BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) — An appeal from a 2019 attempted murder case in Binghamton has been sent back to Broome County Court from the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division due to a conflict of interest in the appeal process.
The appeal is for the guilty verdict against Jalil Butts in December of 2019, convicting Butts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and assault in the second degree after being indicted for attempted murder alleging Butts and one other targeted a man in a parked car on Chenango Street in March of 2019.
The two suspects were initially prosecuted separately until Broome County Court granted a motion to combine the indictments. Following the joint trial, Butts was acquitted of the attempted murder and convicted of the charges referenced previously.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years post-release supervision as a result. When Butts appealed the ruling, the Appellate Court affirmed the conviction in May, 2024.
Following the denied appeal, Butts’ defense counsel learned that the Chief Assistant District Attorney, who represented the District Attorney and argued against the appeal, was the confidential law clerk to the judge who initially presided over the case at the time of the trial in 2019.
Butts’ defense moved to throw out the previous appeal ruling due to the ADA having a conflict of interest in this case. The ADA argued that she did not have conflict in this because she was not “personally and substantially” involved as the law clerk.
According to court documents, she says “her involvement consisted of drafting County Court’s decision and order on defendant’s omnibus motion as well as the decision and order on the prosecutor’s motion for consolidation of the separate indictments filed against defendant and the codefendant.”
The Appellate Court ruled her involvement in the original case as law clerk was, in fact, personal and substantial. In addition, Butts’ counsel wasn’t given a chance to provide written consent waiving the conflict and required screening procedures “to prevent the flow of information about the matter between personally disqualified lawyer and the [District Attorney’s Office].”
With that, the Appellate Court is withholding the appeal decision and sending the case back to Broome County Court for the appeal and the appointment of a special prosecutor. There is currently no scheduled date in place for this process to begin.
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