People v. Sombillo

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed two judgments convicting Socrates Sombillo upon his guilty pleas to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree and unlawful possession of personal identification information in the third degree. The court held that the People's initial certificate of compliance was valid despite the later disclosure of property vouchers, and declined to review an unpreserved challenge concerning the other indictment.

Holdings

1. The initial certificate of compliance was valid because the People exercised due diligence and acted in good faith, and their inadvertent omission of the property vouchers—followed by immediate disclosure after discovery of the omission—did not render the certificate or statement of readiness illusory. The motion to dismiss on statutory speedy-trial grounds was therefore properly denied.
2. The challenge was unpreserved because the defendant did not move to dismiss that indictment on the asserted certificate-of-compliance ground. The court declined to review the issue in the exercise of its interest-of-justice jurisdiction.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the People's initial certificate of compliance was invalid because certain police property vouchers were not disclosed before it was filed, thereby rendering the statement of readiness illusory under CPL 30.30.
2. Whether the defendant could obtain appellate review of his claim that the certificate of compliance for the other indictment was invalid when he had not moved to dismiss that indictment on that ground.

Disposition

affirmed