In Matter of Holtzman v. Goldman, 71 NY2d 564, on the day of trial, the prosecutor was unable to locate the complaining witness and requested an adjournment of the trial. The court denied the request and ordered the People to start trial immediately. Because the People had no witnesses, they could not proceed to trial. Consequently, the trial court dismissed the indictment on the merits pursuant to CPL 290.10, the statutory vehicle authorizing a trial order of dismissal. The People subsequently commenced a CPLR article 78 proceeding seeking to prohibit enforcement of the trial court's order. On appeal to the Court of Appeals, that court stated that the trial court was justified in denying the prosecutor's request for an adjournment of the trial ( Matter of Holtzman v. Goldman, supra, at 570.) The Court of Appeals ruled, however, that the trial court's subsequent corrective action was improper and it reinstated the indictment because the trial court had no authority to dismiss the indictment on the merits inasmuch as the trial had not commenced ( Matter of Holtzman v. Goldman, supra, at 570-571). Although the Court of Appeals reinstated the indictment due to the basis of the trial court's dismissal, the Court of Appeals also stated "this court in no way denies or curtails even the extreme measure of dismissal of a criminal prosecution to redress the People's abuse of adjournments. Dismissal in the interest of justice may well be appropriate for just such abuses" ( Matter of Holtzman v. Goldman, supra, at 575).