GENERAL CONSTRUCTION LAW EXTENDS THE SIX-MONTH SPEEDY TRIAL DEADLINE IF THE LAST DAY FALLS ON A SATURDAY, SUNDAY OR A HOLIDAY.
The Third Department, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Garry, clarified the application of General Construction Law 25-a to the six-month speedy trial time limit for felonies:
At issue here is the deadline by which the People must declare readiness when a defendant is charged with a felony. It has also been held that for General Construction Law § 25-a to apply in any factual circumstance, “there must be an initially ascertainable certain day from which reckoning may be made” … . CPL 30.30 (1) (a) specifies such an ascertainable day — that is, the commencement of a criminal action — from which the six-month period within which the People are required to declare readiness for trial is to be computed. Thus, we find that when the last day of the six-month period specified by CPL 30.30 (1) (a) falls upon a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday, the expiration of the period in which the People must declare readiness is extended to the next succeeding business day pursuant to General Construction Law § 25-a. Here, the People’s second declaration of readiness was made on the next succeeding business day following the legal holiday upon which the six-month period expired; it was therefore timely and effective, and dismissal of the indictment was not required. People v Mandela, 2016 NY Slip Op 05401, 3rd Dept 7-7-16
CRIMINAL LAW (GENERAL CONSTRUCTION LAW EXTENDS THE SIX-MONTH SPEEDY TRIAL DEADLINE IF THE LAST DAY FALLS ON A SATURDAY, SUNDAY OR A HOLIDAY)/SPEEDY TRIAL (GENERAL CONSTRUCTION LAW EXTENDS THE SIX-MONTH SPEEDY TRIAL DEADLINE IF THE LAST DAY FALLS ON A SATURDAY, SUNDAY OR A HOLIDAY)/GENERAL CONSTRUCTION LAW (SPEEDY TRIAL DEADLINE, GENERAL CONSTRUCTION LAW EXTENDS THE SIX-MONTH SPEEDY TRIAL DEADLINE IF THE LAST DAY FALLS ON A SATURDAY, SUNDAY OR A HOLIDAY)