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A DEFENDANT WHO HAS WAIVED INDICTMENT CANNOT PLEAD GUILTY TO A SUPERIOR COURT INFORMATION (SCI) WHICH INCLUDES AN OFFENSE GREATER THAN ANY CHARGED IN THE CORRESPONDING FELONY COMPLAINT (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing defendant’s conviction by guilty plea to a superior court information (SCI), over a dissent, determined an SCI cannot include an offense greater than any offense charged in the felony complaint. Here the SCI “charged [defendant] with a higher level offense than any contained in the felony complaint, that is, robbery in the third degree is a class D felony, whereas grand larceny in the fourth degree, the highest offense charged in the felony complaint is an class E felony:”

Neither the Court of Appeals nor this Court has directly addressed the issue now before us: whether an SCI that charges an offense for which a defendant was held for action of a grand jury can also, under CPL 195.20 and consistent with New York Constitution article I, § 6, charge a joinable offense of a higher grade or degree than any contained in the felony complaint. * * *

… [T]he New York Constitution article I, § 6 permits prosecution pursuant to an SCI only for “an offense” for which a defendant has been “held for the action of a grand jury”. Such an “offense” includes “the lesser included offenses as well as a greater offense charged in the felony complaint” … , but does not include a greater offense, not charged in the felony complaint, which has additional aggravating elements … . Permitting inclusion in an SCI of an offense of a higher grade than any charged in the felony complaint “would permit circumvention of” the “constitutional imperative” of prosecution by indictment … . People v Perkins, 2024 NY Slip Op 04361, First Dept 9-5-24

Practice Point: Here, a defendant, who waived indictment, pled to a superior court information (SCI) which included an offense greater than any in the corresponding felony complaint. The inclusion in the SCI of an offense greater than any for which the defendant was held for indictment violates the NYS Constitution.

 

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PLAINTIFF ENTITLED TO SUMMARY JUDGMENT ON HIS LABOR LAW 240 (1) CAUSE OF ACTION IN THIS FALLING OBJECT CASE; QUESTION OF FACT ON HIS LABOR LAW 241 (6) CAUSE OF ACTION (FIRST DEPT).
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SEIZURE OF CREDIT CARDS FROM UNDER THE HOOD OF DEFENDANT’S CAR WAS NOT THE RESULT OF AN ILLEGAL SEARCH, POLICE WERE FOLLOWING A PROCEDURE TO SAFEGUARD THE CAR FROM THEFT (FIRST DEPT).
ALTHOUGH THE DEFENDANT’S ATTORNEY AFFIDAVIT DID NOT LAY A PROPER FOUNDATION FOR THE ADMISSIBILITY OF THE ATTACHED DOCUMENTS, THE DOCUMENTS SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DEEMED INADMISSIBLE BECAUSE THE PLAINTIFF DID NOT OBJECT TO THEM AND RELIED ON THEM IN OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT’S MOTION (FIRST DEPT).
THE TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN THE CONTRACT RENDERED A CRUCIAL SENTENCE AMBIGUOUS; THE ERROR COULD NOT BE CORRECTED WITHOUT POSSIBLY ALTERING THE PARTIES’ INTENT; THEREFORE EXTRINSIC EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY TO INTERPRET THE CONTRACT (FIRST DEPT).

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