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THE WAIVER OF INDICTMENT WAS JURISDICTIONALLY DEFECTIVE BECAUSE IT DID NOT PRECISELY IDENTIFY WHICH OF TWO UNDERLYING OFFENSES IT DESCRIBED AND DID NOT PROTECT AGAINST DOUBLE JEOPARDY (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, vacating defendant’s guilty plea and the waiver of indictment, determined the waiver of indictment was jurisdictionally defective because it was not clear which of two charged rapes it referred to and there was no language that the plea would be in full satisfaction of all charges:

… [T]he underlying felony complaint alleged four offenses predicated on defendant’s purported violation of three Penal Law provisions: two separate acts of rape in the first degree that occurred in September and October 2016, respectively (Penal Law § 130.35 [4]), an act of criminal sexual act in the first degree that occurred in November 2016 (§ 130.50 [4]), and acts that constituted endangering the welfare of a child (§ 260.10 [1]). In contrast, the waiver of indictment listed only a single count to be charged in the SCI [superior court information]: a count of rape in the first degree that allegedly occurred sometime between July and November 2016. Inasmuch as the sole charge in the waiver of indictment and SCI could plausibly refer to either of the acts of rape in the first degree alleged in the felony complaint, the waiver of indictment failed to put defendant on notice of the precise crime for which he was waiving prosecution by indictment and was thus jurisdictionally defective. …

In addition to impeding defendant’s ability to prepare a defense … , the defect in the waiver of indictment—i.e., the indeterminancy of the precise rape offense for which defendant was agreeing to waive indictment—implicates double jeopardy concerns because there was no language in the waiver form, SCI, or at the plea colloquy informing defendant that his plea to one count of rape in the first degree would be in full satisfaction of the offenses alleged in the felony complaint. Consequently, defendant could potentially be subjected to a subsequent prosecution for the offenses not identified in the waiver of indictment or charged in the SCI … . People v Meeks, 2021 NY Slip Op 01925, Fourth Dept 3-26-21

 

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PEOPLE DID NOT DEMONSTRATE THE WARRANT WHICH WAS THE BASIS FOR DEFENDANT’S ARREST WAS VALID, THE PAT-DOWN SEARCH WAS NOT JUSTIFIED AS A SAFETY MEASURE, SEIZED DRUGS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SUPPRESSED.
PENNSYLVANIA CRIME IS NOT THE EQUIVALENT OF A NEW YORK FELONY; DEFENDANT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SENTENCED AS A SECOND FELONY OFFENDER (FOURTH DEPT).
SEARCH WARRANT WAS NOT BASED UPON PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THE EVIDENCE SOUGHT WOULD BE AT THE SEARCHED LOCATION, MOTION TO SUPPRESS WAS PROPERLY GRANTED AND INDICTMENT WAS PROPERLY DISMISSED.
NEGLECT FINDING NOT SUPPORTED BY THE EVIDENCE, CRITERIA EXPLAINED (FOURTH DEPT).
FATHER COULD NOT BE FOUND TO HAVE PERMANENTLY NEGLECTED THE CHILDREN AND ALSO BE FOUND MENTALLY ILL TO A DEGREE WARRANTING TERMINATION OF HIS PARENTAL RIGHTS (FOURTH DEPT). ​
FAILURE TO INSTRUCT THE JURY ON TWO REMOTE LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSES WAS HARMLESS ERROR, JURY WAS INSTRUCTED ON THE HIGHEST LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE AND CONVICTED DEFENDANT OF THE TOP COUNT OF THE INDICTMENT (FOURTH DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THE ISSUES WERE NOT RAISED ON APPEAL, THE APPELLATE COURT VACATED THE SENTENCES EITHER BECAUSE THE CONCURRENT SENTENCES WERE ILLEGAL OR BECAUSE THE GUILTY PLEAS WERE INDUCED BY THE PROMISE OF ILLEGAL CONCURRENT SENTENCES (FOURTH DEPT).

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