January 10th, 2014: The Nonhuman Rights Project today filed Notices of Appeal in the cases of Tommy (NY State Third Judicial Department), Kiko (Fourth Judicial Department), and Hercules and Leo (Second Judicial Department).
Each lawsuit involves a separate appeal, and since the chimpanzees are imprisoned in three different judicial departments, there will be three separate rulings that may, or may not, agree.
The NhRP will attempt to appeal the ruling of any appellate department that refuses to recognize a chimpanzee petitioner as a “person” with the right to bodily liberty protected by the writ of habeas corpus to the New York Court of Appeals, which is the state’s highest court. While New York State has an automatic right of appeal to the appellate courts, the Court of Appeals can elect to hear the appeal or not.
It will be months before the appellate departments hear the appeals we filed.
The documents for each appeal are available as follows:
Notice of Appeal, Fulton County
Notice of Entry, Fulton County
Proof of Service, Fulton County
Notice of Appeal, Niagara County
Notice of Entry, Niagara County
Proof of Service, Niagara County
Notice of Appeal, Suffolk County
Notice of Entry, Suffolk County
Proof of Service, Suffolk County