THE PEOPLE &C., RESPONDENT, v. ERASMO MEZON, APPELLANT.
80 N.Y.2d 155, 603 N.E.2d 943, 589 N.Y.S.2d 838 (1992).
October 22, 1992
2 No. 182
Decided October 22, 1992
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This opinion is uncorrected and subject to revision before publication
in the New York Reports.
Bennett L. Gershman, for Appellant.
Richard Longworth Hecht, for Respondent.
TITONE, J.:
CPL 710.60(1) provides that pretrial motions to suppress evidence must
be made "in writing and upon reasonable notice to the people." The
issue in this appeal is whether the People may effectively waive
compliance with this statutory requirement. Although we conclude that
a waiver is permissible, we nonetheless hold that in this case
defendant's oral motion should not have been considered because, as an
examination of the record reveals, the People did not, in fact, waive
their right to receive written notice of his motion.
In November 1989, while defendant was being arraigned on an indictment
charging him with burglary and other related offenses, defense counsel
asked the County Court if it would consider entertaining an oral
application to suppress certain evidence which had been seized from
defendant at the time of his arrest. The prosecutor responded that he
believed that his office would expedite the motion if he could "just
have (it) in writing." The County Court, however, stated that it was
"going to allow the oral application." In so ruling, the court
observed that the People would not be "prejudiced."
Immediately after deciding to entertain the oral application, the
court invited defense counsel to speak about the facts underlying the
motion. Counsel thereafter related certain unsworn allegations that
had been made at defendant's preliminary hearing. Although the
prosecutor was given the opportunity to mention any additional facts
he deemed relevant, he confined himself to a reading of the factual
narrative in the police report, noting that he felt himself to be at
somewhat of a "disadvantage" because he had not been present at the
felony hearing. In response to further inquiry by the court, the
prosecutor stated that the People would be ready to proceed with a
SNIPPETS:
CPL 710.60provides that pretrial motions to suppress evidence must be made "in writing and
Although we conclude that a waiver is permissible, we nonetheless hold that in this case
In November 1989, while defendant was being arraigned on an indictment charging him with
The prosecutor responded that he believed that his office would expedite the motion if he
In so ruling, the court observed that the People would not be "prejudiced."
Although the prosecutor was given the opportunity to mention any additional facts he deemed
In response to further inquiry by the court, the prosecutor stated that the People would be
After hearing from both sides, the County Court granted defendant's motion, concluding that
Relying on CPL 710.60, that court concluded that defense counsel's oral application to
The Appellate Division correctly ruled that the County Court should not have entertained
A motion to suppress evidence on any of the grounds set forth in CPL 710.20 is litigated in
CPL 710.60provides that such motions, when made prior to trial, "must be in writing and upon
the trial courts are not empowered to dispense with CPL 710.60's written notice requirement
Ship Maintenance Corp. v Lezak, 69 NY2d 1, 6-7, citing Riglander v Star Co., 98 App Div 101,
We have previously considered the People's power to waive analogous statutory written-notice
In People v Singleton, for example, we ruled that by failing to object to the unorthodox
Finally, in People v Jennings, we discussed Singleton and Lawrence and elaborated upon the
Where the prosecution deems such protections unnecessary, we concluded, there is no sound
Nor does the law require litigants who have unsuccessfully sought a ruling to boycott the
Accordingly, the order of the Appellate Division should be modified in accordance with the
Chief Judge Wachtler and Judges Simons, Kaye, Hancock and Bellacosa concur.
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