Important County Court Decisions on Speedy Trial Rights For Traffic Tickets in New York State.
Published on 4/9/23
Two recent county court decisions have held that a mere traffic ticket must comply with CPL 30.30 speedy trial rights, in addition to the speedy trial rights afforded by the Federal and New York State Constitution.
CPL 30.30 (1)(d) states if the People are not “ready for trial” within thirty days of the commencement of a criminal action wherein the defendant is accused of one or more offense, at least one of which is a violation and none of which is a crime, a motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds must be granted. CPL 30.30(1)(e) states for the purpose of this subdivision 30.30(1), the term “offense” shall include vehicle and traffic law infraction.
The two decisions are People v. Hector Companioni De La Paz (Clinton County Court 2021), 2021 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 5390 and People v Pascual (Wayne County Court, 2023, Index NO, CV088470).
In both cases, the defendant was charged with one speeding ticket and the People never filed a certificate of compliance. No certificate of compliance means the People cannot be deemed “ready for trial” under CPL 30.30(5) and CPL 245.50(3). In both cases, the county court overturned the justice court decision and dismissed the charge with prejudice.