Jamestown's Watson Case

After a break, there have been a couple of articles in the P-J lately concerning the ongoing case of Michael Watson, a former Jamestown Police Department officer who is accused of various stalking/harrassing offenses. The latest is a somewhat novel development, worthy of highlighting. The prosecution has filed an Article 78 proceeding against the judge based on a ruling excluding certain evidence. An Article 78, named for its location in the Civil Procedure Law & Rules (CPLR), encompasses many of the old fashioned "writs" a court could issue to enforce/stay actions when a governmental authority was acting in an improper fashion. The writ of mandamus, known to all Con Law students from the case of _____ (anyone? Bueller?), is just one such example.