People v Cuevas
Annotate this CaseDecided on November 19, 2021
Criminal Court of the City of New York, Bronx County
The People of the State of New York
against
Alberto Cuevas, Defendant.
Docket No. CR-017285-20BX
The Bronx Defenders, Bronx, New York (Alexandra Valdez, Esq.), for the Defendant.
Bronx District Attorney's Office, Bronx, New York (Assistant District Attorney Shaylin French), for the People.
Ashlee Crawford, J.
Defendant Alberto Cuevas was arraigned on an information on November 29, 2020, charged with operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated and while his ability was impaired by alcohol, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 1192(3) and 1192(1). Defendant moves to dismiss the accusatory instrument pursuant to CPL §§ 30.30(1)(b) and 210.20(1)(g), arguing that the People were not timely trial-ready. Specifically, defendant contends that the time between February 24, 2021, when the People filed an invalid Certificate of Compliance ("COC") and Statement of Readiness ("SOR"), and April 16, 2021, when the People shared outstanding discovery and filed a Supplemental COC and SOR, should be charged to the People. After review of the motion papers, exhibits, and court file, and for the reasons discussed herein, defendant's motion is granted.
Background
Defendant previously moved to challenge the validity of the People's February 24th COC, based on the People's failure to provide the body worn camera footage (BWC) of Police Officer Itin. The People conceded that failure, which resulted from their erroneous belief that no such recording existed. On April 16, 2021, the People turned over Officer Itin's BWC, simultaneously filing a Supplemental COC and SOR. By decision and order dated August 2, 2021, Judge Johnson deemed the original February 24th COC to be invalid.
In support of the instant motion, defendant argues that because the February 24th COC was invalid, the SOR that accompanied it was also invalid, and the speedy trial clock did not stop until April 16th, when the People filed the Supplemental COC and SOR. In opposition, the People argue that "[f]or all intents and purposes, a COC is a motion" and, therefore, all days following the filing of a COC until a decision is rendered on its validity are excludable under CPL § 30.30(4)(a) [People's Affirm. in Opp. at 10]. The People's argument, while creative, is wholly without merit.
[*2]CPL § 30.30
Defendant having been charged with Driving While Intoxicated (VTL § 1192 [3]), an unclassified misdemeanor (VTL § 1193[1][b]) which is deemed a class A misdemeanor for CPL § 30.30 purposes (PL § 55.10[2][b]), the People must be ready for trial within ninety (90) days of the commencement of this action (CPL § 30.30[1] [b]).[FN1] The parties agree that eighty-seven (87) days are chargeable to the People, calculated from defendant's arraignment on November 29, 2020, through February 24, 2021, when the People filed their original (invalid) COC and SOR. The sole period of contention is from February 24, 2021, through April 16, 2021, when the People filed their supplemental COC and SOR.
On March 17, 2021, the first court date following the People's February 24th COC filing, defense counsel requested a motion schedule, thus stopping the speedy trial clock (CPL § 30.30[4][a]). The case then remained in motion practice until August 2, 2021, when Judge Johnson issued her decision deeming the February 24th COC invalid. The entirety of the period from March 17th through August 2nd is excludable (CPL § 30.30[4][a]). The outcome of this motion turns on whether the period from February 24, 2021 through March 17, 2021 is chargeable to the People. The Court finds that it is.
CPL § 245.20 (1) sets forth a detailed, non-exhaustive list of discovery materials which the People automatically must disclose to defendant after the commencement of a criminal action. After the automatic discovery is provided, the People cannot state ready for trial without first having filed and served a valid COC (CPL §§ 30.30[5], 245.50[3]; see People v. Porter, 71 Misc 3d 187, 189 [Crim Ct, Bronx Co. 2020]). Based on Judge Johnson's August 2, 2021 decision deeming the February 24th COC invalid, the SOR that accompanied it was also invalid in that the People were not actually ready to proceed to trial (§§ 30.30[5], 245.50[3]; see People v. Barralaga, 73 Misc 3d 510 [Crim Ct, NY Co. 2021]["[i]nasmuch as the court has found the COC improper, the COR is similarly found to be improper and may not be used to stop the speedy trial clock"]). As a result, the speedy trial clock stopped, not on February 24th, but rather on March 17th, when defendant requested a motion schedule (CPL § 30.30[4][a]). This results in an additional twenty-one (21) days chargeable to the People, for a total of one hundred eight (108) chargeable days. Accordingly, defendant's motion to dismiss the accusatory instrument pursuant to CPL § 30.30(1)(b) is granted and the accusatory instrument is dismissed.
This constitutes the decision and order of the Court.
Dated: November 19, 2021
Bronx, New York
____________________________________
ASHLEE CRAWFORD, J.C.C. Footnotes
Footnote 1:Driving While Ability Impaired (VTL § 1192[1]) is a traffic infraction.
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