ALBANY – With a difficult and divisive custody case and a shorthanded court, the Appellate Division, Third Department, took the unusual step last week of vouching in one of its own judges to cast a deciding vote.
Although Justice Edward Spain (See Profile) was not present at the March 19 oral arguments, his was the decisive voice in Matter of Marcus CC. v. Erica BB., 514433. The court, which is down 33 percent of its allotment of justices and operating with four-judge rather than five-judge panels, affirmed the trial court in a 3-2 opinion released Thursday.
