Donna Aldea
Top rated Appellate attorney in Garden City, New York
Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP
Practice Areas: Appellate, Civil Litigation, Civil Rights; view more
Licensed in New York since: 1999
Education: St. John's University School of Law
Languages Spoken: English, Romanian
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2016 - 2024 Call today:
516-855-3577
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Garden City, NY 11530 Visit website
Details
For over 20 years, Donna Aldea has been at the forefront of her legal community and across the United States, in complex appeals and post-conviction matters that provide critical discourse within the legal industry pertaining to issues such as the right to counsel, evidentiary errors, actual innocence, DNA evidence, and capital litigation. A partner at Barket Epstein Kearon Aldea & LoTurco, LLP, and Head of the firm’s Appellate and Post-Conviction Litigation Group, she brings her substantive knowledge, experience, and passionate advocacy to each case, giving her clients the best chance of resolving their legal issues. With numerous appellate and post-conviction victories and five cases on the National Registry of Exonerations, Ms. Aldea is a force in appellate litigation.
Ms. Aldea has Bachelor’s Degrees in English and Psychology and a Juris Doctor degree from St. John’s University School of Law, which she received in 1998. She is admitted to practice in New York State, before all federal district courts in New York, the United States Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit and the Supreme Court of the United States.
Starting out as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County, with a fierce dedication to the pursuit of justice, Ms. Aldea had a meteoric rise within the Queens County District Attorney’s Office (QCDAO), serving as a Supervisor in the Appeals Bureau and Unit Chief of Article 78 litigation and People's Appeals, before being appointed to the position of the District Attorney’s Counsel for Special Litigation – a position she held for nearly eight years. In this role, she dealt with the state’s most demanding and novel cases at both the trial and appellate levels. Her mammoth experience lends itself to her clients, who get the benefit of having a seasoned attorney who knows how the state judicial system operates and has an efficacious understanding of the opposition’s strategies.
Ms. Aldea has been lauded by her peers and many prominent legal organizations for her judicious work ethic and contributions to the legal community. She was awarded the Thomas E. Dewey Medal by the New York City Bar Association, the Eugene J. Kelly Memorial Award for Best Prosecutor by the QCDAO and the Board of Director’s Award for Outstanding Advocacy by the Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation. Moreover, she was recognized by Crain’s New York Business in their Notable Women in Law list and the Women’s Law Society of St. John’s University in their Notable Women in the Law list. She also holds a “Superb” rating on Avvo.
Within her legal community, Ms. Aldea has been involved with many legal organizations, including the NYSBA, the Nassau County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Historical Society of the New York Courts. In addition, she is a sought-after lecturer for the bench and bar, having delivered numerous CLE lectures to both judges and practitioners on topics of constitutional law, appellate procedure, statutory amendments, DNA evidence, and trial practice. She also served as an adjunct professor at her law school alma mater, teaching courses on New York Criminal Practice and Appellate Advocacy, among many others.
Practice areas
Appellate, Civil Litigation: Plaintiff, Civil Rights, Criminal Defense, Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI, Criminal Defense: White CollarFocus areas
Appeals, Assault & Battery, Criminal Domestic Violence, Criminal Fraud, Criminal Law, Drug & Alcohol Violations, Expungement, False Accusations, Felony, Murder, Police Misconduct, Sex Offenses, Theft
- 50% Appellate
- 10% Civil Litigation: Plaintiff
- 10% Civil Rights
- 10% Criminal Defense
- 10% Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI
- 10% Criminal Defense: White Collar
First Admitted: 1999, New York
Professional Webpage: https://www.barketepstein.com/our-team/donna-aldea/
- New York State
- Adjunct Professor at St. John’s University School of Law
- New York State Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
- Historical Society of the New York Courts
- American Bar Association
- New York State Bar Association
- Nassau County Bar Association
- United States District Court for the Northern District of New York
- United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
- United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
- United States Supreme Court
- People v. Mayer Herskovic, in which she obtained a reversal of defendant’s gang assault conviction and dismissal of the indictment on weight-of-the-evidence grounds, based on a challenge to the DNA evidence used by the People at trial
- Sellan v. Kuhlman, where she successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hold that the state court's denial of the petitioner's Sixth Amendment claim, despite the absence of any discussion of the federal claim in the state court decision, constituted an adjudication on the merits for purposes of habeas review
- Smaldone v. Senkowski, where she successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hold, as a matter of first impression, that the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act’s one-year limitation period was not tolled for the ninety-day period in which petitioner could have, but did not, seek certiorari from the United States Supreme Court
- Bethea v. Girdich, where she successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hold, as a matter of first impression, that the filing of a motion to extend the time to appeal or to file a late notice of appeal does not restart the one-year limitation period under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
- Hernandez v. Greiner, where she successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hold, as a matter of first impression, that ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim premised on appellate counsel’s failure to perfect brief to highest state court after a discretionary leave grant could not be recognized on habeas
