Not Clear Superior Court Information (SCI) Charged Same Offense as Felony Complaint/SCI and Related Waiver of Indictment Not Valid
The Second Department determined a discrepancy between the felony complaint and the superior court information (SCI) rendered the SCI jurisdictionally defective:
Where a defendant waives the right to be prosecuted by indictment and consents to be prosecuted by SCI, the SCI “must either charge [the] defendant with the same crime as the felony complaint or a lesser included offense of that crime” (…see NY Const, art I, § 6; CPL 195.10[a]…). Under the circumstances of this case, this Court cannot conclude that the defendant was charged in the SCI with the same offense with which he was charged in the felony complaint. There is a factual discrepancy between the two documents, in that they charge the defendant with assaulting two different victims, and there are insufficient surrounding facts to reveal that the assault charges actually refer to the same incident… . People v Siminions, 2013 NY Slip Op 08670, 2nd Dept 12-26-13