People v. Almonte

190 Misc. 2d 783, 740 N.Y.S.2d 763, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 172
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedFebruary 15, 2002
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 190 Misc. 2d 783 (People v. Almonte) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering New York Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Almonte, 190 Misc. 2d 783, 740 N.Y.S.2d 763, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 172 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2002).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Michael J. Obus, J.

Late in the evening of October 18, 1988, Police Officer Michael Buczek was shot and killed as he and his partner tried to stop two men in the vicinity of Broadway and 161st Street in Manhattan. Unbeknownst to the officers, these two men were fleeing from a robbery. On January 12, 1989, a grand jury commenced an investigation into Officer Buczek’s death, at the outset of which the assistant district attorney asked the grand jurors to vote to extend their term for at least an additional four months. After hearing from 25 witnesses and receiving over 30 exhibits into evidence, which focused on the guilt of the defendant and Daniel Mirambeaux, both of whom had fled to the Dominican Republic immediately after the crimes, the [785]*785prosecutor, on March 30, 1989, asked the grand jury to consider, as to Mirambeaux only, charges of murder in the first degree; attempted murder in the first degree; two counts of murder in the second degree, intentional and felony murder; and robbery in the first degree. The panel voted a true bill.

The investigation continued, however, with the grand jurors repeatedly agreeing to extend their term, but hearing little evidence. In fact, the grand jury heard only from Florinda Almonte, the defendant’s ex-wife, on November 17, 1989. On December 13, 1989, the jurors were asked one last time to extend their term for an additional three months to hear from one final witness and although they agreed to do so, that witness, whose identity has never been disclosed, was not called and the grand jury never met again. It appears that the proceeding simply lapsed.

On October 22, 1998, the People presented the case against the defendant to a second grand jury without seeking court permission. Eleven witnesses testified at this proceeding, eight of whom had testified at the 1989 presentation. A ninth witness, a police detective, gave testimony comparable to that offered by a different police witness in 1989. The remaining evidence at the second presentation had been unavailable to the People in 1989. The grand jury indicted the defendant for a single count of murder in the second degree (Penal Law § 125.25 [3]).

Upon his extradition from the Dominican Republic in March of 2001, and his arraignment on the indictment, the defendant filed an omnibus motion seeking various relief, including dismissal of the charges on the grounds that there were procedural improprieties in the grand jury presentation, that he was improperly extradited and that the delayed prosecution deprived him of due process. The People filed a response to which the defense submitted a reply. Oral argument on the motion was heard on October 31, 2001. Additionally, on November 15, 2001, the court permitted the People, on notice to the defendant, to make an ex parte, in camera showing with respect to circumstances surrounding the preindictment delay and the interrelated need for a protective order regarding certain potential Brady material. (See Brady v Maryland, 373 US 83 [1963].) Thereafter, concerned that the People had acted without statutory authority when they presented the case against the defendant to the 1998 grand jury without court authorization, this court directed the parties to submit memoranda on this issue as well.

[786]*786Grand Jury

The defendant now contends that the 1998 grand jury presentation violated the dictates of Criminal Procedure Law § 190.75 (3), as interpreted by the Court of Appeals in People v Wilkins (68 NY2d 269 [1986]). In Wilkins, the prosecutor withdrew a case from the grand jury after presentation of the evidence, but prior to instructing the jurors on the law, and resubmitted it to a second panel without the consent of either the first grand jury or the court that impaneled it. Focusing on the policies underlying section 190.75, which “was enacted in order to curtail the ‘grave abuses’ resulting from the common-law rule that allowed a prosecutor to resubmit a charge repeatedly to successive Grand Juries after the same charge had been dismissed by their predecessors” (People v Gelman, 93 NY2d 314, 318 [1999]), the Court concluded that, although the People acted in good faith, the withdrawal was equivalent to a dismissal and that the People could not lawfully resubmit the charges without court approval. (Wilkins, 68 NY2d at 271.)

Preliminarily, the People seek to distinguish the Wilkins case, arguing that while the defendant here was concededly a suspect in 1989, the grand jury was more generally investigating the death of Officer Buczek. They point out that, unlike in Wilkins, there had been no arrests and there were no named defendants. However, Wilkins has been applied to just such a situation.

In People v Hemstreet (234 AD2d 609 [2d Dept 1996]), a grand jury commenced an investigation into the death of one Kenneth Hiep. After explaining to the jurors that no one had yet been charged with a crime and that they would decide at the conclusion of the evidence whether one or more people should be charged, the prosecutor presented evidence as to the guilt of Hemstreet and another individual, Patrick Bentz. Ultimately, the prosecutor, noting that the investigation was continuing, asked the grand jury to consider a charge of murder in the second degree only against Bentz. One year later, the People admittedly presented a “virtually identical” case against Hemstreet to a second grand jury without seeking leave of court. The defendant then moved to dismiss the indictment on the ground that the prosecutor’s withdrawal of the case from the first grand jury and the resubmission of the case to a subsequent grand jury without seeking leave of court violated section 190.75 (3). The trial court denied the motion. The Second Department reversed:

[787]*787“Where, as here, the prosecution has withdrawn an essentially completed case from the Grand Jury prior to any action having been taken by that body, the result will be deemed the functional equivalent of a dismissal under CPL 190.60 (4), and the prosecutor cannot resubmit the matter to a second Grand Jury without leave of court under CPL 190.75 (3) (see, People v Wilkins, 68 NY2d 269; Matter of McGinley v Hynes, 75 AD2d 897, rev’d on other grounds 51 NY2d 116, cert denied 450 US 918; People v McCann, 169 Misc 2d 253; People v Holmes, NYLJ, Aug. 18, 1992 [Sup Ct, NY County], at 22, col 3).” (Hemstreet, 234 AD2d at 610.)

Thus, Wilkins has been authoritatively held to apply to a presentation denominated a “grand jury investigation,” and to require dismissal of an indictment later secured in the absence of court authorization to re-present, where such a grand jury has failed to take any action pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 190.60 (4), that is, indict a person for an offense; direct the district attorney to file a prosecutor’s information with a local criminal court; direct the district attorney to file a request for removal to the Family Court; dismiss the charge before it; or submit a grand jury report.

Of course, not all inaction by a grand jury constitutes an unauthorized withdrawal amounting to dismissal. In the words of the Wilkins Court, “the extent to which the Grand Jury considered the evidence and the charge” is determinative. (68 NY2d at 274; see also Gelman,

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Related

People v. Almonte
90 A.D.3d 579 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2011)
People v. Davis
72 A.D.3d 53 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2010)
People v. Telese
1 Misc. 3d 490 (New York County Courts, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
190 Misc. 2d 783, 740 N.Y.S.2d 763, 2002 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 172, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-almonte-nysupct-2002.