N.Y. CPL Law § 190.30 — New York Code / Act CPL / Part 2 / Title I / Article 190 / Section 190.30
Grand jury; rules of evidence
Status: in_force

§ 190.30 Grand jury; rules of evidence.\n  1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, the provisions of\narticle sixty, governing rules of evidence and related matters with\nrespect to criminal proceedings in general, are, where appropriate,\napplicable to grand jury proceedings.\n  2. A report or a copy of a report made by a public servant or by a\nperson employed by a public servant or agency who is a physicist,\nchemist, coroner or medical examiner, firearms identification expert,\nexaminer of questioned documents, fingerprint technician, or an expert\nor technician in some comparable scientific or professional field,\nconcerning the results of an examination, comparison or test performed\nby him in connection with a case which is the subject of a grand jury\nproceeding, may, when certified by such person as a report made by him\nor as a true copy thereof, be received in such grand jury proceeding as\nevidence of the facts stated therein.\n  2-a. When the electronic transmission of a certified report, or\ncertified copy thereof, of the kind described in subdivision two or\nthree-a of this section or a sworn statement or copy thereof, of the\nkind described in subdivision three of this section results in a written\ndocument, such written document may be received in such grand jury\nproceeding provided that: (a) a transmittal memorandum completed by the\nperson sending the report contains a certification that the report has\nnot been altered and a description of the report specifying the number\nof pages; and (b) the person who receives the electronically transmitted\ndocument certifies that such document and transmittal memorandum were so\nreceived; and (c) a certified report or a certified copy or sworn\nstatement or sworn copy thereof is filed with the court within twenty\ndays following arraignment upon the indictment; and (d) where such\nwritten document is a sworn statement or sworn copy thereof of the kind\ndescribed in subdivision three of this section, such sworn statement or\nsworn copy thereof is also provided to the defendant or his counsel\nwithin twenty days following arraignment upon the indictment.\n  3. A written or oral statement, under oath, by a person attesting to\none or more of the following matters may be received in such grand jury\nproceeding as evidence of the facts stated therein:\n  (a) that person's ownership or lawful custody of, or license to\noccupy, premises, as defined in section 140.00 of the penal law, and of\nthe defendant's lack of license or privilege to enter or remain\nthereupon;\n  (b) that person's ownership of, or possessory right in, property, the\nnature and monetary amount of any damage thereto and the defendant's\nlack of right to damage or tamper with the property;\n  (c) that person's ownership or lawful custody of, or license to\npossess property, as defined in section 155.00 of the penal law,\nincluding an automobile or other vehicle, its value and the defendant's\nlack of superior or equal right to possession thereof;\n  (d) that person's ownership of a vehicle and the absence of his\nconsent to the defendant's taking, operating, exercising control over or\nusing it;\n  (e) that person's qualifications as a dealer or other expert in\nappraising or evaluating a particular type of property, his expert\nopinion as to the value of a certain item or items of property of that\ntype, and the basis for his opinion;\n  (f) that person's identity as an ostensible maker, drafter, drawer,\nendorser or other signator of a written instrument and its falsity\nwithin the meaning of section 170.00 of the penal law;\n  (g) that person's ownership of, or possessory right in, a credit card\naccount number or debit card account number, and the defendant's lack of\nsuperior or equal right to use or possession thereof.\n  Provided, however, that no such statement shall be admitted when an\nadversarial examination of such person has been previously ordered\npursuant to subdivision 8 of section 180.60, unless a transcript of such\nexamination is admitted.\n  3-a. A sex offender registration form, sex offender registration\ncontinuation/supplemental form, sex offender registry address\nverification form, sex offender change of address form or a copy of such\nform maintained by the division of criminal justice services concerning\nan individual who is the subject of a grand jury proceeding, may, when\ncertified by a person designated by the commissioner of the division of\ncriminal justice services as the person to certify such records, as a\ntrue copy thereof, be received in such grand jury proceeding as evidence\nof the facts stated therein.\n  4. An examination of a child witness or a special witness by the\ndistrict attorney videotaped pursuant to section 190.32 of this chapter\nmay be received in evidence in such grand jury proceeding as the\ntestimony of such witness.\n  5. Nothing in subdivisions two, three or four of this section shall be\nconstrued to limit the power of the grand jury to cause any person to be\ncalled as a witness pursuant to subdivision three of section 190.50.\n  6. Wherever it is provided in article sixty that the court in a\ncriminal proceeding must rule upon the competency of a witness to\ntestify or upon the admissibility of evidence, such ruling may in an\nequivalent situation in a grand jury proceeding, be made by the district\nattorney.\n  7. Wherever it is provided in article sixty that a court presiding at\na jury trial must instruct the jury with respect to the significance,\nlegal effect or evaluation of evidence, the district attorney, in an\nequivalent situation in a grand jury proceeding, may so instruct the\ngrand jury.\n  8. (a) A business record may be received in such grand jury\nproceedings as evidence of the following facts and similar facts stated\ntherein:\n  (i) a person's use of, subscription to and charges and payments for\ncommunication equipment and services including but not limited to\nequipment or services provided by telephone companies and internet\nservice providers, but not including recorded conversations or images\ncommunicated thereby; and\n  (ii) financial transactions, and a person's ownership or possessory\ninterest in any account, at a bank, insurance company, brokerage,\nexchange or banking organization as defined in section two of the\nbanking law.\n  (b) Any business record offered for consideration by a grand jury\npursuant to paragraph (a) of this subdivision must be accompanied by a\nwritten statement, under oath, that (i) contains a list or description\nof the records it accompanies, (ii) attests in substance that the person\nmaking the statement is a duly authorized custodian of the records or\nother employee or agent of the business who is familiar with such\nrecords, and (iii) attests in substance that such records were made in\nthe regular course of business and that it was the regular course of\nsuch business to make such records at the time of the recorded act,\ntransaction, occurrence or event, or within a reasonable time\nthereafter. Such written statement may also include a statement\nidentifying the name and job description of the person making the\nstatement, specifying the matters set forth in subparagraph (ii) of this\nparagraph and attesting that the business has made a diligent search and\ndoes not possess a particular record or records addressing a matter set\nforth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision, and such statement may be\nreceived at grand jury proceedings as evidence of the fact that the\nbusiness does not possess such record or records. When records of a\nbusiness are accompanied by more than one sworn written statement of its\nemployees or agents, such statements may be considered together in\ndetermining the admissibility of the records under this subdivision. For\nthe purpose of this subdivision, the term "business records" does not\ninclude any records prepared by law enforcement agencies or prepared by\nany entity in anticipation of litigation.\n  (c) Any business record offered to a grand jury pursuant to paragraph\n(a) of this subdivision that includes material beyond that described in\nsuch paragraph (a) shall be redacted to exclude such additional\nmaterial, or received subject to a limiting instruction that the grand\njury shall not consider such additional material in support of any\ncriminal charge.\n  (d) No such records shall be admitted when an adversarial examination\nof such a records custodian or other employee of such business who was\nfamiliar with such records has been previously ordered pursuant to\nsubdivision eight of section 180.60 of this chapter, unless a transcript\nof such examination is admitted.\n  (e) Nothing in this subdivision shall affect the admissibility of\nbusiness records in the grand jury on any basis other than that set\nforth in this subdivision.\n