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Criminal Court of the City of New York Annual Report 2006 Hon. Juanita Bing Newton William H. Etheridge III Administrative Judge Chief Clerk CRIMINAL COURT OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 2006 ANNUAL REPORT Published April 2007 This Report was published by the Office of the Administrative Judge of New York City Criminal Court. Editor/Writer/Photographer Contributors Justin Barry Tara Begley Michael Yavinsky, Esq. Judith Caragine, Esq. Toy Holloway TABLE OF CONTENTS Page INTRODUCTION Calendar Year 2006 - Executive Summary 4 NYC Criminal Court 2006 By the Numbers 4 Introduction - Administrative Judge Juanita Bing Newton 5 Criminal Court Caseload - A 10 Year Overview 6 Organizational Structure of NYC Criminal Court 6 New York City Criminal Court Judges and Supervisory Personnel 8 Courthouse Locations 9 New Initiatives and Improved Services in 2006 10 Research on Defendants’ Perceptions of Fairness 11 New Laws and Legislation 12 NYC Criminal Court Jurisdiction 30 Bronx Criminal Division 31 COURT OPERATIONS Arraignments 32 Arrest to Arraignment - The Path of the Case 38 Arrest to Arraignment - The Process 39 Arraignments - Types of Charges 40 Most Frequently Charged Offenses At Arraignments 42 Arraignment Dispositions 44 Citywide Summons Operation 46 Summonses - From Ticket to Hearing 47 Summonses - Filings, Docketing and Arraignments 48 Most Frequently Charged Summons Offenses 2006 47 Summonses - Revenue 49 Summonses - Trials 50 Plea By Mail 51 2 New York City Criminal Court 2006 Annual Report Page Pre-Trial All-Purpose Parts 52 Felony Waiver Parts 56 Comparison with Supreme Court Filings and Dispositions 60 Domestic Violence Courts 61 Spotlight Parts 62 Drug Treatment Court Initiative 63 Compliance Parts 64 Court Dispute Referral Centers 65 Trial Parts 66 Pre-Trial Hearings 67 Trials 68 Community Courts 72 Red Hook Community Justice Center 72 Midtown Community Court 74 Central Administration 76 Criminal Court Revenue 78 Criminal Court Disbursements 79 Summary Information 80 Dockets Pending 80 Citywide Dispositions 82 Calendared Cases 84 Judge Days 85 COURT NEWS New Employees and Promotions 86 2006 Employees of the Year 88 100 Centre St Lobby This report showcases some of the impressive art, architectural details and fixtures found throughout NYC Criminal Court’s nine courthouses. 3 Calendar Year 2006 - Executive Summary This report profiles the work and accomplishments for further information). of the Criminal Court of the City of New York over Here are some 2006 Criminal Court milestones : the past year. The report is divided into three sec- tions; the first part is an introduction and summary 23.99 hour average arrest-to-arraignment time of the organizational structure of the Court, the sec- 332,496* online arrest/DAT cases arraigned; ond part describes court operations - arraignments, 602,944* summons filings; all-purpose parts, trial parts and community courts 264,295 online arrest/DAT dispositions; and other specialized courtrooms, along with a de- 919,415 cases calendared; scription of the Court’s back office - the last section 519,269 cases calendared in all purpose parts; takes a look back at Court news over the past year 25,613 felony dispositions in Criminal Court felony and exciting new projects coming in 2007. This re- waiver parts compared to 21,334 dispositions in all port explains how each court operation functions corresponding four Supreme Courts, Criminal and then provides a quantitative analysis of the Term; work in an effort to give the reader a snapshot of the 856 pre-trial hearings commenced; volume and outcomes of cases over the past year. 2,117 trial verdicts (combined arrest/DAT and In 2004, the Bronx Criminal Division assumed ad- summons); ministrative responsibility over many aspects of mis- $33,909,379* in revenue; and demeanor case processing in the Bronx. For the $120,094,025* operating budget. most part we do not address statistical information relating to Bronx misdemeanor operations. There In addition to the analysis of work done by the entire are exceptions, however. We do report on sum- Criminal Court, this report also includes a descrip- mons, arraignment statistics and revenue numbers tion of new initiatives and improved services imple- in the Bronx as part of the entire Criminal Court pic- mented during the past year and the Court’s re- ture. We have also clearly marked any table or sponse to new laws and legislation and executive graph that contains Bronx statistics. (See page 31 branch initiatives, such as Operation Spotlight. NYC Criminal Court 2006 By the Numbers Budget: $120,094,025* Non-judicial personnel: 1,222 Total revenue: $33,909,379* Hearings commenced: 856 Fine revenue: $14,913,991* Court officers: 516 Bail revenue: $11,206,201* Trial verdicts (arrest cases): 504 Summons revenue: $8,210,384* Clerks: 205 Summons filings: 602,944* Judges