Motion to dismiss in the interest of justice

Motion to dismiss in the interest of justice

The motion to dismiss in the interest of justice is a provision of the New York Criminal Procedure Law, CPL § 210.40; since being interpreted in People v. Clayton,[1] it has been known as a "Clayton motion".

Contents

Background

CPL 210.40 is a successor to section 671 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which in turn has been said to be merely a substitute for the ancient right of the Attorney-General to discontinue a prosecution.[2] But section 671 allowed the court to dismiss an indictment "in furtherance of justice" either on motion of the District Attorney or on its own motion; moreover, the code removed the right of the prosecutor to abandon the indictment except in compliance with section 671.[3] The early history of determinations under the statute evinces the inclination of the court to use its provisions sparingly;[4] the statute was usually invoked to dismiss an indictment for the insufficiency of evidence before a grand jury after a defendant's motion to inspect the minutes had been granted.[5] (The statute provided a method to afford relief to a defendant, who could not move to inspect the minutes of the grand jury without showing a reason to believe that the evidence before it was insufficient to support the indictment.[6] Since the defendant could not know the nature of the proceedings before the grand jury, he was obviously at a disadvantage.[7])

More recently, the statute has been employed to reach cases in which the court found for a variety of reasons that the ends of justice would be served by the termination of the prosecution.[8] Indeed, it has been stated that the use of the statute depended only on principles of justice, not on the legal or factual merits of the charge or even on the guilt or innocence of the defendant.[9]

Terms

N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 210.40 grants the defendant (or the prosecutor or the court) the power to apply for relief:

  • First, it directs the court to find, under the general concept of the "furtherance of justice" stated in its provisions, that the "dismissal is required as a matter of judicial discretion by the existence of some compelling factor, consideration or circumstance clearly demonstrating that conviction or prosecution of the defendant upon such indictment or count would constitute or result in injustice."
  • Second, it directs that the procedure for the application is to be governed by N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 210.20. § 210.20, providing for the omnibus motion against an indictment, must be read with N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law § 210.45(6), which commands the court to conduct a hearing on the motion.

People v. Clayton

The provisions of N.Y. Crim. Proc. Law §§ 210.40 and 210.45 require a hearing when either the prosecution or the defendant moves to dismiss the indictment in the furtherance of justice.

In People v. Clayton, the Court held that when a trial court considers sua sponte a dismissal for the same reason, it should not do so until fair notice of its intention has been given to the parties and a hearing has been held. At the hearing the parties may, if they are so advised, present such evidence and arguments as may be pertinent to the interests of justice. Among the considerations which are applicable to the issue are (a) the nature of the crime, (b) the available evidence of guilt, (c) the prior record of the defendant, (d) the punishment already suffered by the defendant, (e) the purpose and effect of further punishment, (f) any prejudice resulting to the defendant by the passage of time and (g) the impact on the public interest of a dismissal of the indictment.

References

  • People v. Clayton, 41 A.D.2d 204 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't 1973)
  1. ^ 41 A.D.2d 204 (N.Y. App. Div. 2d Dep't 1973
  2. ^ Matter of McDonald v. Sobel, 272 App. Div. 455, 462, affd. 297 N. Y. 679; People v. Willis, 23 Misc. 568, 571
  3. ^ Code Crim. Pro., § 672
  4. ^ cf. People v. Petrea, 92 N. Y. 128, 144
  5. ^ cf. People v. Phillips, 14 Misc 2d 565; People v. Briggs, 50 Misc 2d 1062
  6. ^ People v. Howell, 3 N Y 2d 672
  7. ^ Cf. Matter of Miranda v. Isseks, 41 A D 2d 176 [2d Dept., dec. Mar. 19, 1973].
  8. ^ See cases collected in People v. Graydon, 69 Misc 2d 574, 577-578
  9. ^ People v. Quill, 11 Misc 2d 512, 513

Further reading

  • Legal Developments: A Model Of Discretion: New York's "Interests Of Justice" Dismissal Statute. 58 Alb. L. Rev. 175. (John F. Wirenius, Albany Law Review, 1994) - Through Google Scholar / HeinOnline

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • File sharing and the law — The legal issues in file sharing involve violation of copyright laws as digital copies of copy written materials are transferred between users. The debate on peer to peer and file sharing is a virtually global phenomenon. Peer to peer ( P2P )… …   Wikipedia

  • The Idler (1758–1760) — This article is about the 18th century series of essays. For other publications called The Idler, see The Idler (disambiguation). The Idler was a series of 103 essays, all but twelve of them by Samuel Johnson, published in the London weekly the… …   Wikipedia

  • The Legislative Assembly and the fall of the French monarchy — The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article covers the one… …   Wikipedia

  • Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution — The Sixteenth Amendment (Amendment XVI) of the United States Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1913. This Amendment overruled Pollock v. Farmers Loan Trust Co. (1895), which greatly limited the Congress s authority to levy an income tax.… …   Wikipedia

  • The Da Vinci Code — This article is about the novel. For other uses, see The Da Vinci Code (disambiguation). The Da Vinci Code …   Wikipedia

  • Criminal justice system of the Netherlands — Netherlands This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Netherlands …   Wikipedia

  • HISTORICAL SURVEY: THE STATE AND ITS ANTECEDENTS (1880–2006) — Introduction It took the new Jewish nation about 70 years to emerge as the State of Israel. The immediate stimulus that initiated the modern return to Zion was the disappointment, in the last quarter of the 19th century, of the expectation that… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Opportunité des poursuites — L opportunité des poursuites est un principe de procédure pénale, selon lequel le parquet décide de poursuivre ou non, une personne soupçonnée d avoir commis une infraction. Il peut ainsi décider d un classement sans suite. Ce principe, aussi… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Monarchy of the United Kingdom — This article is about the monarchy of the United Kingdom. For information on the other countries which share the same person as monarch, see Commonwealth realm. For the current Queen of the United Kingdom, see Elizabeth II. British sovereign… …   Wikipedia

  • Religious symbolism in the United States military — Insignias (left to right) for Christian, Muslim and Jewish chaplains are shown on the uniforms of three U.S. Navy chaplains, 1998. (These were the only insignias in use at that time.) Religious symbolism in the United States military includes the …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”