Gov. Kathy Hochul began to make her mark on the Court of Appeals by nominating Justice Shirley Troutman to join the court. If confirmed, Justice Troutman will replace Judge Eugene Fahey, who reached the mandatory retirement age this year and will step down at the end of the month. Justice Troutman was first elected to the Buffalo City Court in 1994. She went on to serve as an Erie County Court judge, a Supreme Court justice in the 8th Judicial District, and is currently an Associate Justice of the Appellate Division, Fourth Department. Justice Troutman would be the second Black woman to serve on New York’s highest court.

The Court of Appeals recently considered the admissibility of expert testimony concerning the occurrence of false confessions. In a majority opinion written by Chief Judge Janet DiFiore and joined by Judges Garcia, Singas and Cannataro, the court reaffirmed that expert testimony may be admitted regarding the factors associated with false confessions and that the admissibility of such testimony should be left to the discretion of the trial court. In this instance, the court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in precluding the testimony from the defendant’s expert because, based on the majority’s analysis of the record, the expert did not link her research on the causes of false confessions to the specific circumstances of the defendant’s interrogation.