The People of the State of New York are the plaintiff’s in this matter against the defendants D.W., who is also known as A.J., W.N. who is also known as W., and C.P., who is also known as A.. This case is being heard in the Westchester County Court. The defendant, D.W. has moved for an order to dismiss the instant indictment against him claiming that his rights to a speedy trial have been violated.
Case Background
The defendants have been charged in an indictment for a number of different crimes including forcible rape and forcible sodomy of a woman over a period of time from the 25th through the 26th of November, 1992. Defendant Williams is charged with 10 separate counts of rape in the first degree and 9 separate counts of sodomy in the first degree. All three of the defendants have been charged with an additional count of unlawful imprisonment in the second degree.
A felony complaint was filed against Williams on the 30th of November, 1992 and he was arrested on the 5th of December. He testified in front of the grand jury under a waiver of immunity and the indictment was returned against the defendants. Williams was arraigned on the 28th of December, 1992 and the People announced on that date that they were ready for trial.
Defendant’s Testimony
A Staten Island Criminal Lawyer said that the Defendant W. testified that he met the complainant at her request and went to defendant Palmer’s apartment where the two engaged in sex that was consensual. He states that the other two defendants’s had left the apartment before the two had sex. He states that he did not see the co-defendants again until the following morning when they were asleep in a different room. He further states that the complainant was only alone with the co-defendants for less than ten minutes. He states that he had sex with the complainant twice and that no one else touched her as they were not there.
Complainant’s Case
The case made by the complainant is totally different. The People allege that the complainant was forced to have sex with the defendants and that at times she was being raped and sodomized at the same time with the defendants switching places and taking turns.
Case Discussion and Decision
The main argument of this case is made by Williams who states that the People have taken to long in recovering evidence as they waited for the entire DNA from the samples to be fully analyzed before proceeding in the matter. He argues that he the time it took should be charged against the People as he had already acknowledged having sex with the complainant so these tests were unnecessary.
It is also noted that the co-defendants failure to comply with the initial order that was made by Judge Scarpino further delayed the proceeding and should be chargeable to Williams.
The court has reviewed the facts of the case and found that the People’s delay in the case is not a violation of the defendant’s rights. For this reason, the motion to dismiss the indictment will be denied. The ruling is in favor of the People.
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