New York Criminal Lawyer Blog

Published on: April 15, 2012

Man with History of Domestic Violence Applies for Gun Permit

by Stephen Bilkis

A man applied to the license division of the police department for a premises pistol permit. As required by the application, the man answered numerous questions pertaining to his qualification. The questions include as to whether he had ever been arrested and was an order of protection ever issued against him. The man answered yes to the abovementioned questions. The man also submitted notarized statements describing the circumstances of his two arrests.

The man’s first arrest happened when he was in college. He states that he fraudulently applied for and received unemployment benefits. He pled guilty to petit larceny, paid full compensation and was awarded a certificate of relief from civil disabilities.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the man’s second arrest occurred at a random traffic checkpoint. When the officers checked his license, the officer discovered that it was suspended in accordance to a family court child support enforcement unit order. The man states that it was an error because he had already appeared before in the family court judge and made all the payments. The man obtained the necessary documentation to verify his claim.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Defendant Claims Car Seized Unlawfully

by Stephen Bilkis

In matters of law it is important to have an attorney. Most people who do not have a law degree are unfamiliar with all of the limitations that are placed in reference to legal actions. In New York, the state can seize any motor vehicle that is involved in the commission of a crime. That means that the state of New York can seize the vehicles of people who are charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. However, there are certain limitations. A New York DWI Lawyer said the owner of the vehicle must be notified within 25 days of the date of a DUI arrest. The property clerk of the police department has fifteen days beyond the last day of the 25 day limitation to commence forfeiture action. If the property clerk does not meet these deadlines, then the defendant may move to dismiss the forfeiture action and reclaim his or her property.

DUI cases are loaded with intricacies of law that can make or break the case that the state attempts to make. The reason that there are time limits on the paperwork process for forfeiture of property is obvious. The problem here is that the state can initiate this process even before the driver has been determined guilty of a crime or not guilty.

In one case that occurred on June 17, 2007 when a man’s BMW B23i was impounded as an instrument of a crime. The officers seized the vehicle after the defendant was arrested and charged with several statutory offenses and traffic law violations. A New York DWI Lawyer said the defendant was charged with several offenses, one of which was DUI. On July 21, 2009, the man made a demand for his vehicle to be returned to him. The property clerk refused and advised the man that his request was invalid because he did not submit a release from the District Attorney. In September of 2009, the property clerk filed a summons and obtained a complaint number to begin the process of seizure of the vehicle. On December 3, 2009, the property clerk mailed a summons and proof of service with the court on December 7, 2009. On December 17, 2009 the service was deemed completed.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Court Discusses Role of Counsel at Grand Jury Proceeding

by Stephen Bilkis

A man indicted for drug crimes such as cocaine possession with intent to sell, denied that he had sold cocaine, but testified to his crack possession of three vials for his own use. A police officer testified that he observed the accused man receive money from an unidentified woman and then drop a vial of crack cocaine, which the woman picked up from the ground. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the officer further testified that he arrested the accused man within five minutes, finding four dollars and crack possession.

The accused man testified that he received the vials from three guys whom he knew. When asked to name the three men, he inquired whether he could speak to his lawyer. He was permitted to do so and replied that the guys are not really involved in what he was accused of. A New York Criminal Lawyer said when the question was repeated, the accused man answered without further consulting his attorney. Presumably in an attempt to establish that the accused man’s cocaine possession with intent to sell, the assistant district attorney asked him how he obtained the money. The man testified that he received welfare, had saved some three hundred dollars while in a program of work release from State prison where he had been until three months beforehand, and also received money from his family. At one point in the accused man’s testimony, the assistant district attorney inquired whether the money he spent to go to movies was welfare money.

A New York Drug Possession Lawyer said the assistant district attorney reviewed the accused man’s prior criminal law violations that include four felony and seven misdemeanor convictions. In detail the convictions include four robberies, one invalid use of a credit card, a fare beat, a trespass, and criminal possession of controlled substances. The assistant district attorney repeatedly emphasized the robbery convictions. The assistant district attorney then asked the accused man to tell the grand jury what happened on the occasion of his arrest for marijuana possession. The accused man explained that he was arrested when he took a bag of marijuana out of his pocket to give to a friend whom he owed money. The assistant district attorney finally asked him to tell the grand jury what he had been arrested for on the occasion in 1990 when he pled guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Defendant Contends Police Did Not Have Reasonable Suspicion for Search

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Drug Possession Lawyer said an accused man appealed from a summary judgment of the Supreme Court. He was convicted for violating criminal law through committing drug crimes. The accused man was sentenced for his alleged criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, crack possession in the third degree, and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree, upon a jury verdict, and imposing sentence. A New York Drug Crime Lawyer said after hearing, the appeal brings up for review the denial of that branch of the accused man’s compilation of motion which was to suppress certain physical evidence.

