ABSENCE OF APPROXIMATE TIME OF THE OFFENSE IN THE SUPERIOR COURT INFORMATION (SCI) WAS NOT JURISDICTIONAL AND WAS THEREFORE WAIVED BY THE GUILTY PLEA; ABSENCE OF DA’S SIGNATURE ON THE WAIVER OF INDICTMENT DID NOT INVALIDATE IT; CONSECUTIVE SENTENCES FOR CRIMES ARISING FROM ONE CONTINUOUS INCIDENT WERE NOT ILLEGAL (THIRD DEPT).
The Third Department determined: (1) the failure to include the approximate time of the offense in the Superior Court Information (SCI) was not a jurisdictional defect and the defect was waived by the guilty plea; (2) the district attorney’s failure to sign the waiver of indictment did not invalidate it; and (3) consecutive sentences for possession of a stolen car and damage caused to a police car (by the stolen car) were appropriate:
… [W]here, as here, the approximate time of the offenses is nonelemental and the defendant makes no argument that he or she lacked notice of the precise crimes for which he or she waived prosecution by indictment, the omission of such information is a nonjurisdictional defect, and, thus, any challenge with respect thereto is forfeited by a guilty plea … . We also note that, here, the approximate time of the offenses is readily ascertainable from the local court accusatory instruments … . …
… [T]he record contains a copy of defendant’s written waiver of indictment, which, although signed by defendant in open court in the presence of counsel, reveals a blank signature line intended for the District Attorney’s endorsement. However, the record also reveals that an order approving that waiver was entered by County Court thereafter (see CPL 195.30), and, therein, the court expressly found, among other things, that the waiver was consented to by the District Attorney (see CPL 195.10 [1] [c]). Under these circumstances, we view the absence of the District Attorney’s endorsement on the written waiver of indictment to be a technical violation of the statute that in no way infringed upon defendant’s right to indictment by a grand jury … . …
… [W]hile the … crimes occurred in the course of one continuous criminal incident, the charges arose from separate, distinct acts … . County Court’s imposition of consecutive sentences with respect to those crimes was therefore not illegal. People v Light, 2020 NY Slip Op 03148, Third Dept 6-4-20