- Jimenez v. Walker, where she successfully convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to hold, as a matter of first impression, that the judicially-created Harris/Coleman presumption should be extended to the court's inquiry under 28 U.S.C.S. § 2254(d) and the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act as to whether the state court's decision was on the merits
- People v. Farid Popal, bodyless murder case involving complex evidentiary and jurisdictional issues, which she successfully litigated through trial and on appeal
- People v. Barbara Sheehan, a complex murder trial involving a justification defense premised on Battered Women’s Syndrome, which she successfully litigated on appeal
- People v. Matthew Colletta, a second-degree murder case involving a 7-hour drive-by shooting spree of a dozen individual victims by a drunk and drugged defendant, which she tried and successfully litigated on appeal
- In re David B. (Anonymous), landmark Court of Appeals decision upholding the criteria for mental illness as defined by N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 330.20(1)(d) against constitutional challenge, and deeming it the applicable standard in initial commitment and subsequent retention hearings
- People v. Peter Wells, successfully defending constitutionality of New York’s persistent violent felony offender statute and persistent felony offender statute against Apprendi challenge, and convincing New York Court of Appeals to hold, as a matter of first impression and statutory interpretation, that CPL §270.15 permits the discharge of a sworn juror prior to empanelment based on the trial court’s concern that the juror might be incapable of remaining attentive during trial because of his work schedule
- People v. Terril Grice, a landmark Court of Appeals decision defining the contours of New York’s right to counsel
- Brown v. Blumenfeld, where she successfully challenged the authority of a Supreme Court Judge to issue an order precluding evidence
- People v. Mazultov Borukhova and Mikhail Mallayev, a joint trial of a circumstantial first-degree murder-for-hire case, which she tried and then successfully litigated on appeal
- People v. John Taylor, where she acted as lead counsel in the briefing and argument of the constitutionality of New York’s death penalty statute in the New York Court of Appeals
- People v. Constandino Argyris and John DiSalvo, where she convinced the New York Court of Appeals to reevaluate the legal standard used to evaluate reasonable suspicion in anonymous tip cases
- People v. Sasha Masri, where she obtained a reversal of defendant’s attempted assault conviction and dismissal of the indictment following the improper submission of a lesser included charge
- Matter of Singas v. Engel, where she obtained the first appellate decision in New York State recognizing that records pertaining to testing of simulator solution used in every breathalyzer calibration in the state is subject to disclosure to the defense under New York’s discovery statute
- Callahan v. Suffolk County, et. al, where she convinced the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to reverse a jury verdict in favor of the County and order a retrial for the family of an unarmed man who had been shot and killed by police
- People v. Christopher Loeb, where she obtained a vacatur of defendant’s criminal convictions and dismissal of his indictment following police brutality and police perjury
- People v. Aaron Powell, where she obtained a reversal of defendant’s two first-degree murder convictions on the grounds of juror bias
- People v. Jalal Abodalo, where she obtained the first post-conviction vacatur of a conviction on actual innocence grounds in New York State since this was recognized by the courts as a free-standing claim under CPL §440.10
- People v. Calvin Harris, where she successfully obtained a pre-voir dire change of venue for the defendant in this high-profile murder case, successfully litigated complex evidentiary issues relating to the admissibility of a defense third-party culpability case, and limitations on the prosecution’s use of hearsay, DNA evidence, and blood-spatter testimony, and ultimately helped to obtain an acquittal for Mr. Harris at trial
- Chair of Appellate Practice Committee, Nassau County Bar Assoc., 2016-2018
- Alumnus of the Month; Prepare, Lead, and Serve – St. John’s University School of Law, 2007
- Alumni Association Honoree Service Award – St. John’s University School of Law, 2008
- Dean’s Adjunct Faculty Teaching Award – St. John’s University School of Law, 2011-2012
- Eugene J. Kelly, Jr. Award for best prosecutor – Queens District Attorney’s Office, 2007
- Award for Outstanding Advocacy in Capital Litigation – Association of Government Attorneys in Capital Litigation, 2008
- Thomas E. Dewey Medal – NYC Bar Association, 2012
- Super Lawyers Appellate Practice and Litigation; Top Attorneys in Metro New York, 2016 - 2020
- Smile: This Is Oral Argument https://www.barketepstein.com/documents/The-New-York-Law-Journal-08.25.14-BMEK.pdf, 2014
- Federal Habeas Corpus for Beginners
- Ethics in Witness Preparation
- Guide to Article 78
- Guide to People’s Appeals
- Guide to CPL §330.30
- How to Draft a Perfect Affirmation and Memorandum of Law
- Prosecutorial Misconduct on Summation
- Evidentiary Issues
- Predictably Unpredictable: Issues with the Deliberating Jury
- Legal Writing for the Trial Attorney
- Batson - Post Hecker
- Criminal Appellate Practice
- Post-Conviction Ethical Pitfalls & Pointers
- The Write Stuff: Enhancing Your Persuasiveness
- Everything You Need to Know About Central Booking Interviews (but were afraid to ask)
- Strategic Considerations in Choosing Among Post-Conviction Remedies
- Criminal Appeals and Post-Conviction Proceedings
- Inventory Searches
- Navigating Article 440 of the New York Criminal Procedure Law
- On the Road Again: Challenging the Lifetime Driver’s License Revocation
- Search and Seizure Update
- Ready or Not … “Speedy Trial” Under CPL §30.30
- Unraveling the Helix: Understanding, Limiting, and Effectively Challenging DNA Evidence
- Privacy Questions In Heien V. NC May Have To Wait, Donna Aldea, head of the appellate and post-conviction litigation group at Barket Epstein, offers her insights on recent oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court at Law 360.2014 https://www.barketepstein.com/documents/Law-360-10.09.14.pdf
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2016 - 2024
