Criminal Procedure

Published on: May 15, 2012

Defendant Claims Village Court Did Not Have Proper Jurisdiction

by Stephen Bilkis

Issues surrounding search warrants can become complicated, especially if the court that issues the search warrant is not sure if they are even able to issue a search warrant. On September 25, 2003, an associate village justice signed a search warrant for a building inspector. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the building inspector was seeking to inspect a single family home in the Village of Westbury that he believed was being used as a multiple family dwelling. He had conducted several days of observation of the dwelling and noticed that there were two entrances, one entrance into the home in the front of the house and one entrance in the back.

There were eight bicycles parked in back, and six cars parked in front. The garbage was deposited on the curb in front of the house, and more was located at the back door. The estimated garbage load was four to five times the amount that the garbage collector stated that he collected from other houses. The building inspector had received several complaints from the neighbors based on the number of people who were living in the dwelling. The estimate was around 17. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the building inspector, who had previously worked in a different village, was familiar with obtaining search warrants in his previous village. He had attempted to inspect the property on numerous occasions and he had been denied entry. He counted the number of people going in and out of the residence. The cars were registered to that address, but they had owners with several different last names.

The justice authorized the warrant for a police officer of Nassau County. The warrant specifically detailed that the evidence to be collected was to be limited to photographs of evidence that the house had been converted into a multiple family dwelling. When the warrant was served, it was served on the house at six in the morning. Several of the people who were living in the house were only partially clothed. A New York Drug Possession Lawyer said the officers took photographs documenting the locks on each room that denoted private living quarters inside the single family dwelling. They documented exposed wiring, plumbing, and other dangerous additions that had been made so that multiple people could reside in the single family home. In these pictures were some of the residents of the house, some of them were only partially clothed.

Published on: May 14, 2012

Court Decides Murder Case

by Stephen Bilkis

A former employee of a bodega came in just as the manager was closing shop. The former employee had a loaded pistol and pointed it at the manager. He cocked it and ordered him to open the safe or he’ll blow his brains out. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the former employee was accompanied by another man and they both forced the manager back into the office.

The former employee heard footsteps in the store so he gave the gun to the other man and told him to guard the manager. The former employee espied the manager’s wife. He grabbed her and pushed her inside the office when they heard a gun go off. When the former employee heard the shot, he dragged the manager’s wife into the office. The manager wrestled with the other man and the gun went off.

Both men tried to flee through the back entrance; they dragged the manager’s wife and forced her to open the door. They were unable to unlock all the doors so the men used a bolt cutter to shatter the locks.

Published on: May 14, 2012

Cab Driver Charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon

by Stephen Bilkis

A cab driver was caught with a loaded .22 caliber revolver while in his taxicab on February 24, 1978. The District Attorney convened a Grand Jury to deliberate on whether or not to issue an indictment against the cab driver.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the District Attorney accused the cab driver of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree (a Class D felony) when he possessed a loaded firearm and his possession does not take place in his home or place of business.

When the District Attorney gave the Grand Jury instructions, he did not inform the Grand Jury that there is an exception to the crime of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree: that if the man possessed the loaded weapon in his place of business, he can be charged with a lesser offense of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree which is a misdemeanor.

Published on: May 13, 2012

Court Listens To Violent Robbery Case

by Stephen Bilkis

One day a woman and her husband parked their automobile alongside a river. While picnicking in their car, two men in a light blue vehicle drove up beside them. One of the men exited their car, approached the couple’s vehicle, pointed a shotgun on the husband’s head and demanded money. The other individual, who wears a mask, approached the woman. The man opened the car’s door, grabbed the woman’s purse and pulled her out the vehicle.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the unmasked assailant then approached the woman and shot her in the face. The assailant left the scene and the woman eventually returned to their vehicle. The police and an ambulance arrived and brought the woman to the hospital for treatment.

A police investigation of the shooting proceeded. The police, however, failed to recover any physical evidence from the scene. A single latent fingerprint was recovered from the victims’ car and subsequent analysis revealed that the print matched neither that of the victims nor of the attackers. The video surveillance of the area revealed images of a light blue vehicle approaches the couple’s car and later departed. Consequently, the woman initially gave a description of her attacker.

Published on: May 12, 2012

Defendant Contends Police Initiated Contact Inappropropriate

by Stephen Bilkis

On 23 January 1997 at approximately 3:30 A.M., an investigator from the Albany County Sheriff’s Department boarded a bus which had arrived from New York City. The investigator, wearing civilian clothing with his police badge prominently displayed on his coat, was accompanied by two other officers. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the investigator announced that they were conducting a drug interdiction and asked everyone on board, approximately fifteen passengers, to produce bus tickets and identification. He then proceeded to the back of the bus to begin examining those items from each passenger.

