Adopting recent Second Department precedents, a Bronx Supreme Court justice has alerted prosecutors that a delay in obtaining DNA results will not necessarily stop the speedy trial clock. Justice Megan Tallmer (See Profile) said that until the Appellate Division, First Department, or the Court of Appeals says otherwise, she is bound by 2012 Second Department holdings that a delay in obtaining DNA results is not automatically excludable from the statutory speedy trial period.
In two cases last year, People v. Wearen, 98 AD3d 535, and People v. Rahim, 91 AD3d 970, the justices in Brooklyn said prosecutors must demonstrate due diligence in obtaining DNA results promptly. Tallmer, in a Feb. 22 decision, advised the Bronx District Attorney’s Office "that unless the defense requests DNA results, the People will have to make a showing required by Wearen and Rahim to invoke the ‘exceptional circumstances’ provision of CPL 30.30(4)(g)."
