People v. Onyeabor

8 Misc. 3d 310
CourtNew York Supreme Court
DecidedMarch 23, 2005
StatusPublished

This text of 8 Misc. 3d 310 (People v. Onyeabor) 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. Onyeabor, 8 Misc. 3d 310 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

John M. Leventhal, J.

The defendant moves to dismiss the indictment on the ground [311]*311that his right to testify before the grand jury proceeding was violated.

In deciding this motion, the court has considered the motion papers, the defendant’s supplemental affirmation in support of the motion, the affirmation in opposition, the defendant’s reply affirmation and the court file.

Facts

On October 14, 2004, the defendant was arraigned in Kings County Criminal Court on a misdemeanor complaint for assault in the third degree, menacing in the third degree and harassment in the second degree. On October 21, 2004, the assistant district attorney (ADA) requested that defendant’s bail be raised because the ADA had learned that the complainant’s injuries were more serious than originally thought. The court asked the ADA whether, in light of the new information regarding the victim’s injuries, the case would be presented to a grand jury. The ADA responded that the case would not be presented to the grand jury for indictment. The defendant never served notice of his desire to testify before the grand jury.

On October 27, 2004, the case was presented to the grand jury. On November 22, 2004, an indictment charging the defendant with attempted assault in the second degree and related charges was filed. On December 13, 2004, the defendant was arraigned and pleaded not guilty.

On January 13, 2005, a month after the defendant’s arraignment, the defendant filed the instant motion. In the motion, defense counsel alleges that she was retained by the defendant on December 8, 2004, and the Legal Aid Society was then relieved. On December 13, 2004, the defense counsel was in court for defendant’s arraignment. However, defense counsel claims that she was sick and became increasingly ill over the next few weeks. The defense counsel further contends that she did not learn of the ADA’s misrepresentation that the case was not going to be presented to the grand jury until just before Christmas.

The defense counsel argues that the motion should be deemed timely because she could not file the motion in a timely manner due to her illness and the necessity to obtain the Kings County Criminal Court minutes of the proceeding.

No application was ever made to this court to extend the time for making the instant motion. The request for the court to disregard the untimeliness of the motion is first made in the moving papers.

[312]*312Right of a Prospective Defendant to Testify before the Grand Jury

There is no federal or state constitutional right to testify before a grand jury.1 The right to testify is purely statutory.2 As such, the statutory requirements must be met in order to be entitled to a dismissal.

CPL 190.50 (5) (c) provides that a motion to dismiss an indictment “must be made not more than five days after the defendant has been arraigned upon the indictment... If the contention is not so asserted in timely fashion, it is waived and the indictment . . . may not thereafter be challenged on such ground.” Under the statute, if a CPL 190.50 motion is not made within five days from arraignment, the defendant is deemed to have waived his statutory right to dismissal by operation of law.

The issue in this case is whether the court has the authority to disregard the five-day limitation for making the motion to dismiss and to reach the merits of the issue, and if so, does the government’s misrepresentation constitute a violation of the defendant’s rights.

Court’s Authority to Disregard the Five-Day Limitation

The rule in the Appellate Division, First Department, is clear. In People v Biggs,3 the Court pronounced:

“A motion to invalidate an indictment for violating an individual’s right to appear before a Grand Jury ‘must be made not more than five days after the defendant has been arraigned upon the indictment’, or else it is waived (CPL 190.50 [5] [c]). The mandatory nature of this rule has been widely recognized
CCT
CCT L 1 “In granting the motion to dismiss the indictment on reconsideration, the court cited only People v Jimenez (180 AD2d 757), a decision in which untimeliness was not in issue. Where untimeliness clearly is in issue, the court has no discretion to dismiss the indictment on this ground.” (Emphasis supplied and citations omitted.)

[313]*313Thus, the Appellate Division, First Department, holds that the provisions are mandatory and the court lacks “discretion” to disregard the five-day time period in making the motion.

The position of the Appellate Division, Second Department, is less clear. Some cases appear to give latitude to the court to ignore the five-day limitation while other cases seem to say that there is no discretion.

In People v Stevens,4 the defendant was without counsel during the time that the case was being presented to the grand jury and without counsel from arraignment until well after five days after arraignment. In this situation, the Appellate Division, Second Department, held that the court should not “strictly” subject the defendant to the five-day requirement.

The Stevens case was the foundation for the Appellate Division, Second Department’s decision in People v Wiggins.5 The Wiggins case was reversed by the Court of Appeals.6

Subsequent to the reversal in the Wiggins case, the Appellate Division, Second Department, held that in spite of a lack of assistance of counsel during the grand jury period, an untimely motion to dismiss grounded upon defense counsel’s failure to effectuate the defendant’s right to testify before the grand jury must be denied.7 The Second Department has also held in subsequent cases that the failure to make a timely motion to dismiss an indictment based upon a violation of CPL 190.50 does not, in and of itself, constitute ineffective assistance of counsel.8

These post-Wiggzns cases call into question the vitality of the principle that there are situations in which the court should not strictly construe the five-day requirement.

It is noted that in this case there was no violation of the defendant’s right to counsel, and even if Stevens were still good law, it would not apply to this case.

However, two other Second Department decisions indicate that the court has the authority to disregard the five-day limita[314]*314tion period.9 In these cases, defense counsel at arraignment requested additional time beyond the statutory five-day period to make a motion to dismiss grounded on a violation of CPL 190.50. In both cases, the lower courts granted defense counsel’s request for an extension of the five days’ limitation. A motion was then made beyond the five-day requirement and was ultimately granted. The Appellate Division, Second Department, affirmed the dismissal of the indictments notwithstanding the untimeliness of the motion. The Appellate Division did not discuss the authority of lower court to extend the five-day limitation.

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Related

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404 U.S. 257 (Supreme Court, 1971)
People v. Finnegan
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675 N.E.2d 845 (New York Court of Appeals, 1996)
People v. Smith
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People v. Tychanski
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5 A.D.3d 873 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
People v. Lighthall
6 A.D.3d 1170 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2004)
People v. Stevens
151 A.D.2d 704 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1989)
People v. Mason
176 A.D.2d 356 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1991)
People v. Jimenez
180 A.D.2d 757 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1992)
People v. Valle
198 A.D.2d 459 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1993)
People v. Wiggins
225 A.D.2d 1117 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1995)
People v. McLaurin
237 A.D.2d 382 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1997)
People v. Duran
724 N.E.2d 384 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1999)
People v. Backman
274 A.D.2d 432 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2000)
People v. Harrison
304 A.D.2d 376 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 2003)
People v. McNeil
90 Misc. 2d 180 (New York Supreme Court, 1977)
People v. Fox
175 Misc. 2d 333 (New York County Courts, 1997)

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Bluebook (online)
8 Misc. 3d 310, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-onyeabor-nysupct-2005.