Donald v. State of New York

In Donald v. State of New York (24 Misc 3d 329, 875 NYS2d 435 [Ct Cl 2009]) the court awarded summary judgment to claimant on the issue of liability because DOCS' imposition of PRS was "unlawful, beyond its jurisdiction and a legal nullity" and therefore could not be considered privileged (id. at 336, 875 NYS2d 435). The issue of damages was not addressed. In Donald, the court stated that claimant must still prove the number of days he was impermissibly confined, the manner in which he was confined, and the damages he incurred as a result of such confinement (24 Misc 3d at 343, 875 NYS2d 435). There was no further discussion of the issue of damages, because the facts of that claimant's postrelease status are rather unique and complicated: DOCS had imposed a three-year term of PRS, although then-existing Penal Law 70.45 (2) authorized a term of not less than 1 1/2 years or more than three years. While serving the PRS, the claimant was arrested and convicted of another crime, and at the sentencing for that second conviction the time remaining on his administratively-imposed PRS was added to the new indeterminate sentence. A subsequent arrest and incarceration for parole violation caused additional adjustment to his scheduled release date.