Opinion
Docket No. CR-033272-22KN
06-26-2023
The PEOPLE of the State of New York v. Ivan MARKOVTSII, Defendant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Kings County, Yi Liu, Esq. Assistant District Attorney, for the People. Brooklyn Defender Services, Christopher Perks, Esq. of counsel for the Defendant.
Eric Gonzalez, District Attorney, Kings County, Yi Liu, Esq. Assistant District Attorney, for the People.
Brooklyn Defender Services, Christopher Perks, Esq. of counsel for the Defendant.
Patrick Hayes Torres, J. The defendant is charged with Assault in the Third Degree Penal Law § 120.00 (1), among other charges. Defendant now challenges the validity of the People's Certificate of Compliance ("COC") and moves for dismissal of the accusatory instrument pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law ("CPL") § 30.30.
For the reasons set forth below, the defendant's motion is granted.
Procedural History
On November 17, 2022, the criminal action commenced with the filing of an accusatory instrument. On February 15, 2023, the People served initial discovery materials, and filed a COC and Statement of Readiness ("SOR") on the 90th day.
On February 17, 2023, defense counsel sent the People, via electronic mail, a list of the discovery items that were missing: 1) EMS/ACR Electronic Prehospital Care reports of complaining witness; 2) hospital records of complaining witness’ treatment and/or diagnosis and follow up treatment; 3) name and contact information for the medical provider, who treated complaining witness at the hospital; 4) KCDA material and Body Worn Camera checklists; 5) handwritten arrest report; 6) handwritten or scratch copy of the complaint report; 7) DD5s 1-6 and any attachments; 8) underlying documents related to all substantiated, unsubstantiated and pending allegations of misconduct for testifying police officers; 9) color copies of all photos used in any and all identification procedures and text thread mentioned in the CPL § 710.30 (1) (b) notice; 10) BCI color photos (rather than black and white); and 11) surveillance footage of the incident. The defense counsel also requested a time to confer with the People about the discovery.
Thereafter, on February 21, 2023, March 3, 2023, and March 6, 2023, defense counsel followed up with the People about the missing discovery. On March 6, 2023, the People and defense counsel conferred with each other about the missing discovery. On March 6, 2023, and March 14, 2023, the People finally attempted to contact the detective, via electronic mail and followed up with telephone messages in regard to the missing items.
In an email the People requested from the detective the following: 1) arrest report; 2) complaint report-handwritten/scratch report; 3) DD5s 1-5 and any attachments; and 4) any and all surveillance footage of the incident.
On March 14, 2023, the People, without filing a supplemental COC, turned over to the defense Giglio material consisting of disclosure letters listing pending and substantiated complaints against each of the potential police witnesses who took part in the case but not the underlying documents related to all substantiated, unsubstantiated, and pending allegations of misconduct for testifying police officers.
On March 21, 2023, the defense filed their Motion. On April 4, 2023, detective finally contacted the People and provided information and discovery. On April 5, 2023, the People filed their opposition to the motion and turned over additional discovery to the defense without filing a supplemental COC.
At issue here is whether the People's failure to file supplemental COC and SOR invalidates the COC. For the reasons set forth below the Court believes the failure to file the supplemental COC will invalidate the COC.
A COC
Pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 30.30 (5) "any statement of trial readiness must be accompanied or preceded by a certificate of good faith compliance with the disclosure requirements of CPL § 245.20 ." A proper, good-faith certificate of automatic discovery compliance is a prerequisite to a valid SOR. [ CPL § 245.50 (3) ] ; People v. Hooks, 78 Misc.3d 398, 181 N.Y.S.3d 877 (Crim. Ct. Kings County 2023).
Criminal Procedure Law § 245.50 [1] defines a proper COC and requires the People to certify:
1) That they have exercised "due diligence" and made "reasonable inquiries" to "ascertain the existence of discoverable material.
2) That they "made available all known material and information subject to discovery."
A COC is not proper unless the prosecutor has disclosed to the defense all known material subject to discovery after having exercised due diligence and made reasonable inquiries to find out what discovery existed. People v. Hutchins , 74 Misc.3d 1234 (A), 2022 WL 1219631 [Sup. Ct. Kings County 2022] ; CPL § 245.50(1).
