WAIVER SHOULD HAVE SECURED WHILE PLEA NEGOTIATIONS WERE UNDERWAY
After she was convicted by the New York Count Supreme Court of “attempted assault in the second degree,” and sentenced to a term of 1½ to 3 years, T.M. appealed the denial of her “speedy trial motion.”
And on its review, the Appellate Division, First Department, noted that it took prosecutors some 284 days to file a “Certificate of Readiness.” While plea discussions were underway, the AD1 noted that T.M. never waived her speedy trial rights, nor did prosecutors require a waiver as a condition of those negotations.
Since “[m]ere silence is not a waiver,” the AD1 thought T.M.’s motion should have been granted and the indictment dismissed.
Was that all-time low for the People?
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DECISION