3.8 - A. Informations

• Jurisdiction: New York

a. Informations

A misdemeanor information is a verified,³⁶¹ written accusation by a person charging another with the commission of a non-felony offense.³⁶² Unless waived, it constitutes the basis for a prosecution in a local criminal court.³⁶³ As with a felony or misdemeanor complaint, the filing of an information also provides the court with authority to issue an arrest warrant.³⁶⁴ An information must contain not only an accusatory and factual part that provides reasonable cause to believe the defendant committed the offense (necessary also for felony and misdemeanor complaints) but also must contain non-hearsay, non-conclusory allegations tending to support every element of the offense charged and the nature of the defendant’s participation therein.³⁶⁵ The purpose of an information is to apprise the defendant of the charges and the nature of the conduct that forms their basis. This enables the defendant to prepare for trial and protects against multiple prosecutions for the same offense.³⁶⁶ Corroboration as variously required by statute for conviction is not required to be set forth in a complaint or information. ³⁶⁷ Absent constitutional impediment or statutory non-compliance amounting to a jurisdictional defect, a guilty plea forfeits claims on appeal that a trial court’s acceptance of a guilty plea to a crime not charged in the original complaint or not constituting a lesser included offense of the one charged in the information deprived the court of jurisdiction. Similarly, a hearsay defect in an information is non-jurisdictional, and a claim in that regard is forfeited by a guilty plea.³⁶⁸ The factual portion of a misdemeanor information charging multiple crimes shall consist of a single factual account applicable to all the crimes charged as counts in the accusatory part.³⁶⁹

“[T]he People...