Under Article 245, the People's obligations to provide discovery are so broad as to "virtually constitute ‘open file’ discovery, or at least make ‘open file’ discovery the far better course of action to assure compliance." (Hon. William C. Donnino, Practice Commentaries, C.P.L. § 245.10 ). In fact, the "opening language" of the statute "itself points towards an ‘open file’ discovery policy." Id. Therefore, "[i]f something is in the prosecutor's file (or that of the police investigating agency) that does not fall within the defined items of disclosure" but is information that " ‘relate[s] to the subject matter of the case’ it will need to be disclosed," unless it is "work-product" or subject to a protective order. People v. Lustig , 68 Misc.3d 234, 239-40, 123 N.Y.S.3d 469 [Crim. Ct. Queens County 2020] ; see also C.P.L. § 245.20[7]. Thus, material in the People's file would most likely be related to defendant's case and need to be disclosed.
In a challenge to the validity of a COC the Court must determine whether the People exercised the requisite level of diligence in obtaining the materials, whether their certification was filed in good faith and was reasonable under the circumstances. People v. McKinney, 71 Misc.3d 1221 [A], 2021 WL 2006850 [Crim. Ct. Kings County 2021]; People v. Adrovic, 69 Misc.3d 563, 130 N.Y.S.3d 614 [Crim. Ct. Kings County 2020]. Moreover, "upon a challenge to a COC, the People must articulate their efforts to comply with CPL § 245.20 (1) with respect to the statutory subsections or specific items of discovery at issue." People v. Hutchins , 74 Misc.3d 1234 (A), 2022 WL 1219631 (Sup. Ct. Kings County 2022).
In this case, the People failed to file supplemental certificates of compliance with their disclosure on March 14, 2023, and April 5, 2023, after filing their COC on February 15, 2023. There is no appellate authority concerning the failure to file supplemental certificates of compliance.
CPL § 245.50(1) states: "If additional discovery is subsequently provided prior to trial pursuant to section 245.60 of this article a supplemental certificate shall be served upon the defendant and filed with the court identifying the additional material and information provided". The question becomes whether the filing of supplemental COC was mandatory or permissive.
"When presented with a question of statutory interpretation, a court's primary consideration is to ascertain and give effect to the intention of the Legislature." Matter of Marian , 36 N.Y.3d 44, 49, 137 N.Y.S.3d 272, 161 N.E.3d 460 (2020). Because "the clearest indicator of legislative intent is the statutory text, the starting point in any case of interpretation must always be the language itself, giving effect to the plain meaning thereof" Id. at 49, 137 N.Y.S.3d 272, 161 N.E.3d 460. "When the statutory language at issue is but one component in a larger statutory scheme, it must be analyzed in context and in a manner that harmonizes the related provisions and renders them compatible" Id. at 49, 137 N.Y.S.3d 272, 161 N.E.3d 460.
When determining whether the filing of supplemental COC was mandatory, the court needs to review CPL 245.50(1-a) which describes the statute's intent and plain meaning. CPL 245.50(1-a) states that "[a]ny supplemental COC shall detail the basis for the delayed disclosure so that the court may determine whether the delayed disclosure impacts the propriety of the COC. The filing of a supplemental COC shall not impact the validity of the original COC if filed in good faith and after exercising due diligence pursuant to CPL § 245.20, or if the additional discovery did not exist, at the time of the filing of the original COC."
CPL § 245.50(1-a) clearly demonstrates that the supplemental COC was a necessary document and not an administrative filing. The supplemental COC provides the basis of the People's late disclosure filing. More importantly, the supplemental COC permits the Court to determine whether the delayed disclosure impacted the validity of the COC. Thus, the People are required to file a supplemental COC with the additional discovery. The failure to file the supplemental COC impacts the original COC because good faith and due diligence can't be demonstrated. Thus, a failure to file a supplemental COC while filing late discovery will invalidate the COC. In sum a failure to file a supplemental COC is fatal and will inevitably invalidate the COC.
