People v. Maslowski

Decision Date28 October 2020
Docket NumberInd. No. 23/18,2018-11486
Parties The PEOPLE, etc., appellant, v. Bartosz MASLOWSKI, respondent.
CourtNew York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

187 A.D.3d 1211
133 N.Y.S.3d 278

The PEOPLE, etc., appellant,
v.
Bartosz MASLOWSKI, respondent.

2018-11486
Ind.
No. 23/18

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Second Department, New York.

Argued—November 19, 2019
October 28, 2020


133 N.Y.S.3d 279

Melinda Katz, District Attorney, Kew Gardens, N.Y. (John M. Castellano, Joseph N. Ferdenzi, and Edward D. Saslow of counsel), for appellant.

Janet E. Sabel, New York, N.Y. (Jonathan Garelick of counsel), for respondent.

LEONARD B. AUSTIN, J.P., JEFFREY A. COHEN, COLLEEN D. DUFFY, ANGELA G. IANNACCI, JJ.

DECISION & ORDER

Appeal by the People from an order of the Supreme Court, Queens County (Ronald D. Hollie, J.), dated August 3, 2018, which granted the defendant's motion pursuant to CPL 30.30 to dismiss the indictment on the ground that he was deprived of his statutory right to a speedy trial.

ORDERED that the order is affirmed.

On August 5, 2016, the defendant was arraigned on a misdemeanor complaint charging him with assault in the third degree ( Penal Law § 120.00[1] ), a class A misdemeanor, and harassment in the second degree ( Penal Law § 240.26[1] ), a violation. The complaint was signed by a detective and alleged that the detective "[was] informed by the complainant ... that [on May 15, 2016,] the defendant ... did punch and kick [the complainant] about the face and body causing bruises." On August 26, 2016, the People filed a statement of readiness and a supporting deposition of the complainant, indicating that he had "read the accusatory instrument ... and that the facts therein stated to be on

133 N.Y.S.3d 280

information furnished by [him] are true upon [his] personal knowledge." On January 26, 2017, the People filed a superseding misdemeanor complaint together with a certificate of translation, stating that on January 26, 2017, the complaint and the supporting deposition were translated to the complainant in Polish.

The defendant subsequently moved pursuant to CPL 30.30 to dismiss the accusatory instrument on the ground that the People failed "to file a valid information with non-hearsay" within 90 days of the commencement of the action (see CPL 30.30 [[1][b] ). The defendant argued, among other things, that the complainant's supporting deposition was insufficient to convert the misdemeanor complaint into an information without an accompanying certificate of translation and that, therefore, the People's statement of readiness, made prior to January 26, 2017, was illusory. The People opposed the motion, arguing that a certificate of translation was not necessary to convert the complaint into an information and that the supporting deposition was facially sufficient inasmuch as there was no indication within the four corners of the instrument that the complainant had not read or understood it.

In an order dated November 30, 2017, the Criminal Court granted the defendant's motion, concluding that 118 days were chargeable to the People for the period between August 5, 2016, the date of the defendant's arraignment, and January 26, 2017, the date the superseding misdemeanor complaint and certificate of translation were filed, plus an additional day for a total of 119 days, which exceeded the 90–day speedy trial period under CPL 30.30(1)(b) (see CPL 30.30[1][b] ; People v. Maslowski, 58 Misc.3d 592, 66 N.Y.S.3d 415 [Crim. Ct., Queens County] ). In reaching that determination, the court found that "every allegation of the initial accusatory instrument was hearsay" and that a certificate of translation "was a necessary prerequisite for conversion of the [complaint] to an information." The court stated that, "in later filing a [certificate of translation] along with a superseding information, the People conceded their actual knowledge, and constructive knowledge since the start of this prosecution, that the complainant was incapable of confirming the veracity and accuracy of the English-written hearsay allegations attributed to him in the accusatory instrument without the benefit of a Polish translation." The court also emphasized that a complaint filed with the New York City Police Department regarding the incident, as well as the complainant's hospital records, indicated that the complainant spoke Polish, was not proficient in English, and required an...

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16 cases
  • People v. Taback
    • United States
    • New York County Court
    • 22 Noviembre 2021
    ...the People's statement of readiness in response to this Court's inquiry of actual readiness was not illusory (see People v Maslowski, 187 A.D.3d 1211, 1214 [2d Dept 2020], lv. denied 37 N.Y.3d 973 [2021]), it is irrefutable that there are no excludable time periods during the 43 days from M......
  • People v. Taback
    • United States
    • New York County Court
    • 22 Noviembre 2021
    ... ... the Certificate of Compliance and assuming for the sake of ... the instant speedy trial argument that the People's ... statement of readiness in response to this Court's ... inquiry of actual readiness was not illusory (see People ... v Maslowski, 187 A.D.3d 1211, 1214 [2d Dept 2020], ... lv. denied 37 N.Y.3d 973 [2021]), it is irrefutable ... that there are no excludable time periods during the 43 days ... from May 23, 2021 through July 6, 2021, and such are likewise ... chargeable to the People ... ...
  • D'Angelo v. Kujawski
    • United States
    • New York Supreme Court
    • 14 Enero 2021
    ... ... Federal District Court as set forth herein above, under the ... law of the case doctrine. In People v. Maslowski , ... (187 A.D.3d 1211, 133 N.Y.S.3d 278 [2nd Dept. 2020]) the ... appellate court stated: ... "Law of the case is a judicially ... ...
  • People v. Torres
    • United States
    • New York Criminal Court
    • 9 Marzo 2023
    ... ... Whether the People's readiness was illusory for failure ... to file a facially sufficient information ...          To ... validly state ready for trial, the People must first file a ... facially sufficient information. (People v. Colon, ... 59 N.Y.2d 921 [1983]; People v. Maslowski, 187 ... A.D.3d 1211 [2d Dep't 2020]; People v. Sosa, 71 ... Misc.3d 140 [A] [App. Term, 2d Dep't 2021]). Moreover, ... under the 2020 reforms to the criminal procedure law, it is ... now also a pre-requisite to readiness "that an ... accusatory instrument is facially sufficient as to all ... ...
  • Request a trial to view additional results

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