As the investigator was walking to the rear of the bus, he observed defendant and a female companion, sitting in the last row of seats, push a black object between them. He approached the two individuals and asked for their identification and bus tickets. The investigator then obtained consent to search defendant’s bag which led to the discovery of a digital scale; asked defendant and his companion to stand at which time he saw a black jacket on defendant’s seat. The officer found more than two ounces of cocaine in the jacket pocket (drug possession).

Defendant was indicted on one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second degree and one count of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, drug crimes.

Published on: May 12, 2012

Court Contends Defendant is Mentally Ill

by Stephen Bilkis

On 29 November 2005, defendant entered a plea of not responsible by reason of a mental disease or defect to the crime of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, and to other related offenses, in violation of criminal laws.

On 23 January 2004, it was alleged that defendant displayed a firearm while threatening to use it against the complainant, the defendant’s sister-in-law, and that said actions caused her fear of physical injury.

A commitment order was issued and the defendant was remanded to the care and custody of the State Commissioner of Mental Health. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the defendant was confined in a secure facility.

Published on: May 12, 2012

Mother’s Day Gathering Ends in Disaster

by Stephen Bilkis

On this proceeding, the man moves to be granted judgment without trial to dismiss the complaint against him.

The man is the brother of the complainant woman. The siblings separated since an event that occurred during mother’s day at a family gathering. Based on records, there have been numerous family court matters involving their family.

On the said event, a New York Criminal Lawyer said a sixteen year old nephew of the complainant and the man exposed himself and masturbated in front of the man’s five year old daughter. The said incident caused a huge schism in the family, with various family members taking sides against each other. At some point after the incident, the complainant, who was a hall monitor at an old elementary school, confronted the daughter of the man. According to the man, the complainant cross examined his daughter about the incident. As a result on the said confrontation to the child, the man alleged that her daughter became frightened and did not want to see or speak to the complainant.

Published on: May 12, 2012

Defendant Charged with Murder

by Stephen Bilkis

A man was convicted of gun crime murder of another man whom he personally knew. The murder occurred one Sunday of March 1975 at two o’clock in the morning. A woman, who is a sole nonparticipant eyewitness to the gun crime, lived in a one-family residence on the north side of the crime scene. A New York Criminal Lawyer said she was in her early forties and did not wear eyeglasses. During the week she was a government postal employee and had a part-time job delivering newspapers every Sundays.

One Sunday morning, the witness planned to arise at 2:00 A.M. and set her alarm clock accordingly. Just before the alarm went off, she heard a noise that sounded like a fire cracker but when she got up and looked, she saw what it was. She turned off the alarm and walked to her front door, a matter of only a few steps. The interior of the house was in complete darkness.

An automobile was parked right outside her house, on the north side of the street, facing west. Illumination was provided by a mercury vapor overhead streetlight. The car was parked under the light. The witness viewed the killing from about 80 feet away.

Published on: May 12, 2012

Defendant Charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon

by Stephen Bilkis

Two plainclothes police officers were sitting in an unmarked car which was parked near a high crime area just outside a bar. For the past two weeks prior to the incident, there had been hold-ups in the neighborhood. They noticed a car with African-American males in it slow down in front of the bar and stop their car briefly. A New York Criminal Lawyer said they looked around and all three occupants of the car stared at the bar.

The police officer followed the car. The car stopped at a stop sign. And the car went again and slowed down in front of another bar. They briefly paused in front of the bar and all the males stared at the bar. Then they went on their way. The police car still followed them for half a block and then the police officer stopped the car.

The police officer asked for the license and registration. The driver of the car got out of the car and tried to explain to the police officer that he had forgotten his wallet in the house. The other two passengers in the car bent down over their seats. The other two men didn’t have any IDs either.

Published on: May 11, 2012

Court Convicts Man of Robbery

by Stephen Bilkis

A man was charged with robbery in the first degree and related offenses. The man then filed a motion seeking various forms of pretrial relief. His motion for court inspection of the grand jury minutes is granted and his motion for release of the grand jury minutes is denied.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the evidence presented to the grand jury revealed that the man entered a pharmacy wearing what the witness described as a bandana over the lower part of the face and a baseball hat. The said man displayed and clicked what a looked like gun to the store clerk and demanded to fill the bag with money. The clerk obeyed the demand and the robber fled from the store with the money. Six days after the incident, the clerk identified the man in a police-arranged lineup.

Consequently, the arresting detective was also presented to the grand jury. The detective testified to a statement made by the man after his arrest in which the man admitted that he had entered the pharmacy on the date of the crime wearing a handkerchief over his face. The man further stated that he showed a gun to the clerk behind the counter, clicked it and demanded for money. The man also stated that after receiving the money he fled. With respect to the gun, the man stated it was a small 380, black in color and there were no bullets inside.