Even had the Court overlooked the failure to file the supplemental COC, the People in their opposition did not argue that the missing items were subsequently discovered. Instead, the People alleged in conclusory fashion that they exercised good faith and due diligence in obtaining the missing discovery. The People's claim of due diligence arises from the telephone call and email messages to the detective on March 6, 2023, and March 14, 2023. The court recognizes that the People made some effort but did not rise to due diligence. The People's affirmation lacked any explanation for not calling the Detective into the prosecutor's office to obtain this information in a timelier fashion considering that the defense had requested these items in writing on February 17, 2023, and received the late disclosure on April 5, 2023. The missing items such as the video tapes surveillance, DD5's, initial Giglio material and underlying police misconduct of substantiated and unsubstantiated were disclosures that the People were aware of or in their possession when they filed their COC. Thus, the People did not make "reasonable inquiries" to ascertain the missing discovery prior to filing the COC.
The People in this case neglected to claim any of the statutory exceptions for filing a certificate of compliance while they knew the police officers Giglio material, video and DD5's was still outstanding. The People had not requested a protective order under CPL § 245.70 (1), nor did they argue a "good cause" basis existed that should allow the People more time to disclose the material under CPL§ 245.70 (2). The People failed to argue that the particular circumstances of this case merit either the tolling of the speedy trial clock, nor a declaration of readiness without a valid certificate of compliance [ CPL §§ 245.50 (3) ; 30.30 (4) (g)].
The People contend that even though discovery was filed late their COC was valid because defendant failed to establish prejudice and that the discovery was provided prior to hearings and trial. The court disagrees with the prosecutor's contention that the certificate of discovery compliance is proper because defendant failed to establish prejudice as a result of the belated disclosures. The statute's framework does not contemplate a prejudice analysis when assessing the validity of a COC which is a threshold matter (see, People v. Adrovic, 69 Misc.3d 563, 574, 130 N.Y.S.3d 614 (Crim. Ct. New York County 2020) ("the People's obligation to provide discovery, and to certify compliance with that obligation is not relieved by an absence of prejudice to the defendant"); see also, People v. Aquino, 72 Misc.3d 518, 146 N.Y.S.3d 906 (Crim. Ct. Kings County 2021). The impact of missing or belated discovery and whether prejudice was incurred by either party are evaluated separately when either party seeks a remedy or sanction for non-compliance under CPL § 245.80 . Here, the People failed to provide known discoverable material before the filing of their COC. Thus, a prejudice analysis is not relevant.
The People's unexplained delay in failing to timely provide the video tapes surveillance, DD5's, initial Giglio material, underlying police misconduct of substantiated and unsubstantiated disclosures were not reasonable. The documents requested were in the People's possession which rendered the March 13, 2023, COC and SOR illusory.
Material-Substantiated & Unsubstantiated Police Misconduct
The People claimed that once they were notified of all the missing Giglio material on March 13, 2023, they diligently uploaded the material and shared the information with defendant on April 24, 2023. However, the People's unexplained delay in failing to timely provide impeachment materials for law enforcement witnesses, renders the March 6, 2023, COC and SOR illusory.
The People asserted that CPL § 245.20 (1) (k) does not require the disclosure of unsubstantiated claims against police officer as impeachment evidence. The People conceded that they did not disclose underlying police misconduct records and contend that the statute does not require disclosure of the underlying paperwork to each allegation against the law enforcement witness. The People admitted that they drafted their own written summaries of police misconduct and claimed this was sufficient for the statute. The Court disagrees with the People's interpretation of the statute.
