Judge John Hecht
Powell was charged with assault based on allegations he repeatedly punched complainant Johnson in her back and face causing a busted lip, a gash to her forehead and bruised shoulder. He moved for dismissal of all charges on speedy trial grounds. Powell was arraigned on Aug. 12, 2013, and prosecutors served and filed a superceding information and statement of readiness on Oct. 18. The superceding information retained the same charges, but relied on an arresting officer’s observations, rather than Johnson’s allegations for its factual portion. At the Nov. 14 calendar call, defense counsel argued the superceding information was not an information as it contained hearsay allegations, which invalidated prosecutors’ Oct. 18 statement of readiness. The court noted the information contained statements attributed to “several unknown informants” that explain why and when the officer did what she did, which were non-hearsay purposes for the statements, rendering them non-hearsay. It also stated as a hearsay defect was not jurisdictional, prosecutors may validly announce ready for trial even on an accusatory instrument that contained hearsay. As only 67 days were charged to prosecutors, dismissal on speedy trial grounds was denied.
