MATTER OF MICHELSON v. CLYNE

Application, pursuant to CPLR article 78, for judgment in the nature of prohibition granted, without costs. A superior court Judge, even when sitting as a local criminal court, has no trial jurisdiction of a violation (CPL 10.30, subd 3). A superior court Judge is limited to preliminary jurisdiction in such a situation (CPL 10.20, subd 2). In our view, a suppression hearing falls within the term trial jurisdiction (see CPL 1.20, subds 24, 25; cf. CPL 170.15, 710.50 Crim. Proc.) which, in the case of a violation, is lodged exclusively in the local criminal court (CPL 10.30, subd 1, par [a]). Therefore, the respondent County Court Judge is without jurisdiction to preside at the hearing to be held on petitioners' motion to suppress. Mahoney, P.J., Sweeney, Kane, Casey and Weiss, JJ., concur.