This Court has previously stated that CPL § 245.20 (1) (k) defines automatic discovery to include information that is favorable to the defense. It requires disclosure of "All evidence and information, including that which is known to the police ... that tends to: (i) negate the defendant's guilt as to a charged offense; (ii) reduce the degree of or mitigate the defendant's culpability as to a charged offense; (iii) support a potential defense to a charged offense; (iv) impeach the credibility of a testifying prosecution witness; (v) undermine evidence of the defendant's identity as a perpetrator of a charged offense; (vi) provide a basis for a motion to suppress evidence; or (vii) mitigate punishment ... irrespective of whether the prosecutor credits the information." The People's discovery obligations under CPL§ 245.20 (1) (k) go beyond the Supreme Court case of Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. 1194, 10 L.Ed.2d 215 (1963) and Giglio v. United States , 405 U.S. 150, 92 S.Ct. 763, 31 L.Ed.2d 104 (1972). See People v. Pennant , 73 Misc.3d 753, 156 N.Y.S.3d 690 (Dist. Ct. Nassau County. 2021) ; People v. Edwards , 74 Misc.3d 433, 160 N.Y.S.3d 532 (Crim. Ct. NY County. 2021). Critical is the elimination of the materiality requirement of Brady in favor of the more expansive "all evidence and information" regardless of whether the prosecutor finds the information material or credible. See People v. McKinney 71 Misc.3d 1221(A), 2021 WL 2006850 (Crim. Ct., Kings County 2021) ; CPL § 245.20 (1) (k) William C. Donnino Practice Commentary. Thus, the People's summary disclosure letters of police misconduct are insufficient to satisfy CPL § 245.20 (1) (k).
To give the statute its plain meaning of the words "All evidence and information" would entail the People to provide the underlying records for substantiated and unsubstantiated misconducts and not just summaries of misconducts. See People v. Carter , 76 Misc.3d 1206(A), 2022 WL 3971927 (Crim. Ct., Kings County 2022) ; People v. Herrera , 71 Misc.3d 1205(A), 2021 WL 1247418 (District Ct. Nassau County, 2021) ; People v. McKinney , 71 Misc.3d 1221(A), 2021 WL 2006850 (Crim. Ct., Kings County 2021) ; People v. Porter , 71 Misc.3d 187, 142 N.Y.S.3d 703 (Crim. Ct., New York County 2020).
As a practical matter, the People should not be cast as the gatekeeper in determining impeachment material for the defense. Thus, summary letters are not sufficient to satisfy CPL 245.20 ((1)(k). In sum "Case summaries prepared by the People are insufficient to satisfy the mandates imposed by CPL § 245.20 , as such evidence and information, which may ultimately be employed by the defense to impeach the credibility of the People's testifying witnesses, should not be filtered through the prosecution. People v. Goggins, 76 Misc.3d 898, 901, 173 N.Y.S.3d 901 (Crim. Ct. Bronx County 2022). See Also People v. Pennant , 73 Misc.3d 753, 156 N.Y.S.3d 690 (Crim Ct. Nassau County 2021). Therefore, the People are required to provide the underlying records of substantiated and unsubstantiated misconduct and not just summaries of misconduct to satisfy their obligation under CPL § 245.20(1)(k).
The People, notwithstanding their objection to Article 245 automatic discovery requirements, concede to disclose to the defense the underlying records of substantiated and unsubstantiated that is in their possession 30 days before trial. Thus, the People admit they have these records available but will not provide the documents until 30 days before trial, without providing support for their timeline. The People's arbitrary timeline of 30 days before trial is in violation of the timeline proscribed under CPL 245.10. In the future, the People must provide the documents according to the timeline established in CPL § 245.10 to avoid invalidating their COC.
Video surveillance in Police Possession-DD5
Pursuant to CPL § 245.20 (1) (g) the People were required to provide "all tapes or other electronic recordings" relevant to a case in "the possession, custody or control of the prosecution or persons under the prosecution's direction or control." CPL § 245.20 (2) and CPL § 245.55 (1) indicate that all items and information in NYPD possession are deemed to be in the People's possession.
The People declared that they made reasonable inquiries to ascertain the existence of the video & DD5's by emailing and calling the detective on March 6, 2023, and on March 14, 2023. The People's effort was not reasonable. The Early Case Assessment Screening Sheet that the People submitted with their COC stated that a video was available and was reviewed by personnel of the District Attorney's office. Thus, the People were on notice that video surveillance existed in their possession when they filed their COC.
The same reasoning applies to the detective's DD5s. The People opposition was silent in providing a basis for the late disclosure of the detective's DD5s. The complaint report that was submitted with the People's COC on the 90th day indicated the case status was open which should have prompted the People to inquire about the detective's follow-up complaint reports (DD5s).
