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Kings County Criminal Bar Association gets search and seizure update from Judge Kamins

May 23, 2016 By Rob Abruzzese Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Hon. Barry Kamins gave a Continuing Legal Education presentation on updates to search and seizure law at Thursday's KCCBA meeting. Eagle photos by Rob Abruzzese
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The Kings County Criminal Bar Association (KCCBA) hosted retired Judge Barry Kamins for a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) lecture on updates in search and seizure law over the past 24 months at the Brooklyn Bar Association headquarters on Thursday night.

Judge Kamins is a former administrative judge of the Kings County Supreme Court and is the author of “New York Search and Seizure.”

“Search and seizure is constantly evolving and I want people to understand how certain doctrines are changing [and] how, in the area of probable cause, things are always evolving,” Kamins said. “The law is a living breathing thing and nothing is static. Even though we have precedents, judges are always interpreting and tweaking, the facts are always changing and that’s as it should be.”

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Coming on the heels of another successful annual awards dinner, KCCBA President Michael Farkas announced at the meeting that the association has re-established a scholarship, which is expected to be an annual scholarship, that will go to a deserving Brooklyn Law School student.

“We’re going to devise some parameters, we’re going ask (BLS Dean Nicholas Allard) to; we’ll put together a panel to look over resumes and select a worthy candidate,” Farkas said. “We hope to do this annually. We have been doing well enough with our dues and this is a great way to give back to our community.”

Farkas also recognized a pair of its members at the meeting — Vice President of the KCCBA Arthur Aidala and Leo J. Kimmel. Aidala was recognized for his work as outgoing president of the Brooklyn Bar Association and Kimmel on his retirement after 50 years as a criminal defense attorney.

“We always recognize someone who devoted their lives to the practice of criminal defense, someone whose lifetime of service stands out amongst all others,” Farkas said referring to Kimmel. “We usually do it at our annual dinner, but he could not attend and Leo Kimmel is someone who must be recognized for his outstanding service.”

Farkas also discussed a project he’s working on with Aidala to improve the process for screening defendants for eligibility for indigent legal services.

“This has been a problem for 30 or 40 years,” said Farkas, who added that he’s tired of seeing people drive up to the courthouse in Maseratis getting free legal counsel. “It’s Arthur and my intention to approach the chief judge (Hon. Janet DiFiore) and establish a citywide standard for screening defendants for eligibility for indigent defense services. Currently, far too many who can afford private counsel take advantage of a program designed for the underprivileged.”

Judge Kamins also presented a CLE seminar on Wednesday, the day before, at the New York City Bar Association, where he was part of a panel discussion examining People V. DeBour on its 40th anniversary. That case raised the fundamental issues of when a police officer may approach a person on the street for the purpose of requesting information and has been very controversial over the years.

“That was written 40 years ago, it was a very confusing case and the question was — has it outlived its usefulness,” Kamins said. “A lot of people at the program felt that it was confusing and not workable, some felt it works. It was a lively discussion. Judge Sol Wachtler was there, he authored the opinion, and said, ‘Look, nothing is forever. If people think it’s not workable then something should be changed.’”

In addition to Kamins and Wachtler, Hon. Robert Smith (ret.), Justine Luongo, Lawrence Byrne, Darius Charney and Daniel R. Alonso were also part of the panel on DeBour.

 


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