In the second part of this podcast, the Hon. Mark D. Cohen discusses Ferreira v. City of Binghamton, a recent New York Court of Appeals decision involving civil liability for negligence in connection with the execution of a no-knock search warrant. As Judge Cohen explains, although Ferreira is a civil case, it nevertheless may be the most important criminal case decided by the Court of Appeals this year. The case arose out of an incident in which an unarmed occupant of a home was shot in the stomach during the execution of a no-knock search warrant. The individual filed a negligence suit against the officer, the police department, and the city. In a 5-2 decision, the Court of Appeals held that municipalities have a special duty to protect innocent bystanders when executing such a warrant.
Brought to you by the Touro Law Review.
Our guest today is Hon. Mark D. Cohen.
Hon. Mark D. Cohen
The Honorable Mark Cohen served as a Judge of the New York State Court of Claims from 2006 to 2020. During that time he was an Acting New York State Supreme Court Justice in Suffolk County, New York. From 2015 to 2020, he was the Supervising Judge of the Superior Criminal Courts for the Tenth Judicial District. In addition to his career as a Judge, he has been affiliated with Touro Law Center for thirty years. Judge Cohen has been an adjunct law professor at the Touro Law Center since 1993, where he was appointed as a Distinguished Jurist in Residence. In addition, in 2009 the Touro Law Center named him as Adjunct Professor of the Year. In 2013, the Touro Moot Court Honor’s Board presented him with the Annual Honorable George C. Pratt Award in Appellate Advocacy, in recognition of his work with the law school’s competitive moot court teams. Judge Cohen was voted Touro’s Best Adjunct Professor by the law school’s Student Bar Association in 2014, 2015, 2018, and 2019.
Judge Cohen is a graduate of Columbia College, Columbia University, and the Hofstra School of Law, where he was a member and editor of the Law Review. Upon his graduation from law school, he served as an appellate law clerk in Boston Massachusetts. From 2001 to 2006, Judge Cohen was the Deputy Director and Chief Counsel of the New York State Office of Homeland Security. During that same time, he served as the Acting Director for the Office and Assistant Director for its Legal Division and held a Top-Secret security clearance. Additionally, Judge Cohen was an Assistant District Attorney in the Suffolk County, New York District Attorney’s Office from 1976 through 2001 and served as the Chief Assistant District Attorney for thirteen years under two elected District Attorneys. As a prosecutor, Judge Cohen argued more than 200 cases in the Appellate Division, Second Department, more than 20 cases in the New York Court of Appeals, and 10 cases in the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Judge Cohen has spoken extensively to judicial, governmental, bar, professional, and academic organizations across the country and has lectured for or been a member of the faculty of many organizations and Institutions. Judge Cohen was honored by the Suffolk Criminal Bar Association named Judge Cohen as “Judge of the Year” in 2018. In 2020, The Suffolk County Court Officers’ Association honored Judge Cohen as its 2020 Judge of the Year as well. Impressively, Judge Cohen received the Frank S. Hogan Award; the New York State District Attorneys Association’s highest honor. Judge Cohen is the only non-acting recipient ever given this award.
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