authorized by statute: 107 Arraignments (Online/DATs): 332,496* Court Reporters: 88 Misdemeanor filings: 271,738* Court Interpreters: 61 Felony filings: 59,601* Court Attorneys: 59 Jurors serving: 4,825 Judges actually sitting: 56 Trials (summons cases): 1,613* Courthouses: 9* * Includes Bronx information 4 New York City Criminal Court 2006 Annual Report Introduction — Administrative Judge Juanita Bing Newton Greetings from the New York City Criminal Court. This year filings and resulting workloads were at an all time high. There has not been an equivalent increase in personnel, so we increasingly rely on the hard work and dedication of outstanding jurists and non-judicial personnel. We are constantly ask- ing for more and judges and staff always rise to the challenge. In recognition of their devotion, last year we profiled our non-judicial personnel in this report. For 2006 I want to profile the judges of our Court and in these pages you will find the women and men who dispensed justice on over 930,000 cases this year. We continued to grapple with the increasing amount of “quality of life” arrests but, along with the seemingly limitless quantities of misdemeanor and other petty offenses, Criminal Court also saw a reverse in the decade long trend of decreasing fel- ony filings. This year we saw the first increase in felony arrests in well over ten years. Criminal Court judges sitting in our felony waiver parts ac- tually handle more of these cases to final disposi- tion than their counterparts in the Supreme Court. Honorable Juanita Bing Newton Administrative Judge Over the course of the last fifteen years, Criminal Court has responded to the changes in arrest pat- of which we include in this report, shows that us- terns and criminal justice theory by experimenting ers of both the Red Hook courthouse and our much with new ways of processing our caseload. We larger centralized Brooklyn courthouse also re- were among the first in the state to open domestic sponded very favorably to the work of our judges violence courts and drug courts to attack age old and staff. Most believed that even in a courthouse problems in a new, meaningful way. We have that calendared over 360,000 cases each year, opened two community courts that are shining ex- cases were being handled fairly and appropriately. amples for the rest of the country and the world. What a testament to our judges and non-judicial What is not as well documented is the improve- personnel! Even in the busiest courthouses in the ments that we have made to the way that we dis- country, we never lose sight of the most important pense justice in our mainstream caseload. A recent part of our job - bringing justice to the people of study on the perception of fairness by court users this great city. at Red Hook Community Justice Center, excerpts This report discusses online arrest/Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) and forcement, and given a notice to appear in court on a future date. Unless summonses arraignments and filings. Online arrest/DAT refers to those indicated, this report groups these two types of cases together into one cases that are filed with the court subsequent to a arrest by a law enforce- category. ment officer and the filing of a formal complaint. With online arrest/DAT Summons cases are started when a law enforcement officer issues an ap- cases, the defendant is typically detained either at a local police precinct pearance ticket to a defendant with instructions to report to court on a or central booking while fingerprints are taken and a criminal history re- certain date. Typically, the defendant is not detained prior to release and port returned. Online arrest defendants are held until seen by a judge. no fingerprints are taken. A complaint is then filed with the Criminal Court DAT defendant are released after printing, at the discretion of law en- to commence the case. 5 Organizational Structure of NYC Criminal Court By statute, Criminal Court has 107 authorized the Chief Clerk of the court oversees the Court's judgeships. Each Criminal Court judge must be a staff of non-judicial personnel. Chief Clerk William resident of New York City. The judges are ap- H. Etheridge III is assisted in this task by the First pointed for terms of ten years by the Mayor of the Deputy Chief Clerk for citywide operations, Vin- City of New York. Any vacancies which occur prior cent Modica. In addition, the Chief Clerk is sup- to the expiration of a term also are filled through ported by four Borough Chief Clerks who, along appointment by the Mayor. with the supervising judges, oversee the day-to- day operations in each county - Serena Springle Many of the 107 judges appointed to the Criminal (New York), John Hayes (Kings), Brian Wynne Court have been assigned to the Criminal Term of (Queens) and Andrew Hassell (Richmond). The city- the Supreme Court in order to handle felony cases.