Judge Adrian Armstrong

Lopez, charged with, among other things, criminal impersonation, alleged all adjournments between Oct. 18, 2016 through May 9, 2017, were at the prosecutions' request, thus chargeable to them. Prosecutors contended the time attributed to their post-readiness adjournments from Oct. 18 through May 2, 2017 was excludable due to exceptional circumstances as their primary witness, Officer Delitta, was medically unable to testify under CPL §30.30(4)(g). Prosecutors argued the officer remained injured and unable to testify and to date had yet to return to work. The court noted prosecutors established Delitta was a material witness as he was the officer that performed the breathalyzer test on Lopez, and he was unavailable due to ongoing medical conditions resulting from a serious motorcycle accident requiring surgery and leading to additional medical complications. Also, they showed their due diligence in trying to make Delitta available, but failed to demonstrate a reasonable expectation of Delitta's future availability or provide any information of a possible date he would return to work or be able to testify herein. Thus, 203 days for the subject period was chargeable to prosecutors, granting Lopez's motion for dismissal.