‘Blah blah blah’ in court record

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York’s highest court affirmed the appellate court’s decision to order a reconstruction hearing, rather than summarily reversing the conviction and ordering a new trial of a man who was found guilty of murder, and whose wife was also accused, after he started an arson fire that killed their neighbor. The trial record was missing significant transcriptions and the primary stenographer used phrases such as “blah blah blah” and “untranscribable” in the record. The hearing route is proper because the defendant wasn’t prejudiced when the record was accurately reconstructed from the judge’s notes and testimony from prosecutors, defense attorneys and others.