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For August 11, 2017 through August 17, 2017, the following preliminary appeal statements were filed:

AMBAC ASSURANCE CORPORATION v COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC. (150 AD3d 490):
1st Dept. App. Div. order of 5/16/17; modification; leave to appeal granted by the App. Div., 7/25/17; Fraud--Fraud in Inducement--Alleged fraudulent inducement to issue financial guaranty insurance policies for residential mortgage-backed securitizations--elements to establish cause of action for fraudulent inducement--justifiable reliance-- applicability of Insurance Law § 3105; recovery of claims payments made by insurer--contractual repurchase protocol; recovery of attorneys' fees; summary judgment; Supreme Court, New York County, granted in part and denied in part plaintiffs' and the Countrywide defendants' respective motions for summary judgment; App. Div. modified, to the extent indicated in the court's decision, and otherwise affirmed.

DIAZ (EMMANUEL), PEOPLE v (149 AD3d 974):
2nd Dept. App. Div. order of 4/19/17; affirmance; leave to appeal granted by Hall, J., 8/3/17; Rule 500.11 review pending; Crimes--Evidence--Whether defendant's telephone calls from prison were improperly admitted into evidence in the absence of his consent to release of the recordings to the prosecution; right to counsel--effective representation--whether defendant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel as a result of his trial counsel's failure to request that the jury be charged on the affirmative defense that the object which he displayed was not a loaded weapon; Supreme Court, Kings County, convicted defendant, upon a jury verdict, of robbery in the first degree and burglary in the first degree, and imposed sentence; App. Div. affirmed.

GERRISH v 56 LEONARD LLC (147 AD3d 511):
1st Dept. App. Div. order of 2/16/17; reversal; leave to appeal granted by App. Div., 7/18/17; Rule 500.11 review pending; Labor--Safe Place to Work--Where plaintiff was fabricating steel rebars at an off-site temporary project facility in the Bronx for a construction project located in Manhattan, whether plaintiff was working in a construction area within the meaning of Labor Law § 241(6); whether a question of fact exists as to involvement of defendants property owner and construction manager with off-site temporary construction facility; Supreme Court, New York County, granted the motion of defendants 56 Leonard LLC and Lend Lease (US) Construction LMB, Inc. to dismiss plaintiff's Labor Law § 241(6) claim against them; App. Div. reversed and denied the motion.

MAKI v BASSETT HEALTHCARE (2017 NY Slip Op 69011[U]):
3rd Dept. App. Div. order of 3/30/17; denial of motions; sua sponte examination whether a second appeal may be taken from the 3/30/17 App. Div. order; Appeal-- Appellate Division--Denial of appellant's vacatur motion; App. Div. denied appellant's vacatur motion and respondents' cross motion for sanctions.

ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY SUPPORT COLLECTION UNIT, MATTER OF v BOWMAN (152 AD3d 899):
3rd Dept. App. Div. order of 7/13/17; affirmance; sua sponte examination whether the order appealed from finally determines the proceeding within the meaning of the Constitution and whether a substantial constitutional question is directly involved to support an appeal as of right; Motions and Orders--Order to Show Cause--Reargument or Renewal--Appealability of order denying ex parte motion to issue an order to show cause and order denying reargument; alleged violations of due process and equal protection clauses; claimed violation of the constitutional right to petition the government for redress of grievances; Family Court, St. Lawrence County, denied respondent's motion for an order to show cause (4/6/16 order); and thereafter, denied respondent's motion to renew and reargue (6/6/16 order); App. Div. affirmed the 6/6/16 order, and dismissed the appeal from the 4/6/16 order.

For August 18, 2017 through August 24, 2017, the following preliminary appeal statements were filed:

CUMMINGS v MANVILLE (153 AD3d 58):
4th Dept. App. Div. order of 7/7/17; reversal with two-Justice dissent; sua sponte examination of whether the order appealed from finally determines the action within the meaning of the Constitution; Negligence--Maintenance of Premises--Whether defendant established as a matter of law entitlement to immunity under General Obligations Law § 9-103; plaintiff injured while operating a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle on a road owned by defendant; whether road was suitable for recreational use of ATV riding; Supreme Court, Monroe County, granted defendant's motion for summary judgment; App. Div. reversed, denied the motion for summary judgment, and reinstated the complaint.

