Opinion
May 2, 1996
Appeal from the Supreme Court, New York County (Juanita Bing Newton, J.).
The motion court properly evaluated the factors set forth in People v. Taranovich ( 37 N.Y.2d 442, 444-445) in excusing the preindictment delay of 44 months. Although defendant challenges the delay in connection with the prosecution of State charges, these were inextricably intertwined with the goals and activities of a joint State-Federal investigation into defendant and several other alleged members of a crime family. The scope of the Federal investigation incorporated serious crimes, and the life of a confidential informant and undercover operatives, and the wider web of the Federal investigation would have been compromised by an early arrest in the State case and the concomitant disclosure obligations ( see, People v. Donovan, 141 A.D.2d 835, lv denied 72 N.Y.2d 1044). The fact that the undercover aspect of the Federal investigation might have been completed within two years of the drug sale did not eliminate the continuing need of the Federal authorities to develop sources and evidence in addition to that which had been provided by undercover operatives. The record establishes that the delay was not deliberate or motivated by tactical considerations, and caused no discrete prejudice ( see, People v. Taranovich, supra, at 446-447; People v. Cox, 188 A.D.2d 316, lv denied 81 N.Y.2d 969).
Concur — Murphy, P.J., Milonas, Williams, Tom and Mazzarelli, JJ.