PRESENTING A VIDEOTAPED INTERVIEW OF THE 17-YEAR-OLD VICTIM TO THE GRAND JURY IN THE ABSENCE OF A COURT ORDER VIOLATED THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE LAW AND IMPAIRED THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROCEEDINGS; INDICTMENT DISMISSED WITHOUT PREJUDICE (FOURTH DEPT).

The Fourth Department, dismissing the indictment without prejudice, determined presenting a videotaped interview of the 17-year-old victim without a court order violated the Criminal Procedure Law and impaired the integrity of the proceedings:

Defendant appeals from a judgment convicting him upon his plea of guilty of attempted rape in the first degree … . Defendant contends that County Court erred in denying that part of his omnibus motion seeking to dismiss the indictment on the ground that the grand jury proceeding failed “to conform to the requirements of [CPL] article [190] to such degree that the integrity thereof [was] impaired and prejudice to the defendant” resulted (CPL 210.35 [5]). We agree. The People correctly concede on appeal that the prosecutor improperly presented to the grand jury a videotaped interview of the approximately 17-year-old victim conducted by a social services caseworker in lieu of her live testimony without adhering to any of the requirements of CPL 190.32, including the obligation to seek a court order authorizing the videotaping of an examination of the victim as a “special witness” … . We agree with the parties that, under these circumstances, this error rendered the proceeding so irregular “that the integrity thereof [was] impaired and prejudice to . . . defendant may [have] result[ed]” (CPL 210.35 [5]; see CPL 210.20 [1] [c] …). People v Thompson, 2026 NY Slip Op 05874, Fourth Dept 10-9-26

Practice Point: Presenting a videotaped interview of a crime victim to a grand jury without a court order may impair the integrity of the proceedings requiring dismissal of the indictment.