Section 170.10. Arraignment upon information, simplified traffic information, prosecutor's information or misdemeanor complaint; defendant's presence, defendant's rights, court's instructions and bail matters

1. Following the filing with a local criminal court of an information,
  a simplified information, a prosecutor's information  or  a  misdemeanor
  complaint,  the  defendant must be arraigned thereon. The defendant must
  appear  personally  at  such  arraignment  except  under  the  following
  circumstances:
    (a)  In  any  case  where  a  simplified  information  is  filed and a
  procedure is provided by law which is applicable to all offenses charged
  in such simplified information and, if followed, would dispense with  an
  arraignment  or  personal appearance of the defendant, nothing contained
  in this section affects the validity of such procedure or requires  such
  personal appearance;
    (b)  In  any case in which the defendant's appearance is required by a
  summons or an appearance ticket, the court in its  discretion  may,  for
  good  cause  shown, permit the defendant to appear by counsel instead of
  in person.
    2. Upon any arraignment at which the defendant is personally  present,
  the  court  must  immediately inform him, or cause him to be informed in
  its presence, of the charge or charges against him and must furnish  him
  with a copy of the accusatory instrument.
    3.  The  defendant  has  the  right  to  the  aid  of  counsel  at the
  arraignment and at every subsequent stage of the action. If  he  appears
  upon such arraignment without counsel, he has the following rights:
    (a) To an adjournment for the purpose of obtaining counsel; and
    (b) To communicate, free of charge, by letter or by telephone, for the
  purposes  of  obtaining counsel and informing a relative or  friend that
  he has been charged with an offense; and
    (c) To have counsel assigned by the court if he is financially  unable
  to  obtain the same; except that this paragraph does not apply where the
  accusatory instrument charges a traffic infraction or infractions only.
    4. Except as provided in subdivision five, the court must  inform  the
  defendant:
    (a)  Of  his  rights as prescribed in subdivision three; and the court
  must not only accord him opportunity to exercise such  rights  but  must
  itself  take such affirmative action as is necessary to effectuate them;
  and
    (b) Where a traffic infraction or a misdemeanor relating to traffic is
  charged, that a  judgment  of  conviction  for  such  offense  would  in
  addition  to  subjecting the defendant to the sentence provided therefor
  render his license to drive a  motor  vehicle  and  his  certificate  of
  registration  subject  to suspension and revocation as prescribed by law
  and that a plea of guilty  to  such  offense  constitutes  a  conviction
  thereof to the same extent as a verdict of guilty after trial; and
    (c)   Where   the   accusatory  instrument  is  a  simplified  traffic
  information, that the  defendant  has  a  right  to  have  a  supporting
  deposition filed, as provided in section 100.25; and
    (d)  Where  the accusatory instrument is a misdemeanor complaint, that
  the defendant may not be prosecuted thereon or required to enter a  plea
  thereto  unless he consents to the same, and that in the absence of such
  consent such misdemeanor complaint will for prosecution purposes have to
  be replaced and superseded by an information; and
    5. In any case in which a defendant has appeared  for  arraignment  in
  response  to a summons or an appearance ticket, a printed statement upon
  such process of any court instruction  required  by  the  provisions  of
  subdivision  four,  other than those specified in paragraphs (d) and (e)

  thereof, constitutes compliance with such provisions with respect to the
  instruction so printed.
    6.  If  a  defendant  charged with a traffic infraction or infractions
  only desires to proceed without the  aid  of  counsel,  the  court  must
  permit  him  to  do  so.  In  all other cases, the court must permit the
  defendant to proceed without the aid of counsel if it is satisfied  that
  he made such decision with knowledge of the significance thereof, but if
  it  is  not  so  satisfied  it  may  not  proceed until the defendant is
  provided with counsel, either of his  own  choosing  or  by  assignment.
  Regardless  of  the  kind  or  nature  of  the  charges, a defendant who
  proceeds at the arraignment without counsel does not waive his right  to
  counsel,  and  the  court must inform him that he continues to have such
  right as well as all the rights specified in subdivision three which are
  necessary to effectuate it, and that he may exercise such rights at  any
  stage of the action.
    7.  Upon the arraignment, the court, unless it intends to make a final
  disposition of the action immediately thereafter, must, as  provided  in
  subdivision  one  of  section  530.20,  issue  a  securing  order either
  releasing the defendant on his own recognizance or fixing bail  for  his
  future  appearance  in the action; except that where a defendant appears
  by counsel pursuant to paragraph (b) of subdivision one of this section,
  the court must release the defendant on his own recognizance.
    8. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a local
  criminal court  may  not,  at  arraignment  or  within  thirty  days  of
  arraignment  on a simplified traffic information charging a violation of
  subdivision two, two-a, three, four or four-a of section eleven  hundred
  ninety-two  of the vehicle and traffic law and upon which a notation has
  been made pursuant to  subdivision  twelve  of  section  eleven  hundred
  ninety-two  of the vehicle and traffic law, accept a plea of guilty to a
  violation of any subdivision of section eleven hundred ninety-two of the
  vehicle and traffic law, nor to any other traffic infraction arising out
  of the same incident, nor to any other traffic infraction, violation  or
  misdemeanor  where  the  court  is  aware  that such offense was charged
  pursuant to an accident involving  death  or  serious  physical  injury,
  except upon written consent of the district attorney.
    9.  Nothing  contained  in  this section applies to the arraignment of
  corporate defendants, which is governed generally by the  provisions  of
  article six hundred.