Section 255.20. Pre-trial motions; procedure

1.    Except  as  otherwise  expressly  provided  by  law, whether the
  defendant is represented by counsel or elects to  proceed  pro  se,  all
  pre-trial  motions shall be served or filed within forty-five days after
  arraignment and before commencement of trial, or within such  additional
  time  as  the court may fix upon application of the defendant made prior
  to entry of judgment.  In an action in which  an  eavesdropping  warrant
  and  application  have  been  furnished  pursuant to section 700.70 or a
  notice of intention to introduce evidence has been  served  pursuant  to
  section  710.30,  such  period  shall  be extended until forty-five days
  after the  last  date  of  such  service.    If  the  defendant  is  not
  represented  by  counsel  and  has  requested  an  adjournment to obtain
  counsel or to have counsel assigned, such forty-five  day  period  shall
  commence on the date counsel initially appears on defendant's behalf.
    2.    All pre-trial motions, with supporting affidavits, affirmations,
  exhibits and memoranda of law, whenever practicable, shall  be  included
  within  the  same  set of motion papers, and shall be made returnable on
  the same date, unless the defendant shows that it would  be  prejudicial
  to  the  defense  were  a  single  judge  to  consider all the pre-trial
  motions.  Where one motion seeks to provide the basis for making another
  motion, it shall be deemed impracticable to include both motions in  the
  same set of motion papers pursuant to this subdivision.
    3.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subdivisions one and two hereof,
  the court must entertain and decide on its merits, at anytime before the
  end of the trial, any appropriate pre-trial motion based upon grounds of
  which  the defendant could not, with due diligence, have been previously
  aware, or which, for other good cause, could not  reasonably  have  been
  raised within the period specified in subdivision one of this section or
  included  within  the  single  set  of  motion  papers  as  required  by
  subdivision two.  Any other pre-trial motion made after  the  forty-five
  day  period  may  be summarily denied, but the court, in the interest of
  justice, and for good cause shown, may, in its discretion, at  any  time
  before sentence, entertain and dispose of the motion on the merits.
    4.  Any  pre-trial  motion, whether made before or after expiration of
  the period specified in subdivision one of this section, may be referred
  by the court to a judicial hearing officer who shall entertain it in the
  same manner as a court. In the discharge  of  this  responsibility,  the
  judicial  hearing  officer  shall have the same powers as a judge of the
  court making the assignment, except that the  judicial  hearing  officer
  shall  not  determine  the motion but shall file a report with the court
  setting forth findings of fact and conclusions of law.    The  rules  of
  evidence  shall  be  applicable  at any hearing conducted hereunder by a
  judicial hearing officer. A transcript of any testimony taken,  together
  with the exhibits or copies thereof, shall be filed with the report. The
  court  shall  determine  the motion on the motion papers, affidavits and
  other documents submitted by the parties  thereto,  the  record  of  the
  hearing  before  the  judicial hearing officer, and the judicial hearing
  officer's report.