MYERS (STEVEN), PEOPLE v (145 AD3d 1596):
4th Dept. App. Div. order of 12/23/16; affirmance; leave to appeal granted by Rivera, J., 7/28/17; Crimes--Indictment--Waiver of indictment by grand jury--Whether the trial court failed to protect defendant's rights by not speaking with him prior to entering his guilty plea to ensure defendant understood the written waiver document he had signed; County Court, Onondaga County, convicted defendant, upon his plea of guilty, of burglary in the third degree; App. Div. affirmed.

RUSH (TERRIE J.), PEOPLE v (148 AD3d 1601):
4th Dept. App. Div. order of 3/24/17; affirmance; leave to appeal granted by Stein, J., 8/7/17; Crimes--Identity Theft--Sufficiency and Weight of Evidence--whether the evidence was legally sufficient to support defendant's conviction of identity theft in the first degree; whether, under Penal Law § 190.80(3), the assumption of a person's identity is a discrete element that must be proved; whether use of the term "thereby" in Penal Law § 190.80(3) requires that the assumption of a person's identity precede commission of another felony--Right to Public Trial--whether closure of the courtroom was trivial and therefore did not violate defendant's right to a public trial; County Court, Monroe County, convicted defendant of identity theft in the first degree and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree; App. Div. affirmed.

For August 25, 2017 through August 31, 2017, the following preliminary appeal statements were filed:

DODSON (PHILLIP A.), PEOPLE v (147 AD3d 1343):
4th Dept. App. Div. order of 2/3/17; affirmance; leave to appeal granted by Wilson, J., 8/7/17; Rule 500.11 review pending; Crimes--Right to Counsel--Whether the trial court abused its discretion in denying defendant's request for substitution of assigned counsel--breakdown in communications between counsel and client; County Court, Monroe County, convicted defendant, upon his guilty plea, of assault in the first degree; App. Div. affirmed.

SASSON v TLG ACQUISITION LLC (150 AD3d 459):
1st Dept. App. Div. order of 5/11/17; affirmance with dissents; leave to appeal granted by App. Div., 7/25/17; Rule 500.11 review pending; Contracts--Construction-- Whether the Appellate Division properly applied law of the case doctrine in electing not to re-examine its prior determination interpreting a disputed contract provision; summary judgment--whether defendants raised triable issues of fact precluding summary judgment; attorneys' fees--whether the trial court properly awarded attorneys' fees pursuant to the terms of the parties' transactional documents; interest--whether the trial court properly calculated interest due to plaintiffs; Supreme Court, New York County, among other things, granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment and directed the issue of attorneys' fees to be heard by a referee (2/29/16 order); Supreme Court then granted plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, and severed plaintiffs' claim for costs to be determined by a referee (3/10/16 order), and awarded judgment in favor of plaintiffs' (7/6/16 judgment); App. Div. affirmed the 7/6/16 judgment and dismissed appeals from the 2/29/16 and 3/10/16 orders.

TIGER (NATASCHA), PEOPLE v (149 AD3d 86):
2nd Dept. App. Div. order of 3/1/17; reversal; leave to appeal granted by Garcia, J., 8/15/17; Crimes--Vacatur of Judgment of Conviction--Whether a freestanding claim of actual innocence is cognizable under CPL 440.10(1)(h); whether a defendant who pleads guilty may assert a freestanding actual innocence claim pursuant to CPL 440.10(1)(h); whether defendant made the requisite prima facie showing of actual innocence; right to counsel--effective representation; whether counsel was ineffective for failing to investigate possible alternative cause of victim's injuries; County Court, Orange County, denied, without a hearing, defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10 to vacate a judgment rendered 10/17/12, convicting defendant of endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person, or an incompetent or physically disabled person, in the first degree; App. Div. reversed and remitted to County Court for a hearing and new determination of defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 440.10.