N.Y. Laws » CHAPTER Criminal Procedure / PART The Principal Proceedings / TITLE Preliminary Proceedings In Local Criminal Court / ARTICLE Proceedings Upon Information, Simplified Traffic Information, Prosecutor's Information and Misdemeanor Complaint From Arraignment to Plea
New York Consolidated Laws

N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 170.70 (2026)

Release of defendant upon failure to replace misdemeanor complaint by information

✓ current as of May 2026
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§ 170.70 Release of defendant upon failure to replace misdemeanor
        complaint by information.
  Upon application of a defendant against whom a misdemeanor complaint
is pending in a local criminal court, and who, either at the time of his
arraignment thereon or subsequent thereto, has been committed to the
custody of the sheriff pending disposition of the action, and who has
been confined in such custody for a period of more than five days, not
including Sunday, without any information having been filed in
replacement of such misdemeanor complaint, the criminal court must
release the defendant on his own recognizance unless:
  1.  The defendant has waived prosecution by information and consented
to be prosecuted upon the misdemeanor complaint, pursuant to subdivision
three of section 170.65; or
  2.  The court is satisfied that there is good cause why such order of
release should not be issued.  Such good cause must consist of some
compelling fact or circumstance which precluded replacement of the
misdemeanor complaint by an information or a prosecutor's information
within the prescribed period.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 2004–2010 · leading case: Woodward v. Morgenthau, 740 F. Supp. 2d 433 (S.D.N.Y. 2010).
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Woodward v. Morgenthau, 740 F. Supp. 2d 433 (S.D.N.Y. 2010). “See N.Y. Criminal Procedure Law § 170.70 ; see also People ex rel Ortiz v.”
People v. Scivolette, 7 Misc. 3d 885 (2004). “Defendant has moved for his release pursuant to Criminal Procedure Law § 170.70 on the basis that “fingerprints found on an item that was accessible to the general public [are] not sufficient to convict” a defendant, and therefore not sufficient to sustain the formation of an…”
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