CPL § 660.30

Examination of witnesses conditionally; when and to what courts application may be made · as in force on May 31, 2026

§ 660.30 Examination of witnesses conditionally; when and to what

courts application may be made.

1. An application to examine a witness conditionally may be made at any time after the defendant has been arraigned upon an accusatory instrument and before termination of the action, or of a proceeding therein or related thereto, in which the witness's testimony is sought.

2. Such application must be made to and determined by the following courts under the indicated circumstances:

(a) If the action is pending in a local criminal court as a result of an accusatory instrument filed therewith, the application must be made to and determined by such local criminal court;

(b) If the defendant has been held by a local criminal court for the action of a grand jury on the basis of a felony complaint, or if an indictment has been filed against him, the application must be made to and determined by the superior court by which the grand jury was or is to be impaneled or in which the indictment is pending. If the superior court by which the grand jury is to be impaneled is the supreme court, the motion may, in the alternative, be made in the county court of the county in which the action is pending.

Official sourcehttps://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CPL/660.30

In plain English

An application for conditional examination may be made after arraignment and before the relevant action or proceeding ends.

(1) That time window applies whenever the testimony is sought in the action or a related proceeding.
(2)(a) If the case is pending in a local criminal court on a filed accusatory instrument, that court decides the application.
(2)(b) After a felony complaint has been held for grand-jury action or an indictment filed, the superior court connected to the grand jury or indictment decides it; if the grand jury will be impaneled by Supreme Court, the motion may instead go to the county court where the action is pending. ★

Marked in the text: penalties, time limits, sums of money. Editorial emphasis added by this edition; it does not appear in the statute as enacted.

In print

This provision appears in Volume 1 — The Court Officer in Plain English; Volume 2 — The Court Officer: Criminal Procedure Law; Volume 2 — Your Career: Criminal Procedure in Plain English.