2022 New York Laws
CPL - Criminal Procedure
Part 2 - The Principal Proceedings
Title H - Preliminary Proceedings in Local Criminal Court
Article 100 - Commencement of Action in Local Criminal Court or Youth Part of a Superior Court--Accusatory Instruments
100.15 - Information, Misdemeanor Complaint and Felony Complaint; Form and Content.

Universal Citation:
NY Crim Pro L § 100.15 (2022)
Learn more This media-neutral citation is based on the American Association of Law Libraries Universal Citation Guide and is not necessarily the official citation.
§  100.15  Information, misdemeanor complaint and felony complaint; form
             and content.
  1.  An information, a misdemeanor complaint  and  a  felony  complaint
must  each  specify the name of the court with which it is filed and the
title of the action, and must be subscribed and  verified  by  a  person
known  as  the "complainant."   The complainant may be any person having
knowledge, whether personal or  upon  information  and  belief,  of  the
commission  of  the  offense or offenses charged.   Each instrument must
contain an accusatory part  and  a  factual  part.    The  complainant's
verification  of  the  instrument is deemed to apply only to the factual
part thereof and not to the accusatory part.
  2.  The accusatory part of each such  instrument  must  designate  the
offense  or  offenses  charged.    As  in the case of an indictment, and
subject to the rules of joinder applicable to indictments, two  or  more
offenses  may  be charged in separate counts.  Also as in the case of an
indictment, such instrument may charge two or more  defendants  provided
that  all such defendants are jointly charged with every offense alleged
therein.
  3.  The factual part of such instrument must contain  a  statement  of
the complainant alleging facts of an evidentiary character supporting or
tending to support the charges.  Where more than one offense is charged,
the  factual  part should consist of a single factual account applicable
to all the counts of the accusatory part.  The factual  allegations  may
be  based  either  upon  personal  knowledge  of the complainant or upon
information and belief.   Nothing contained in  this  section,  however,
limits  or  affects  the  requirement,  prescribed in subdivision one of
section 100.40, that in order for an information or a count  thereof  to
be  sufficient on its face, every element of the offense charged and the
defendant's  commission  thereof  must  be  supported   by   non-hearsay
allegations of such information and/or any supporting depositions.
  4.   Where a felony complaint charges a violent felony offense defined
in section 70.02 of the penal law and such offense is an armed felony as
defined in subdivision forty-one of section 1.20,

(a) the accusatory part of the instrument must designate the offense as an armed felony, and (b) the factual part of the instrument must allege facts of an evidentiary character supporting or tending to support such designation.

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