On June 17, 2025, Davis Polk secured a precedent-setting victory on behalf of our pro bono client Taylor Partlow, a survivor of life-threatening domestic violence. The New York Court of Appeals unanimously overturned Ms. Partlow’s conviction based on the ineffective assistance of her trial counsel. The Court’s opinion held that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the prosecutor’s misconduct on summation. Davis Polk associate Corey Meyer argued the appeal before the Court of Appeals on April 8, 2025, with the entire team, Ms. Partlow and her parents in the courtroom.

Ms. Partlow was convicted of first-degree manslaughter in 2019 for stabbing her abusive boyfriend a single time during a domestic violence incident in which he had violently attacked her and was lunging at her again. At trial, justification was Ms. Partlow’s sole defense. During the prosecutor’s summation, in direct contradiction to what Ms. Partlow said on the stand, the prosecutor told the jury, “You never heard testimony that [the defendant] was in fear for her life.” Additionally, the prosecutor claimed Ms. Partlow had lied on the stand, using the word “lie” or “lies” 14 times. Ms. Partlow’s trial counsel did not object to the prosecutor’s false characterization of critical evidence or improper use of the word “lies.” The jury found Ms. Partlow guilty. 

On appeal to the Court of Appeals, Ms. Partlow argued that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance: first, by failing to request a jury charge on justification consistent with the Court’s precedent, and second, by failing to object to the prosecutor’s misconduct during trial. The Court of Appeals held that “counsel’s failure to object to multiple improper statements constituted a failure to provide meaningful representation, and under the circumstances of this case, denied the defendant the benefit of a fair trial.” The Court did not reach the jury charge issue.

The decision marks a rare instance of a conviction being overturned on the basis of prosecutorial misconduct, and it will serve as an important precedent for defendants seeking to challenge improper statements made by prosecutors at trial.

The Davis Polk team includes senior counsel Robert B. Fiske, Jr. and Denis J. McInerney, counsel and Head of Pro Bono Litigation Dara L. Sheinfeld, counsel Nikolaus Williams, associates Corey M. Meyer, Kathleen M. Lewis, Hugh Hansard Verrier, Nathaniel Cooney and Anna Fish, and former associate Sarah M. Bartlett.

Steven Haber, Litigation and Pro Bono Counsel in Bloomberg L.P.’s Legal and Compliance Department, David Crow, Associate Appellate Counsel at Legal Aid Society, and Elizabeth Isaacs, Supervising Appellate Attorney at New York Indigent Legal Services’ Statewide Appellate Support Center, all provided invaluable assistance throughout the briefing process. 

Copy link to share post