Matter of Jahron S

In Matter of Jahron S. (79 NY2d 632, 634 [1992]) the Court of Appeals dismissed a Family Court juvenile delinquency petition (which it analogized to an information), finding insufficient the arresting officer's statement that he had observed the appellant in possession of 33 vials of crack cocaine and that " 'based upon his training and experience as a police officer assigned to a special narcotics unit with respect to the appearance, handling and packaging of narcotics and other controlled substances,' " he believed the substance to be crack cocaine. The Jahron S. Court then, went on and held ( id., at 640): "Appellants urge us to hold that a laboratory report is always necessary in order to establish a prima facie case of cocaine possession. There is no need to establish a per se rule. We leave open the possibility that a deposition based on personal knowledge and expertness may, in now unforeseen circumstances, qualify as sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of drug possession because of the nature of the crime, or its elements, or the special knowledge of the affiant." The court made "clear that because both informations and petitions are the ultimate instruments of prosecution and because both are required, in identical language, to contain nonhearsay allegations that establish, if true, every element of the offense charged and the accused's commission of the offense, that a prima facie case standard is applicable to both." The court then distinguished People v. Dumas, noting that it: involved a misdemeanor complaint, and the factual part of a misdemeanor complaint must simply establish reasonable cause' to believe that the defendant committed the crime charged (CPL 100.40[4][b]). Thus, a much lower standard is applicable when determining the legal sufficiency of complaints, which, unlike informations and petitions, do not serve as the sole instrument of prosecution and adjudication. Matter of Jahron S., supra at 640, 584 NYS2d 748, 753 Based thereon, the court held that a police officer's supporting deposition alleging that, " based upon [his] training and experience as a police officer assigned to a special narcotics unit with respect to the appearance, handling and packaging of narcotics and other controlled substances' he believed the substance to be crack cocaine[,]" Matter of Jahron S., id. at 634, 584 NYS2d 748, 749 was insufficient to meet the prima facie case requirement of a petition or information. The court further went on to note that there was no need to establish a per se rule mandating that a laboratory report will always be necessary and left "open the possibility that a deposition based on personal knowledge and expertness may, in now unforeseen circumstances, qualify as sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of drug possession because of the nature of the crime, or it elements, or the special knowledge of the affiant." Matter of Jahron S., id. at 640, 584 NYS2d 748, 753