The DD5s turned over by the People on April 5, 2023, disclosed that the detective collected the video on August 9, 2022, and uploaded a copy of the video surveillance recovered regarding this investigation. Thus, revealing that the People had the video in their possession all along. Thus, the People filed their COC knowing these items were outstanding.
Materials related to the identification procedure .
On November 17, 2022, at the arraignment, the People served CPL § 710.30 (1) (b) notice of the identification procedure. CPL § 710.30 (1) (b) notice stated that a confirmatory photo identification took place via Text. The photos were never exchanged and the People now state that the detective on April 4, 2023 claimed the pictures that were on his cell phone no longer exist. Thus, the People are unable to provide pictures to defense counsel. The People explanation lacked detail to how the pictures were lost. Further the People failed to set forth any efforts to contact the complainant witness about the pictures since the detective sent pictures to the complainant on the day of arrest. The lack of detail of why the pictures were lost and failure to set forth efforts made to contact the complainant do not amount to due diligence.
EMS/ACR Records Related to Medical Treatment and Transport of Complaining Witness.
Emergency Medical Personnel are not employed work in a law enforcement capacity, and any medical or transport records they maintain, are therefore, not under the control of the People. People v. Alvarez , 71 Misc.3d 1206(A), 2021 WL 1377827 (Sup. Ct., Queens County 2021) ; see, People v. Rahman , 74 Misc.3d 1214(A), 2022 WL 553426 (Sup. Ct., Queens County 2022) ; People v. Carter 76 Misc.3d 1206(A), 2022 WL 3971927 (Crim Ct. Kings County 2022). Accordingly, EMS records are not part of the People's automatic discovery obligations and the People are not required to subpoena records for the defense. CPL § 245.20 (2). Of course, this does not prevent the defense from subpoenaing the records.
Hospital Records
The People are not required to turn over the contact information for Dr. Chong or the hospital medical records of the complainant as part of their initial discovery obligations since the records are not in the possession or control of the people. CPL 245 provides that "the prosecutor shall not be required to obtain by subpoena duces tecum material or information which the defendant may thereby obtain." CPL §§ 245.20 (1) & (2) .
BCI arrest photo
The People conceded that they did not provide the BCI photos in color to the defendant. The People claimed that the BCI photos are not relevant because counsel is aware what defendant looks like.
C.P.L. § 245.20 (l)(h) specifically states that initial discovery includes "[a]ll photographs and drawings made or completed by a public servant engaged in law enforcement activity, or which were made by a person whom the prosecutor intends to call as a witness at trial or a pre-trial hearing, or which relate to the subject matter of the case."
The People's claim that the defendant's black/white photo was duplicative of the color BCI photo is unavailing. The discovery statute does not suggest or provide for matters which the People believe are duplicative. The People cannot decline to provide particular items because they believe they are duplicative. See People v. Cartagena , 76 Misc.3d 1214 (A), 2022 WL 4491213 (Crim. Ct., Bronx County 2022) (the prosecution cannot decline to disclose items of discovery because they claim it is duplicative of other items of discovery). People v. Ajunwa, 75 Misc.3d 1220 (A), 2022 WL 2525665 (Crim. Ct. Bronx County 2022) ("[i]t is not the People's decision to look at two entirely different police reports and decide that they believe one contains information ‘duplicative’ of the other and so will not be disclosed."). Thus, the People were required to provide the color BCI photos to the defendant.
SPEEDY TRIAL
The misdemeanor charges in the instant information require the People to be ready within 90 days of the commencement of the criminal action. ( CPL § 30.30 [1] [b] ). In this case the defendant action was commenced on November 17, 2022, with the filing of the misdemeanor complaint. The People filed their COC and SOR on February 15, 2023. However, the COC and SOR of February 15, 2023, are invalid. Since the certificate of readiness and SOR were not valid, 124 chargeable days have accrued from November 17, 2022 to March 21, 2023, when the defense filed their motion. Accordingly, defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to CPL § 30.30 [1] [b] is granted.
The foregoing constitutes the opinion, decision, and order of the Court.