Illegal Use of Apartment

Facts: The NY County District Attorney's Office (DA) sued to evict tenant for illegal drug use in her apartment. Tenant asked the court for a postponement so that a legal-aid lawyer could arrange to represent her. The judge agreed to postpone the trial until May 2. On that date, tenant's lawyer asked for another postponement, and the judge put the trial off until May 25. On that day, the DA asked for a postponement because one of its witnesses was ill. Because of the legal-aid lawyer's scheduling problems, the judge set the trial for Aug. 24. On July 28, tenant's lawyer challenged the eviction proceeding on several grounds. The DA argued that tenant had waited too long to raise a challenge to the proceeding. Court: The DA wins. Tenant had waited too long. She didn't challenge the proceeding until three months after the original court date. Tenant's lawyer should have challenged the proceeding earlier---even if the lawyer was unavailable for trial.

N.Y. County District Attorney's Office v. Merced: NYLJ, p. 29, col. 6 (9/22/94) (Civil Ct. NY; Bransten, J)