The Hon. William C. Donnino

At the end of 2017, I retired as a judge of the New York Supreme Court, Criminal Term, having sat for more than 28 years.

I have written and continue to write Practice Commentaries for McKinney’s New York Penal Law and Criminal Procedure Law (West Group).  And, I have a published book: New York Court of Appeals on Criminal Law, 3d edition (West Group).

I also presently co-chair New York Unified Court System committees that write pattern New York Criminal Jury Instructions and Model Colloquies, and the Guide to New York Evidence.

My career in criminal justice began in 1966 as an assistant district attorney in New York County; thereafter I was: in 1971 assistant counsel to the Governor of New York for criminal justice matters; in 1973 deputy commissioner and counsel for the New York department of correctional services and parole; in 1975 chief of the appeals bureau in the office of the district attorney of Nassau County; in 1982 chief assistant district attorney in the office of the district attorney of Brooklyn; and in 1988 until I became a judge, of counsel to a law firm and counsel to a New York State Senator and the New York Senate Committee on Crime and Correction.

The Criminal Justice Section of the New York State Bar Association in 2007 presented me with their award for Outstanding Judicial Contribution in the Criminal Justice System and in 2018 with their award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Criminal Law Education.