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People v. Smith

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 20, 1987
129 A.D.2d 747 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

Opinion

April 20, 1987

Appeal from the County Court, Westchester County (Rosato, J.).


Ordered that the judgment is affirmed.

The hearing court properly denied the defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment pursuant to CPL 30.20. Although the defendant was incarcerated prior to the trial for a period of 16 months, it cannot be said that he was thereby denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial as there was no showing of prejudice to his defense or deliberate or negligent delay by the People (see, People v Taranovich, 37 N.Y.2d 442; People v Johnson, 38 N.Y.2d 271; People v White, 32 N.Y.2d 393; People v Prosser, 309 N.Y. 353; cf., People v Moore, 47 N.Y.2d 872, revg 63 A.D.2d 602 for reasons stated in dissent of Sandler, J., at App. Div.). Here, some of the delays attributable to the People were caused by court scheduling and assignment, which "weigh less heavily" on the People in evaluating a constitutional speedy trial claim (see, People v Watts, 57 N.Y.2d 299, 303; cf., People v Johnson, supra).

The denial of that branch of the defendant's omnibus motion which was to dismiss the indictment pursuant to CPL 30.30 was also proper since the People announced their readiness for trial within six months after the felony complaint was filed against the defendant (see, People v Osgood, 52 N.Y.2d 37).

Finally, the trial court properly denied the defendant's motion for a mistrial. Although the testimony of one of the prosecution's witnesses, which was concerned with the recent outcry of the victim, impermissibly included details outside of the scope of the exception to the hearsay rule permitting the introduction of such testimony (see, People v Wooden, 66 A.D.2d 1004; see also, People v Vicaretti, 54 A.D.2d 236), this error was harmless in light of the overwhelming evidence of the defendant's guilt and the trial court's immediate curative instructions which limited the jury's application of that testimony. Thompson, J.P., Weinstein, Kunzeman and Harwood, JJ., concur.


Summaries of

People v. Smith

Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department
Apr 20, 1987
129 A.D.2d 747 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)
Case details for

People v. Smith

Case Details

Full title:THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, Respondent, v. CURTIS SMITH, Appellant

Court:Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, Second Department

Date published: Apr 20, 1987

Citations

129 A.D.2d 747 (N.Y. App. Div. 1987)

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