Judge scolds AGO over late document filing
A Superior Court judge scolded the Attorney General’s Office for its failure to abide by the court’s deadline in amending criminal information.
Associate judge David Wiseman denied the request of government prosecutors for leave to amend the charges against one Zhang Cui Yang, saying that they just couldn’t amend the charging document at anytime without any reason for the delay.
“To do so would undermine the court’s ability to control its docket, disrupt the agreed-upon course of action and prejudice the defendant,” Wiseman said.
On Feb. 24, 2004, the AGO initially filed with the court a criminal information charging Zhang with assault and battery and disturbing the peace. Zhang received the penal summons in connection with the charges on Aug. 5 last year. On Aug. 31, presiding judge Robert Naraja issued a case management order authorizing the government to amend the information without permission of the court within 21 days.
Naraja’s order gave prosecutors until Sept. 20 to amend the information. But Wiseman noted that the government only sought to amend the charging document on Nov. 18, at which time it added a count of assault with a dangerous weapon.
The judge also noted that no request for leave to amend the criminal information accompanied the document. The government only filed a request for leave to amend pursuant to court procedures on Feb. 7, 2005.
“The Commonwealth cites ‘the best interest of the Commonwealth’ as its purpose for amending the information, but offers no explanation for its failure to comply with the case management order’s deadline, nor does the government allege that any new information precipitated the amended information,” Wiseman said.
The judge noted that Zhang was supposed to go to trial last April 4. “The defendant prepared his defense and made his decisions based on the information charging assault and battery and disturbing the peace. Not until Feb. 15, 2005, nearly a year after the first information was filed, and only a short time before the scheduled trial, the government sought to amend the indictment to include a felony offense.” (John Ravelo)
