ALBANY – The Appellate Division may not dismiss pending criminal appeals filed by defendants if their absence from New York and unavailability to “obey” the court’s directive are caused by their deportation from the United States, the state’s highest court ruled yesterday.
The Court of Appeals ordered separate panels of the Appellate Division, Second Department, to consider the merits of the appeals of two deported defendants, Carlos Ventura and Damian Gardner, on the ground that both were denied the “absolute right to seek appellate review of their convictions” by dismissal of their pending cases.
