People v. DialloPeople v. Diallo
Rosalie C. Leslie, Esq. 202 Mamaroneck Avenue Suite 504 White Plains, NY 10601
Ada D. Medina, J.
The following papers numbered 1-7 were read and considered on defendant‘s motion to dismiss (
| Papers | Numbered |
|---|---|
| Notice of Motion and Affidavits Annexed | 1 |
| Affirmation/Affidavits in Opposition | 2 |
| Felony Complaint | 3 |
| Misdemeanor Information | 4 |
| Filed Papers | 5-7 |
Factual Background
On January 10, 2024, the People filed a felony complaint charging defendant with criminal mischief in the second degree (
The People filed a Certificate of Compliance (“COC“) and declared ready for trial on April 26, 2024. The People turned over additional discovery and filed supplemental Certificates of Compliance (“SCOC“) on April 24, 2025 and July 3, 2025 respectively. Now before this Court is defendant‘s motion to dismiss (
Certificate of Compliance
On January 1, 2020, substantive criminal discovery reforms took effect regarding the People‘s disclosure obligations (
As of January 1, 2020, the People were required to “. . . disclose to the defendаnt . . . all items and information that relate to the subject matter of the case and are in the possession, custody or control of the prosecution or persons under the prosecution‘s direction or control . . .” (emphasis added;
Moreover, statutory changes also relate to a defendant‘s obligations when contesting the validity of the People‘s COC and/or SCOC. Previously, to the extent defendant was “aware of a potential defect or deficiency[,]” defendant was required to “notify or alert the opposing party as soon as practicable” and file a motion “as soon as practicable” (
This Court may extend thе thirty-five day requirement only for “good cause shown” (
A motion challenging a COC and/or SCOC now requires “an affirmation by the moving party that, after the filing of the opposing party‘s [COC], such moving party timely conferred in good faith or timely made good faith efforts to confer with the opposing party regarding the specific and particularized matters forming the basis for such challenge, that efforts to obtain the missing discovery from the opposing party or otherwise resolve the issues raised were unsuccessful, and thаt no accommodation could be reached” (
Lastly, the Court of Appeals in People v Bay provided factors for a court to consider when determining whether the People exercised due diligence to comply with discovery (41 NY3d at 212). The legislature has codified the Bay factors which include but are not limited to:
” . . . the efforts made by the prosecutor to comply with the requirements of [
CPL § 245 ]; the volume of discovery provided and the volume of discovery outstanding; the complexity of the case; whether the prosecutor knew that the belatedly disclosed or allegedly missing material existed; the explanation for any alleged discovery lapse; the prosecutor‘s response when apprised of any allegedly missing discovery; whether the belated discovery was substantively duplicative, insignificant, or easily remedied; whether the omission was corrected; whether the prosecution self-reported the error and took prompt remedial action withоut court intervention; and whether the prosecution‘s delayed disclosure of discovery was prejudicial to the defense or otherwise impeded the defense‘s ability to effectively investigate the case or prepare for trial”
(
The law remains unchanged that “absent an individualized finding of special circumstances . . . the prosecution shall not be deemed ready for trial for purposes of [
The Parties Arguments
Defendant contends “the People were not ready to proceed to trial” when they filed their COC, “therefore such filing was not timely [and] [t]he declaration of readiness was illusory” (defendant‘s motion, affirmation of defendant‘s counsel ¶ 6). Defendant claims “information regarding the complainant and the police officers were not timely provided to the defense” (id.). Defendant asserts “some of the Yonkers police officers involved and investigating the charges against the defendant were the subjects of the Mount Vernon Police Department investigation and have voluminous disciplinary records . . . ” (id. ¶ 7).
