By Michele Evans
NYweeklyRecord.com
9/3/2026
NEW YORK CITY, NY –
A New York appeals court has clarified how prosecutors must count the 90-day pretrial release clock when a defendant is jailed, released on bail and later returned to custody.
In an issue of first impression for the Appellate Division, Second Department, the court ruled Wednesday that only the days a defendant is actually incarcerated count toward the release deadline in Criminal Procedure Law 30.30(2)(a).
The clock pauses while the defendant is out of custody. It does not restart at zero if the defendant is jailed again. Instead, the separate periods of incarceration are added together.
The ruling came in a habeas corpus case filed on behalf of Steven Blanc, who was charged in Queens with several weapon-possession offenses. Those charges are accusations, and the appellate decision did not determine his guilt or innocence.
Blanc was first jailed after his August 20, 2024 arraignment. He spent 20 days in custody before a partially secured bond was posted. He was returned to custody in October after the surety withdrew, according to the decision.
Prosecutors filed a certificate of compliance and statement of readiness on December 11, 2024. The appellate court calculated that Blanc had spent 80 days incarcerated on the charges before that filing, less than the 90-day limit.
Blanc’s lawyer argued that the 31 days he spent out on bail should still count because the statute does not list release on bail as an exclusion. Under that calculation, prosecutors would have exceeded the 90-day deadline and Blanc would have been entitled to release.
The court rejected that reading. It said the statute was designed to prevent people from remaining jailed for an excessive period while prosecutors are not ready for trial. Counting days when a defendant is free on bail would disconnect the remedy from the harm the law was written to address.
The judges also rejected the prosecution’s earlier position that release resets the clock completely. A defendant who returns to jail keeps the custody days already accumulated in the same criminal case.
The custody-release rule in subdivision two is different from the broader prosecution-readiness clock in subdivision one, which can lead to dismissal of charges. This decision addresses release from pretrial detention, not whether the indictment itself must be dismissed.
That distinction matters in busy criminal courts where bail status can change and cases can stretch across multiple custody periods. The ruling gives judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers a clear method: count actual incarceration, pause during release and resume from the existing total if custody begins again.
The Second Department dismissed the writ, leaving Blanc in custody. The decision is uncorrected and may be revised before publication in the Official Reports.
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