Practice
New York State Criminal — Type D Non-Standard
New York is the canonical Type D example — the only U.S. state whose court NAMES invert the conventional hierarchy. The 'Supreme Court' is a TRIAL court of general jurisdiction, not the apex. The 'Court of Appeals' is the apex, not an intermediate appellate court. The intermediate appellate court is called the 'Appellate Division of the Supreme Court' and is divided into four geographically-defined departments. The structural impedance pattern is recognizable, but the conventional interpretive shortcuts ('Supreme Court said X' = 'apex said X') are exactly wrong here.
May 9, 2026