People v. Woods

52 Misc. 3d 618, 31 N.Y.S.3d 830
CourtCriminal Court of the City of New York
DecidedMay 11, 2016
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 52 Misc. 3d 618 (People v. Woods) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Criminal Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. Woods, 52 Misc. 3d 618, 31 N.Y.S.3d 830 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 2016).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

Louis L. Nock, J.

The defendant moves to dismiss the information and preclude the use at trial of the defendant’s prior criminal convictions or bad acts, and seeks a bill of particulars and discovery. The People oppose the motion.

Background

The defendant was arraigned on September 16, 2015, upon a misdemeanor information charging him with violating Administrative Code of the City of New York § 10-603 (d) (i), failure to make the first personal appearance at the Gun Offender Monitoring Unit (GOMU).

The defendant was convicted in Queens County Supreme Court on July 16, 2012, upon a plea of guilty to Penal Law § 265.03 (3), criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree — possession of a loaded firearm, a class C felony. On September 10, 2012, the defendant was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 42 months, followed by 30 months of post-release supervision.

Under the Gun Offender Registration Act (GORA) (Administrative Code of City of NY, tit 10, ch 6), Penal Law § 265.03 (3) [620]*620is a gun offense (Administrative Code § 10-602 [e]). A person convicted of a gun offense in a court located within the City of New York is a gun offender (Administrative Code § 10-602 [d]). Pursuant to Administrative Code § 10-603 (a), a gun offender is required to register with the New York City Police Department at the time sentence is imposed. Furthermore, pursuant to Administrative Code § 10-603 (d) (i), a “gun offender who is required to register shall personally appear at such office as the commissioner may direct [GOMU] within forty-eight hours of. . . release [from incarceration].” It is this failure to personally appear at the GOMU offices that the defendant is charged with.

The Accusatory Instrument is Facially Sufficient

A misdemeanor information is facially sufficient if the non-hearsay facts stated in said information, together with any supporting depositions, establish each and every element of the offense charged, as well as the defendant’s commission of said crime (CPL 100.40). For an information to be sufficient and, thereby, make out a prima facie case, it does not need to allege facts that, if proved and taken alone, could establish a defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (People v Jennings, 69 NY2d 103 [1986]). Rather, an information need only allege facts sufficient to enable a defendant to have “notice sufficient to prepare a defense” and that such facts be “adequately detailed to prevent a defendant from being tried twice for the same offense” and that such facts “be given a fair and not overly restrictive or technical reading” (People v Casey, 95 NY2d 354, 360 [2000]). “An information is valid for jurisdictional purposes if it contains nonconclusory factual allegations that, if assumed to be true, address each element of the crime charged, thereby affording reasonable cause to believe that defendant committed that offense” (People v Jackson, 18 NY3d 738, 741 [2012] [citation omitted]). Furthermore, the court must consider all reasonable inferences that may be drawn from the facts set forth in the information (see People v Jackson, 18 NY3d 738 [2012]; People v Barber, 42 Misc 3d 1225[A], 2014 NY Slip Op 50193[U] [Crim Ct, NY County 2014]).

The accusatory instrument herein contains factual allegations which, if true, establish each element of the crime charged. An accusatory instrument charging Administrative Code § 10-603 (d) (i) must allege that the defendant is: (i) a gun offender; (ii) required to register; and (iii) failed to person[621]*621ally appear within 48 hours of release from incarceration. Here, the accusatory instrument alleges that the defendant was convicted of violating Penal Law § 265.03 (3), a gun offense. The instrument further alleges that “the defendant is required to register personally.” It then goes on to allege “that the defendant was released from a period of incarceration on August 21, 2015, and the defendant did not register personally at GOMU within 48 hours of his release or at any time thereafter.” Accordingly, the accusatory instrument meets the facial sufficiency requirements for the subject charge.

The Accusatory Instrument is an Information

Defendant’s counsel incorrectly contends that certified copies of Department of Corrections records are needed to convert the accusatory instrument to an information. Defendant’s Rap Sheet is Admissible as a Public Record

“[T]here is a recognized exception to the hearsay rule, in that certain public records may be received in evidence” and that public records need not be open to public inspection (People v Nisonoff, 293 NY 597, 603 [1944], cert denied 326 US 745 [1945]). “Data culled from public records is, of course, a proper subject of judicial notice” (Matter of Siwek v Mahoney, 39 NY2d 159, 163 n 2 [1976]). “[A] court may take judicial notice of its own records” (Casson v Casson, 107 AD2d 342, 344 [1st Dept 1985], appeal dismissed 65 NY2d 637 [1985]). Specifically, the court may, and herein does, take judicial notice of the defendant’s New York State Criminal History Information (the “rap sheet”), contained in the court file (see People v Suarez, 51 Misc 3d 620, 627 [Crim Ct, NY County 2016] [“the filing of a defendant’s rap sheet, whether certified or uncertified, converts a misdemeanor complainant charging the defendant with bail jumping into an information” (emphasis added)]). The defendant’s rap sheet indicates that he was convicted of Penal Law § 265.03 (3) on September 10, 2012, in New York State Supreme Court, Queens County, and was released from prison August 21, 2015. The allegations in the information correspond to the facts found in the rap sheet. The rap sheet sets forth facts sufficient to establish that the defendant is a gun offender who is required to register, and further sets forth the date of his release from incarceration. Furthermore, the rap sheet indicates that the defendant’s point of release to the Division of Parole was the Queensboro Correctional Facility, which is located in the Borough of Queens in New York City. Therefore, [622]*622the rap sheet also establishes the defendant’s presence in New York City upon his release.

Defendant’s Rap Sheet is Also Admissible as a Business Record

Distinct of the rap sheet’s probative status as a public record, it is admissible pursuant to CPLR 4518 (a) as a business record. “Law enforcement agencies constitute businesses for purposes of the rule” (People v Rawlins, 10 NY3d 136, 149 [2008] [citation and internal quotation marks omitted], cert denied sub nom. Meekins v New York, 557 US 934 [2009]). The foundation requirements of CPLR 4518 (a) are

“first, that the record be made in the regular course of business — essentially, that it reflect a routine, regularly conducted business activity, and that it be needed and relied on in the performance of functions of the business; second, that it be the regular course of such business to make the record (a double requirement of regularity) — essentially, that the record be made pursuant to established procedures for the routine, habitual, systematic making of such a record; and third, that the record be made at or about the time of the event being recorded— essentially, that recollection be fairly accurate and the habit or routine of making the entries assured” (People v Kennedy, 68 NY2d 569, 579-580 [1986]).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
52 Misc. 3d 618, 31 N.Y.S.3d 830, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-woods-nycrimct-2016.