Upon the plain reading of defendant‘s motion alone, this Court is unable to ascertain the officer(s) defendant is referring to since defendant fails to name the officer(s) at issue. Rather, defendant‘s motion only alleges in general terms that ”some of the Yonkers police officers involved” have prior disciplinary complaints and/or records when they were employed by the Mount Vernon Police Department (id. ¶ 7). Moreover, defendant‘s motion is silent as to whether defendant has conferred with the People and/or has previously raised this issue prior to filing the instant motion (
A review of the People‘s COC indicates the People turned over “K) Impeachment Material on Witnesses SEE 1K“; “P) Judgments of Conviction for Witnesses SEE 1K“; and “Q) Pending Cases agаinst civilian witnesses SEE 1K” (People‘s COC filed August 26, 2024; Discovery Disclosure Index at 2; Discovery Package Transmittal Notice dated March 26, 2024 including but not limited to “1K PALLADINO Justin MVPD.pdf“). The People‘s opposition confirms this Court‘s review of the COC and affirms they turned over “impeachment and 1K material for Yonkers Police Officers Justin Palladino and Trevor Hayden” when the matter was pending as a felony and to defendant‘s current attorney, all prior to the filing of their COC and declaration of readiness on April 26, 2024 (People‘s opp, аffirmation at 3-4; mem of law, point I at 10-11).
The People concede they filed a second SCOC and turned over additional 1K documentation after defendant filed the instant motion. The People state they turned over “new and additional 1K and impeachment material [for] Yonkers Police Department Officers Justin Palladino and Trevor Hayden to the defendant‘s attorney” on July 3, 2025 (People‘s opp, affirmation at 6; mem of law at 12). The People‘s second SCOC states “[a]t the time of the previous [COC], this information was not in the possession of the [Westchester County District Attorney‘s Office]” (People‘s second SCOC filed July 3, 2025). The People indicate that “[i]n light of the uncertainty created by conflicting court decisions, including recent appellate level decisions impacting this jurisdiction, regarding disclosure requirements under
CPL § 245.20 [1] [k]
It is undisputed that pursuant to
“All evidence and information that relate to the subject matter of the case . . . that tends to:
. . . (iv) impeach the credibility of a testifying prosecution witness . . . ”
The statute remains unchanged that mandated discovery pursuant to this section “relate[s] to the subject matter of the case.” The dispute lies, however, as to what information and how much information concerning police disciplinary records must be turned over to comply with the foregoing. The People rely on appellate authority which holds that in order for an officer‘s disciplinary history to be subject to
At the outset, this Court disagrees there are no Second Department cases on point. Rather, the Second Department has stated “there is no merit to [a] defendant‘s contention, in effect, that
Althоugh the above referenced Second Department cases are consistent with the People‘s reliance on Third and Fourth Department cases, the Second Department has more specifically found that “[b]ased upon the plain meaning of the text of
In justifying the belated disclosure, the People contend “the police disciplinary records of Police Officers Justin Palladino and Trevor Hayden, [] are wholly unrelated to the case” (People‘s opp, mem of law at 18). The People state “[t]hese disciplinary records stem from an arrest that occurred while Officer Palladino was on duty аs a Mount Vernon Police Officer on October 18, 2021 . . . over three years before the [current] defendant‘s arrest” (id. at 19). In opposition, the People attach Mount Vernon Police Department records for Officer Palladino which confirm the disciplinary allegations were ultimely determined to be unsubstantiated (People‘s opp, exhibit 12). However, the People fail to provide any information and/or exhibits related to disciplinary records for Officer Trevor Hayden. Based on the People‘s second SCOC Disclosure Package Transmittal Notice, the People also turned over records related to the New York City Police Department, again without any information or exhibits in opposition to inform this Court as to the substance of those disciplinary matters.
Based on the foregoing, this Court finds the People have failed to sufficiently establish they exercised due diligence prior to filing their COC to locate, obtain, and turn over impeachment materials pursuant to
Timeliness of Motion and Due Diligence Factors
Prior to August 7, 2025, the above analysis alone would have resulted in this Court deeming the People‘s COC invalid and statement of readiness illusory. Now, the People‘s failure
At the outset, the People filed their COC on April 26, 2024, and filed SCOCs on April 24, 2025 and July 3, 2025 respectively. Defendant did not file the instant motion until June 4, 2025, over a year after the People filed their COC. Based on the prior and current law, defendant‘s motion is untimely since it was not filed “as soon as practicable” (
This Court now looks to the totality of the People‘s efforts to comply with
Although the belated information consists of only one (1) category of discoverable material (
Once defendant filed the instant motion, although belatedly, the People obtained and disclosed the 1K materials. The People‘s second SCOC attempts to explain the discovery lapse by indicating the materials were “not in the possession” of the People prior to filing their COC (
Upon being apprised of the missing discovery, the People turned over the materials and the omission was corrected (
The last factor consists of whether the People‘s delayed disclosure was “prejudicial to the defense or otherwise impeded the defense‘s ability to effectively investigate the case or prepare for trial” (
In considering all the foregoing factors, this Court determines the People did not exercise due diligence to comply with
Defendant‘s argument that the People failed to turn over impeachment material related to complаinant is without merit. The People turned over an updated repository inquiry on April 24, 2025, since complainant “had recently been arrested on a new matter” (People‘s opp, affirmation at 5; mem of law at 11). This information did not exist at the time the People filed their COC, therefore, this Court declines to invalidate the COC on this basis.
