People v. Jablonka

48 Misc. 3d 37, 14 N.Y.S.3d 274
Appellate Terms of the Supreme Court of New York·Decided April 9, 2015·Published·Cited by 2 cases

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Memorandum.

Ordered that so much of the order dated June 30, 2010 as denied the branch of defendant’s omnibus motion seeking to dismiss the accusatory instrument on the ground that his statutory right to a speedy trial had been violated is vacated and the matter is remitted to the Justice Court for a new determination of that branch of defendant’s motion, following a hearing, in accordance with the decision herein. The appeal is held in abeyance in the interim. The Justice Court is directed to file its report with all convenient speed.

On December 28, 2008, an accusatory instrument was filed charging defendant with inhumane destruction of a dog [39] (Agriculture and Markets Law former § 374 [2-c]).* The case was adjourned and, in the interim, by letter dated January 16, 2009, the People informed the Justice Court that they were “investigating all possible charges,” and that they “opposed any plea . . . until further investigation is concluded.” On January 28, 2009, the People filed a statement of readiness and, in February 2009, they filed a Huntley notice pursuant to CPL 710.30. The case was subsequently adjourned numerous times. On May 8, 2009, the People notified defense counsel that defendant could testify before the grand jury on May 13, 2009, which defendant declined to do. By order dated June 22, 2009, pursuant to the grand jury’s directive that a prosecutor’s information be filed charging defendant with the unjustified killing of an animal (Agriculture and Markets Law § 353) (count 1), inhumane destruction of a dog (count 2), criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree (Penal Law § 265.01 [4]) (count 3), and criminal mischief in the fourth degree (Penal Law § 145.00 [1]) (count 4), the Justice Court instructed the People to file a prosecutor’s information (see CPL 190.70). On June 24, 2009, defendant was arraigned on the prosecutor’s information which alleged, among other things, that defendant euthanized and/or killed a dog, named Humphrey, that was neither dangerous nor severely injured on December 28, 2008, on which date defendant also possessed a gun and intentionally damaged property — the dog — which belonged to another person.

Thereafter, defendant filed an omnibus motion in which he sought, among other things, to have the prosecutor’s information dismissed on statutory speedy trial grounds. By order dated June 30, 2010, this branch of the motion was denied. Following a nonjury trial, defendant was convicted of inhumane destruction of a dog, criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, and criminal mischief in the fourth degree. He was acquitted of unjustified killing of an animal. On appeal, defendant contends that the prosecutor’s information is facially insufficient; that he was denied his right to a speedy trial; that his statements should have been suppressed; that the Justice Court misinterpreted the applicable law regarding justification; that the prosecutor’s conduct was improper; that the evidence was legally insufficient; and that the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.

[40] The sufficiency of a prosecutor’s information is governed by CPL 100.40 (3), which provides that a prosecutor’s information is “sufficient on its face when it substantially conforms to the requirements prescribed in section 100.35.” CPL 100.35 provides that

“[a] prosecutor’s information must contain the name of the local criminal court with which it is filed and the title of the action, and must be subscribed by the district attorney by whom it is filed. Otherwise it should be in the form prescribed for an indictment, pursuant to section 200.50, and must, in one or more counts, allege the offense or offenses charged and a plain and concise statement of the conduct constituting each such offense.”

Pursuant to CPL 200.50 (7), an indictment must contain “[a] plain and concise factual statement in each count which, without allegations of an evidentiary nature, (a) asserts facts supporting every element of the offense charged and the defendant’s . . . commission thereof with sufficient precision to clearly apprise the defendant ... of the conduct which is the subject of the accusation.” An indictment must provide the accused with fair notice of the nature of the charges against him, and the manner, time and place of the conduct underlying the accusations, so as to enable him to answer the charges and prepare an adequate defense (see People v Morris, 61 NY2d 290, 293 [1984]; People v Iannone, 45 NY2d 589, 594 [1978]).

One of the main differences between misdemeanor informations (CPL 100.40 [1]) and prosecutor’s informations (CPL 100.40 [3]) with respect to the requirements of facial sufficiency is that the factual part of a misdemeanor information, together with any supporting deposition, must contain non-hearsay allegations which establish, if true, every element of the offense charged and the defendant’s commission thereof (CPL 100.40 [1] [c]), whereas a prosecutor’s information need not be supported by nonhearsay allegations to be sufficient on its face (see CPL 100.40 [3]; 100.35). However, if after an information has been filed, the district attorney decides to file a prosecutor’s information pursuant to CPL 100.50 (2), to supersede the original information, the factual allegations of the superseded original information underlying it, and any supporting deposition, must be facially sufficient pursuant to CPL 100.40 (1) to support the charge in the prosecutor’s information (see CPL 170.35 [3] [b]).

Inasmuch as the prosecutor’s information in the case at bar was filed at the direction of the Justice Court pursuant to [41] the direction of the grand jury (see CPL 190.70 [3]), we find that the CPL 100.50 (2) requirement that the original accusatory instrument must also be facially sufficient pursuant to CPL 100.40 (1) is inapplicable, since the prosecutor’s information was not filed at the discretion of the District Attorney; rather, the District Attorney was obligated to file it (see CPL 190.70 [3]). Thus, we find that the prosecutor’s information is facially sufficient pursuant to CPL 100.40 (3), since it contains the name of the local criminal court with which it is filed, the title of the action, is subscribed by the District Attorney by whom it is filed (see CPL 100.35; see also e.g. People v Repanti, 40 Misc 3d 131 [A], 2013 NY Slip Op 51132[U] [App Term, 2d Dept, 9th & 10th Jud Dists 2013]; People v Komizorov, 34 Misc 3d 154[A], 2012 NY Slip Op 50382[U] [App Term, 1st Dept 2012]), and provides defendant with fair notice of the nature of the charges against him, and the manner, time and place of the conduct underlying the accusations, so as to enable defendant to answer the charges and prepare an adequate defense (see People v Morris, 61 NY2d at 293; People v Iannone, 45 NY2d at 594).

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People v. Jablonka, 48 Misc. 3d 37, 14 N.Y.S.3d 274 (N.Y. Ct. App. 2015).

48 Misc. 3d 37 (People v. Jablonka) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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