THE SUPERIOR COURT INFORMATION (SCI) DID NOT INCLUDE AN OFFENSE CHARGED IN THE FELONY COMPLAINT OR A LESSER INCLUDED OFFENSE; THE SCI WAS THEREFORE JURISDICTIONALLY DEFECTIVE; THE ERROR NEED NOT BE PRESERVED FOR APPEAL (SECOND DEPT).

​The Second Department, reversing defendant’s conviction and vacating the plea, determined the superior court information (SCI) was jurisdictionally defective because it did not include an offense charged in the felony complaint or a lesser included offense of an offense charged in the felony complaint:

The defendant was charged, by felony complaint, with one count of course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree under Penal Law § 130.75(1)(b), and one count of endangering the welfare of a child under Penal Law § 260.10(1). He waived indictment by a grand jury and entered a plea of guilty under a superior court information to one count of course of sexual conduct against a child in the second degree under Penal Law § 130.80(1)(a). …

The single count in the superior court information was not an “offense for which the defendant [had been] held for action of a grand jury” (CPL 195.20), in that it was not an offense charged in the felony complaint or a lesser included offense of an offense charged in the felony complaint … . Thus, the superior court information was jurisdictionally defective. This defect survives the defendant’s failure to raise this claim in the Supreme Court, his plea of guilty, and his waiver of the right to appeal … . People v Mendoza, 2022 NY Slip Op 06499, Second Dept 11-16-22

Practice Point: A superior court information (SCI) which does not include an offense charged in the felony complaint or a lesser included offense is jurisdictionally defective and the error need not be preserved for appeal.