Summary
affirming grant of Clayton motion based on a combination of the facts of case and defendant's lifetime of good behavior
Summary of this case from People v. LaFontOpinion
2013-11-19
The PEOPLE of the State of New York, Appellant, v. Zaida HERNANDEZ, Defendant–Respondent.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Lindsey Ramistella of counsel), for appellant. Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Rosemary Herbert of counsel), and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, New York (Jennifer L. Colyer of counsel), for respondent.
Robert T. Johnson, District Attorney, Bronx (Lindsey Ramistella of counsel), for appellant. Richard M. Greenberg, Office of the Appellate Defender, New York (Rosemary Herbert of counsel), and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, New York (Jennifer L. Colyer of counsel), for respondent.
Order, Supreme Court, Bronx County (William L. McGuire, J.), entered on or about April 27, 2012, which granted defendant's motion to dismiss the information in furtherance of justice pursuant to CPL 170.30 and 170.40, unanimously affirmed.
The court properly exercised its discretion in entertaining defendant's motion to dismiss in the interest of justice after the 45–day deadline had expired, and in granting the motion ( seeCPL 170.40[1], 255.20[1] ). Regardless of the issue involving defendant's immigration status, all of the factors contained in CPL 170.40(1) which were considered by the court below, justified dismissal, including that the sole remaining charge was second-degree harassment, that defendant had been a law-abiding citizen since entering this country legally when she was eight years old, that the incident resulted from a long-standing dispute between two neighbors, which had led to the complainant's conviction of harassing defendant in a prior incident, and that defendant had since moved out of the neighborhood.
We have considered and rejected the People's remaining arguments. MAZZARELLI, J.P., SAXE, MOSKOWITZ, DeGRASSE, GISCHE, JJ., concur.