Robbery Petition Jurisdictionally Defective—No Nonhearsay Identification of Respondent As the Perpetrator

The Third Department determined the petition charging respondent with the equivalent of robbery in the second degree and petit larceny was jurisdictionally defective and must be dismissed, even though respondent admitted to the charged acts and did not seek dismissal of the petition.  Although the petition was supplemented by a video showing the person alleged to have committed the robbery and a letter identifying the respondent as that person, the letter was unsworn and unsigned:

A juvenile delinquency petition must contain “a plain and concise factual statement in each count which, without allegations of an evidentiary nature, asserts facts supporting every element of the crime charged and the respondent's commission thereof” (Family Ct Act § 311.1 [3] [h]…). “A juvenile delinquency petition that fails to contain non-hearsay allegations . . . establish[ing] . . . every element of each crime charged and the respondent's commission thereof is both legally insufficient and jurisdictionally defective” … . Finally, notwithstanding respondent's admission to the charged acts in Family Court and his failure to seek the dismissal of the petition, his assertion that the petition is facially insufficient can be considered for the first time on appeal as such claim regards a nonwaiveable jurisdictional defect … .

Although the statements in the victim's deposition constitute nonhearsay allegations establishing that property was forcibly stolen from him, the deposition does not establish that respondent was the individual who committed such acts. Nor do the video image and … letter identifying respondent as the individual wearing the blue jacket depicted therein cure the evidentiary deficiencies that render the petition invalid. In particular, the video image shows, among other things, a male wearing a blue jacket with a white-striped sleeve that matches the description provided in the victim's report; however, the image itself does nothing to connect respondent to the robbery. Moreover, as [the] letter to the investigating police officer identifying respondent as the person wearing a blue jacket with white stripes on the sleeve was unsigned and unsworn, it does not constitute a nonhearsay identification of respondent as the person who committed the charged acts, thereby rendering the petition facially invalid … . Matter of Jayquan Vv, 2014 NY Slip Op 09086, 3rd Dept 12-31-14