People v. Perez

OPINION OF THE COURT

Smith, J.

These four cases involve criminal appeals that were not pursued for more than a decade — in one case more than two decades — after the filing of a notice of appeal. In each case, the *96Appellate Division dismissed the appeal on the People’s motion. We hold that the dismissals in People v Perez, People v Calaff and People v Dockery did not violate defendants’ constitutional rights and were proper exercises of discretion. We remit the fourth case, People v Lopez, to the Appellate Division so that counsel can be appointed to represent Lopez in opposing the dismissal of…