RIVERHEAD – Citing “a plethora” of recent motions asserting that felony defendants were not represented at arraignment, and should have been, Suffolk County Court Judge John N. Mullin appeared to lay blame for the latest example of what he described as a “disturbing scenario” at the feet of the arraignment judges.
Criminal attorneys in Suffolk County have complained for years that too many felony defendants are arraigned in town, village and district courts without benefit of counsel. Judge Mullin’s decision in People v. Latta, 2307-01, is thought to be the first time such complaints have been publicly validated.
