People v. Guthrie

Summary

The Appellate Division, Second Department affirmed a judgment convicting Tafari Guthrie of grand larceny in the fourth degree upon his guilty plea. The court held that COVID-19 executive orders tolled the CPL 30.30 speedy-trial period from the filing of the felony complaint through May 23, 2021, and that the People exercised due diligence in filing their certificates of compliance despite initially producing law enforcement officer witness letters without underlying disciplinary records. The court also found that an additional nine days were chargeable to the People but that the total chargeable time remained within the applicable six-month period.

Holdings

1. Executive Order No. 202.87 constituted a toll of the period within which the People were required to be ready for trial from the filing of a felony complaint through the defendant's arraignment on the indictment, without requiring the People to establish necessity for the toll in each individual case.
2. Under the circumstances, the People's initial and supplemental certificates of compliance were proper because the People had exercised due diligence and made reasonable efforts to satisfy their CPL article 245 discovery obligations when the certificates were filed.
3. Dismissal was not required because the nine additional chargeable days, when added to the 162 days conceded by the People, did not exceed the applicable six-month CPL 30.30 period.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Executive Order No. 202.87 and successive executive orders tolled the CPL 30.30 speedy-trial period from the filing of the felony complaint through the defendant's arraignment on the indictment.
2. Whether the People's initial and supplemental certificates of compliance were valid where the People had produced law-enforcement-officer witness letters but had not yet produced the underlying disciplinary records.
3. Whether the additional chargeable time, including nine days attributable to the People's delay in responding to the CPL 30.30 motion, required dismissal of the indictment.

Disposition

affirmed