In People v. Bonville (3d Dept. 1/28/2010), the Third Department unanimously held that the People must resubmit dismissed charges to the Grand Jury in order to obtain a conviction on those charges. The defendant was initially charged with Attempted Murder 2º, Assault 1º, Assault 2º, Criminal Use of a Firearm, and Unlawful Dealing with a Child. After a plea negotiations with the People, the defendant pled guilty to Assault 2º and Unlawful Dealing with a Child. The People's motion to dismiss the remaining charges was granted. During sentencing, the court advised the defendant that it would not accept the People's sentencing recommendation, but rather impose a harsher sentence. Thus, the defendant, upon an offer from the trial court to withdraw the plea, withdrew his plea. The People subsequently purported to reinstate the entire indictment without resubmission to a grand jury (over the defendant's objection). At trial, the jury found the defendant guilty of Assault 2º and Unlawful Dealing with a Child.
The court agreed with the defendant's argument that the People's reinstatement of the dismissed charges without Grand Jury resubmission was barred by CPL § 210.20(4). Resubmission, in turn, was prohibited (even with judicial approval) because of CPL § 210.20(4). Moreover, the court noted that the harmless error doctrine did not apply "because the evidence submitted regarding the more severe charges could have 'induced the jury to find him guilty of the less serious offense.'" (quoting People v. Mayo, 48 N.Y.2d 245, 251 (1979)). Thus, the court remanded the case and ordered a new trial on Assault 2º.
UPDATED (2/5/2010): Instead of outright dismissal, the better practice is to have the guilty plea be in "full satisfaction of the indictment." This way, if the plea is later withdrawn, the entire indictment will be automatically reinstated, per CPL § 220.60(3). This was not possible in the Bonville case itself, since the defendant was indicted for an armed felony and thus could only plead guilty to the top charge. The better solution in such cases, if possible, is to negotiate the plea bargain before the case reaches the Grand Jury and proceed by superior court information. If the plea is later withdrawn, the People can seek a indictment that charges the more serious crimes. See CPL § 200.80. (JTR/LC)
Comments