Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Re: Looking for case / trial records from 1965 murder in NY

This will not be easy but there are some things you can try. 1) File a Freedom of Information Law ("FOIL") request with the police department for its file; 2) File a FOIL request with the District Attorney's Office for its file; 3) Go to the courthouse and order the case file so you can see the public parts; 4) Check with the Appellate Division to see if the defendant appealed the conviction. If there was an appeal, you maybe able to read the record on appeal. Depending on what the appellate issues were, the Record on Appeal may have the entire trial testimony. If not, you may be able to get the court reporter's name from the court file (# 3 above). If the reporter is still alive, he or she may still have the stenographic notes and perhaps you can order the transcripts, although that is expensive. The big problem you have is the above files are so old that, at best, they are archived somewhere and not easily accissible, assuming they are not lost. The above is for informational purposes only and not meant to convey legal advise as there is no attorney-client relationship. Good luck.