Opinion
2001-08456
January 14, 2002.
Proceeding pursuant to CPLR article 78 in the nature of prohibition, inter alia, to prohibit the respondents from proceeding with the prosecution of a criminal action entitled People v. Sawyer, pending in the Supreme Court, Queens County, under Indictment No. 11536/00, and application for poor person relief.
William Sawyer, Napanoch, N.Y., petitioner pro se.
Eliot Spitzer, Attorney-General, New York, N.Y. (Carolyn Cairns Olson of counsel), for respondent James P. Griffin.
Before: FRED T. SANTUCCI, J.P., GLORIA GOLDSTEIN, LEO F. McGINITY, STEPHEN G. CRANE, JJ.
ORDERED that the application for poor person relief is granted to the extent that the filing fee imposed by CPLR 8022(b) is waived, and the application is otherwise denied as academic; and it is further,
ADJUDGED that the petition is denied and the proceeding is dismissed, without costs or disbursements.
"Because of its extraordinary nature, prohibition is available only where there is a clear legal right, and then only when a court — in cases where judicial authority is challenged — acts or threatens to act either without jurisdiction or in excess of its authorized powers" (Matter of Holtzman v. Goldman, 71 N.Y.2d 564, 569; see, Matter of Rush v. Mordue, 68 N.Y.2d 348, 352). The petitioner has failed to demonstrate a clear legal right to the relief sought.
SANTUCCI, J.P., GOLDSTEIN, McGINITY and CRANE, JJ., concur.