You are here: / / DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH AN A FELONY AND FACING A POTENTIAL LIFE SENTENCE...
,

DEFENDANT CHARGED WITH AN A FELONY AND FACING A POTENTIAL LIFE SENTENCE CANNOT WAIVE INDICTMENT AND PLEAD TO A SUPERIOR COURT INFORMATION; JURISDICTIONAL ISSUE PROPERLY CONSIDERED ON APPEAL DESPITE GUILTY PLEA AND FAILURE TO RAISE THE ISSUE BELOW (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, reversing defendant’s conviction by guilty plea, determined that the NYS Constitution and Criminal Procedure Law 195.10[1] prohibited defendant’s waiver of indictment because defendant was charged with an A felony with a potential life sentence. The defendant was charged with second degree murder, waived indictment and pled to a superior court information charging first degree manslaughter. The court noted that this jurisdictional issue could be considered on appeal despite the guilty plea and the failure to raise the issue below:

The New York State Constitution provides that “[n]o person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime . . . unless on indictment of a grand jury” (NY Const, art. 1 § 6). The Constitution contains a limited exception to this jurisdictional requirement: “a person held for the action of a grand jury upon a charge for such an offense, other than one punishable by death or life imprisonment, with the consent of the district attorney, may waive indictment by a grand jury and consent to be prosecuted on an information filed by the district attorney” (id. ).

In addition, Criminal Procedure Law § 195.10 provides that a defendant may waive indictment by grand jury when, among other conditions, “the defendant is not charged with a class A felony punishable by death or life imprisonment” (CPL 195.10 [1]). Accordingly, under both the Constitution and Criminal Procedure Law, a defendant who is held for the action of the grand jury on a class A felony punishable by life imprisonment may not waive indictment by the grand jury and agree to be prosecuted for a lesser included offense in order to facilitate a plea bargain on the homicide offense … . People v Monforte, 2019 NY Slip Op 06451, CtApp 9-5-19

 

You might also like
WHERE A DEFENDANT HAS BEEN RESENTENCED BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL SENTENCE WAS ILLEGAL, THE DATE OF THE ORIGINAL SENTENCE CONTROLS FOR DETERMINATION OF PREDICATE FELONY STATUS (CT APP).
Defendant May Not Be Cross-Examined About Criminal Conviction on Direct Appeal
In a Falling Object Case, the Device Which Failed Was Not a Safety Device—Defendant Not Liable
“Drug Factory” Presumption re: Possession of Drugs to Which the Defendant Is In “Close Proximity” Does Not Apply to A Defendant Who Is Arrested Outside the Building Where the Drugs Are Located and Who Was Not Trying to Escape/Where a Jury Is Instructed It Can Consider Two Different Theories of Possession, and One of Those Theories Should Not Have Been Available for the Jury’s Consideration, the Relevant Convictions Must Be Reversed—the Jury Could Have Based Its Verdict on the Erroneously-Charged Theory
EVEN THOUGH DEFENDANT WAS NOT ENTITLED TO A JURY TRIAL BECAUSE THE CHARGES WERE B MISDEMEANORS, THE FACT THAT DEPORTATION WAS A POTENTIAL PENALTY ENTITLED DEFENDANT TO A JURY TRIAL PURSUANT TO THE SIXTH AMENDMENT (CT APP).
WORKERS’ COMPENSATION BOARD DEPARTED FROM ITS PRECEDENT WITHOUT AN EXPLANATION, MATTER REMANDED TO THE BOARD (CT APP).
DEFENDANT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ASSESSED POINTS UNDER RISK FACTOR 7, DEFENDANT HAD LONG-TERM NON-SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE VICTIMS BEFORE THE ABUSE STARTED, DEFENDANT DID NOT ESTABLISH THE RELATIONSHIPS FOR THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF VICTIMIZATION.
NEW JERSEY TRANSIT CORPORATION CANNOT ASSERT THE SOVEREIGN IMMUNITY DEFENSE IN THIS TRAFFIC ACCIDENT CASE; THE ACCIDENT INVOLVED A NEW JERSEY TRANSIT CORPORATION BUS AND OCCURRED IN NEW YORK CITY (CT APP). ​

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

SUPREME COURT PROPERLY VALIDATED 25 SIGNATURES ON THE DESIGNATING PETITION WHICH... PLAINTIFF WAIVED THE PHYSICIAN-PATIENT PRIVILEGE BY PLACING THE CONDITION OF...