Judge Michael Gersten
The court opined if a valid information could be founded on a partially converted complaint. Mezar moved to dismiss the complaint for violating speedy trial limitations under Criminal Procedure Law §30.30 arguing a valid information could not contain unconverted charges. He was charged with petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and unlawful possession of marijuana. The court dismissed the petit larceny charge for failure to convert the charge. Prosecutors moved to dismiss the possession of stolen property charge, and only the marijuana charged remained. Mezar filed this motion arguing the presence of unconverted charges did not permit prosecutors to announce ready on the converted charge, and did not stop the §30.30 speedy trial clock. The court noted the statutory language of §§170.30(e) and 100.40 supported the practice of partial conversion. It stated prosecutors dismissed the unconverted counts on the 91st day of speedy trial time, thereby obviating any issues of double jeopardy. The court concluded that the converted count in the complaint for possession of marijuana, for which prosecutors announced ready, was not affected by the failure to convert the other counts before their dismissal, denying Mezar's motion.
