Home > Research Legal Advice > Criminal Defense > Every time I go to court the people are not ready, should I file a 3030 ...
Asked 11 months ago - New York, NY
FlagOn 3/15/12, I was arrested, jailed and charged w/crim. possession of marijuana, class B misdemeanor, ny pl 221.10. The next day I was released ROR. At my next court appearance on 5/2/12, I rec'd a corroborating affidavit & certificate of readiness, dated 4/24/12. On 7/25/12, I appeared in court by myself because my public defender quite his job & the public defenders office sent no to replace him, the ada was not Ready, so the judge set my next court date for 9/26/12. This will be 197 days after I was charged with this crime, therefore can I file a pro se 3030 motion before my next court appearance. If so, how can I file, being that my lawyer left his job and has not filed any motions on my behalf. I thank you for you advice to this important matter, and I hope to hear from you soon.
If your lawyer didn't appear in court the time is excludable from speedy trial. The Judge likely will not acecpt a pro se motion from you if you have a lawyer. The judge might ask the lawyer if he/she wants to adopt your motion but wouldn;t you rather have the lawyer draft it him/herself with proper analysis ans case law? Call Legal Aid and see if someone has been assigned to your case. If the answer is they haven't, ask for a supervisor.
Filing the corrob and the statement of readiness stopped the speedy trial clock. When your lawyer failed to appear, the time to the next adjournment is also excludable. It appears that only the time from 3/15 to 4/24 can be charged to the prosecution, if it was properly filed and served. That is not close to the 30.30 time. Speak with your lawyer
You will not lose your right to file a speedy trial motion as it can be brought at any time. My suggestion would be that you wait until a new attorney gets assigned tot he case and allow him/her to file it for you. You don't want to mess this up. If you don't want to wait for a public defender you can always hire an attorney of your own.
You shouldn't do it yourself. Ask for a meeting with the public defenders supervisor and go over the issues with them. Some of the time was excluded so it's not 197 days.
Joseph A. Lo Piccolo, Esq.
Immediate Past President, Criminal Courts Bar Association 11'-12'
Hession Bekoff & Lo Piccolo
1103 Stewart Ave, Suite 200
Garden City, NY 11530
516-408-3666 (o) / 516-408-3833 (f)
Jlopiccolo@hbclaw.net
Don't speak legalese? We define thousands of terms in plain English.
Browse our legal dictionary