Order of Protection Not Signed by Judge

In People v. Boyce, 25 Misc 3d 1056, 886 N.Y.S.2d 329 (Crim Ct New York County 2009), a case with an "informed-by" complaint, the deponent-police officer described the provisions of the order of protection that Boyce allegedly violated, but did not allege that he personally had reviewed the order itself. Thus, to convert this hearsay, the People had to provide a copy of the order of protection. The document that the People served and filed, however, lacked the issuing judge's signature. Because the People did not allege that the police officer had first-hand knowledge of the order or even that he had seen it, the court held that the unsigned copy of the order of protection did not convert the hearsay in the complaint. Boyce, 25 Misc 3d at 1057-58, 1063. In People v. Hogan, 172 Misc 2d 279, 664 N.Y.S.2d 204 (Crim Ct Kings County 1997), the court dismissed the contempt charge as facially insufficient, where the People alleged that the defendant called the victim a "fucking bitch" and a "whore" in violation of limited order of protection. The court held that this conduct did not constitute the offense of Harassment in the Second Degree under PL 240.26(3), as the People charged, and that, if it did, the statute would violate the First Amendment. 172 Misc 2d at 283-84.