Francis Finster v. New York

Under NY law the. trial court's failure to adhere to procedural requirements of the waiver of indictment process, constitutes a mode of proceedings error that strips the trial court of it's jurisdiction to enter a judgment of conviction / sentence a criminal defendant. This case not only involves the question of whether, the state trial court circumvented those! requisites, but raises three important federal questions: 1). Was petitioner denied his constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel on direct appeal in state court, based on counsel's failure to assemble an accurate appeal record (that included an unsigned waiver of indictment and not the waiver on file in the trial court), which may have prevented meaningful / accurate review of a mode of proceedings error? 2). Does the state's waiver of indictment process," which is deemed a jurisdictional basis to try. and convict a criminal defendant, implicate the constitutional right to due process? 3). Was the petitioner denied the constitutional right to due process and or equal protection as a result of the state courts failure to duly consider the merits of whether there was a mode of proceedings error and a fraud upon the trial court proceeding by ignoring his claims, with summary denials? -i-