34-e-3 New York's Speedy Trial Statute

• Library: A Jailhouse Lawyer's Manual (2020 Edition)

34-E-3. New York's Speedy Trial Statute

Your right to a speedy trial under New York law is governed by Sections 30.20 and 30.30 of the New York Criminal Procedure Law.¹⁵⁶ Although the New York Constitution does not expressly contain a speedy trial clause, you still have a state constitutional right to a speedy trial under the guarantee of due process clause in Article 6 of the New York Constitution.¹⁵⁷ When filing your speedy trial claim, you should raise the constitutional provisions as well as the statutory ones in order to preserve your right to a speedy trial.

As for the state constitutional right to a speedy trial, the New York courts have articulated the balancing factors in determining whether your state constitutional right to a speedy trial has been violated. The factors to be considered in the test are:

(1) the extent of the delay,

(2) the reason for the delay,

(3) the nature of the underlying charge,

(4) whether there has been an extended period of pretrial incarceration, and

(5) whether there is any indication that your defense has been impaired by the delay.¹⁵⁸

Under the state's speedy trial statute, the amount of time in which the state must bring you to trial depends on the type of offense you are charged with. For each level of offense, there are two time periods. The type of remedy that is available to you depends on which of the two time limits the state has violated.

Type of Offense	Short Period159	Long Period160
Felony	Ninety days	Six months
Misdemeanor punishable for more than three months	Thirty days	Ninety days
Misdemeanor punishable for less than three months	Fifteen days	Sixty days
Violation	Five days	Thirty days

If the state has violated the short period for the offense for your charge, you must be released from detention,¹⁶¹ unless you are being held for another offense or have previously violated the terms of your release.¹⁶² The state violates the short period if it is not ready for trial and you have not been released on bail or on your own recognizance.¹⁶³ The short time period begins when you are committed to the custody of the sheriff.¹⁶⁴

If the state is not ready to bring you to trial within the long period, the charges against you must be dismissed.¹⁶⁵ The long time period begins on the day following the commencement of the criminal action, which is the filing of the first accusation.¹⁶⁶ If new accusations have been filed to replace the original charges, the amount of time in which the state must bring you to trial will be determined by the new offense, starting from the time the new charges are filed.

However, there is an important exception to these time calculation rules. When you are charged with a crime, the state files a charging document against you. Sometimes, the...