THE FOURTEEN-MONTH PRE-INDICTMENT DELAY DID NOT VIOLATE DEFENDANT’S RIGHT TO A SPEEDY TRIAL (CT APP)

The Court of Appeals, reversing the Appellate Division, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge Cannataro, determined the 14-month pre-indictment delay did not deprive defendant of his constitutional right to a speedy trial. Defendant was incarcerated when he threw urine on a corrections officer. The court analyzed the facts under the “Taranovich” criteria (37 NY2d 442):

This Court analyzes due process claims predicated on a pre-indictment delay by weighing the five factors set forth in People v Taranovich: “(1) the extent of the delay; (2) the reason for the delay; (3) the nature of the underlying charge; (4) whether or not there has been an extended period of pretrial incarceration; and (5) whether or not there is any indication that the defense has been impaired by reason of the delay” … . “The Taranovich framework is a holistic one—that is, ‘no one factor or combination of the factors . . . is necessarily decisive or determinative of the speedy trial claim'” … . People v Tyson, 2026 NY Slip Op 01446, CtApp 3-17-26

Practice Point: Consult this decision for insight into how the Taranovich factors are applied to determine whether a pre-indictment delay violates the constitutional right to a s speedy trial.