CPL § 30.30
On a motion to dismiss pursuant to
Each time period will be discussed accordingly.
January 10, 2024 — February 15, 2024
The People commenced this action by filing a felony complaint on January 10, 2024 (
February 15, 2024 — March 6, 2024
The People concede they filed a SMI on February 15, 2024 (People‘s opp, affirmation at 4). However, the People assert the speedy trial clock starts on March 15, 2024, the date defendant was arraigned on the SMI. This Court disagrees as
Despite the inconsistencies above, the People concede the time from February 7, 2024 to March 6, 2024 is chargeable to the People (People‘s opp, mem of law at 26). Since the sрeedy trial clock starts on February 15, 2024, this Court charges the People with the time from February 15, 2024 to March 6, 2024 (20 days).
As such, twenty (20) days are chargeable to the People.
March 6, 2024 — March 15, 2024
On March 6, 2024, defendant did not appear. The People seek to exclude this time based on
As such, nine (9) days are chargeable to the People.
March 15, 2024 — April 12, 2024
The People concede they requested an adjournment from March 15, 2024 to March 29, 2024 (People‘s opp, affirmation at 4; mem of law at 26). However, the People assert defendant requested the additional time from March 29, 2024 to April 12, 2024 (id.). The People seek an exclusion for the additional time based on defendant‘s request (
Based on the papers submitted by defendant and the People, an issue of fact exists as to the time period of March 29, 2024 to April 12, 2024. Ordinarily, a hearing would be required to determine what time, if any, is chargeable to the People (People v Santos, 68 NY2d 859, 861 [1986]; People v Brady, 67 AD3d 927 [2nd Dept 2018]). However, based on the overall findings of this Court, a determination of the instant time period is rendered moot.
As such, fourteen (14) days are chargeable to the People.
April 12, 2024 — May 10, 2024
The People concede they requested an adjournment from April 12, 2024 to May 1, 2024
On April 26, 2024, the People filed their COC. Since this Court has invalidated the People‘s COC and deemed their statement of readiness illusory, the speedy trial clock did not stop on April 26, 2024. Therefore, this Court charges the People with their original adjournment request from April 12, 2024 to May 1, 2024 (19 days).
Based on the papers submitted by defendant and the People, an issue of fact exists as to the time period of May 1, 2024 to May 10, 2024. Ordinarily, a hearing would be required to determine what time, if any, is chargeable to the People (People v Santos, 68 NY2d at 861; People v Brady). However, based on the overall findings of this Court, a determination of the instant time period is rendеred moot.
As such, nineteen (19) days are chargeable to the People.
May 10, 2024 — June 4, 2025
Defendant argues the invalidated COC renders all subsequent time chargeable to the People. This Court disagrees since defendant waited over one (1) year to file the instant motion. The timeliness of defendant‘s motion was not made “as soon as practicable” nor within thirty-five (35) days of the People‘s COC (
On June 4, 2025, defendant filed the instant motion. All time subsequent to the filing of defendant‘s motion is excludable (
As such, zero (0) days are chargeable to the People.
Conclusion
Based on the foregoing, this Court deems the People‘s COC, filed on April 26, 2024, INVALID and statement of readiness ILLUSORY. This Court finds the People filed a valid SCOC and declared ready for trial as of July 3, 2025.
Pursuant to
ADA D. MEDINA
CITY COURT OF YONKERS