that she accept a guilty plea notwithstanding the fact that his client had no burns to any portion of her hands or fingers and notwithstanding the fact that the medical records demonstrated that the child’s injuries had progressed showing new areas of lesions forming on her body even 48 hours after the alleged scalding incident.

Following a lengthy hearing in Orange County Court our client’s application to set aside the conviction was denied.

Mr. Ingrassia who has handled this case for several years in an attempt to set aside the wrongful conviction, wrote and argued the appeal to the Appellate Division and was able to persuade the Appellate Division Justices that the Judge who denied our application to set aside the conviction had misapplied the law when he determined that our client was not prejudiced by her original attorney’s deficient conduct.

The case will now be returned to the trial court, for the case to proceed to trial.