People v. Wisdom

OPINION OF THE COURT

Balkin, J.

This case concerns the elemental rule that witnesses be sworn before testifying and whether violation of that rule in the grand jury renders the proceeding so defective that the “integrity thereof is impaired and prejudice to the defendant may result” (CPL 210.35 [5]). This case also concerns the defendant’s assertion that the People violated his right to a speedy trial under CPL 30.30.

I

On January 31, 1996, in the Prospect Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, the defendant shot Amy Donaldson three times in the chest and partially strangled her four-year-old…