The accused man was observed by the undercover police officers selling crack cocaine to the passengers of a BMW automobile during a drug crime surveillance operation. The BMW was stopped nearby and the passengers were arrested for a vial of crack cocaine possession that was recovered from the floor of the car. When the back-up officers arrived at the scene of the sale to make the arrests, they approached the accused man because he matched the description of the drug seller broadcast over the police radio. A New York Drug Possession Lawyer said as the police officers approached, the accused man fled, dropping a plastic bag containing 100 vials of crack cocaine during the pursuit. On appeal, the accused man argues that the back-up officers did not possess a reasonable suspicion that he had committed a crime, allowing them to detain or pursue him and, therefore, the crack cocaine he discarded during the chase should have been suppressed as the fruit of an unlawful detention. A said the accused man makes the same argument as to the crack cocaine possession that was found on the floor of the BMW automobile.

A Nassau Criminal Lawyer said because the accused man did not move to suppress the crack cocaine found in the BMW automobile, the issue has not been preserved for appellate review. In any event, the accused man failed to articulate the requisite privacy interest to warrant a finding that he had standing to challenge the admission of the evidence and, as the discovery and seizure of the crack cocaine in the BMW occurred prior to the police’s attempted detention of the accused man, it could not have been a fruit of that detention. With regard to the crack cocaine discarded during the flight, the court finds that the hearing court, which saw and heard the witnesses, correctly denied suppression.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Court Discusses Jurisiction on Domestic Violence Cases

by Stephen Bilkis

Defendant was charged with, inter alia, harassment in the second degree based on numerous harassing and threatening telephone calls he allegedly made to his former paramour, with whom he had two children.

On 18 January 2007, a misdemeanor complaint was filed charging the defendant with, inter alia, aggravated harassment in the second degree (three counts).

By order dated 31 January 2007, the action was transferred from the Criminal Court, Kings County, to the Integrated Domestic Violence (IDV) Part of the Supreme Court, Kings County. The misdemeanor complaint was converted to an Information by the complainant’s attestation dated 7 February 2007. After a nonjury trial, the court convicted the defendant of three counts of attempted aggravated harassment in the second degree.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Domestivc Violence Costs Correction Officer her Job

by Stephen Bilkis

A woman filed a petition to terminate the decision of the commissioner of the department of correction. The decision is to terminate her employment as a probationary correction officer and directing that she be reinstated with back-pay and benefits. After the trial on the issue, the court finds that the petition of the woman should be granted.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the testimony and evidence introduced at the trial and revealed that the woman was employed by the department of correction as a probationary correction officer. When she was terminated as the result of a complaint made to the department of investigation by a person identifying himself as a parole officer. The officer indicated that he was the parole officer assigned to a former inmate. The former inmate is the woman’s former boyfriend, who has been a history of domestic violence incidents with the woman.

The individual claiming to be the officer made a previous complaint about the woman to department of investigation. The complaint alleged that while visiting the inmate, the officer noticed the woman’s uniform hanging in the inmate’s apartment. In response, the department of correction initiated an investigation concerning the woman’s undue familiarity with the inmate, and her failure to report that she was living with the inmate when she applied for a position as a correction officer.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Domestic Violence Leads to Murder Case for Defendant

by Stephen Bilkis

A couple married in 1982. The husband was a surgical resident while the woman stayed home. Their marriage was marked by frequent fights and quarrels. Both of them argued and threatened each other.

A New York Sex Crimes Lawyer said that one year after they were married, the wife called her cousin who was a divorce lawyer. Her voice was hoarse and she was speaking very rapidly. She told her cousin that she and her husband had an argument and that he assaulted her. She told him that he ended up strangling her until she lost consciousness. He advised her to move out of the house. She called to tell him later that she left their house and was staying at their grandfather’s house for a while. She also went to see her psychiatrist who stated that she noticed finger marks on the wife’s neck. They talked about what happened and she revealed that she was strangled and assaulted by her husband.

In 1984, the wife consulted a divorce lawyer. A New York Sex Crimes Lawyer said she had adulterous relationships with other men and wanted a divorce from her husband. In 1985, she told her friends and relatives that she was asking her husband for a divorce. She informed them that she was going to coerce him to grant her a divorce by threatening to reveal a letter sent to her by his psychiatrist. In this letter, the psychiatrist told the wife that during her sessions with her husband, he disclosed that he was entertaining thoughts of murdering her. The psychiatrist asked for the consent of the husband to disclose this fact to her.

Published on: April 14, 2012

Defendant Claims Forum Shopping in Domestic Violence Case

by Stephen Bilkis

A man and a woman, never been married, have a 12 year old child. There have been 6 petitions previously filed between the parents, all in Rensselaer County Family Court (in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2010 and 2 in 2011). Two were withdrawn, three were settled and one is pending.

The mother has filed a custody petition in Albany County Family Court. The father has filed a motion requesting that the matter be transferred to Rensselaer County Family Court on the grounds of inconvenient forum and forum shopping.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that under the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR), a discretionary change of venue motion would be controlled by section 510(3) and granted where the convenience of material witnesses and the ends of justice will be promoted by the change. The section is, for all practical purposes, identical in meaning to Family Court Act §174, which requires that a change of venue by supported by good cause.

Published on: April 13, 2012

Defendant Sold Drugs to Undercover Officer

by Stephen Bilkis

A man appealed from a decision of the Supreme Court from convicting him drug possession and criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree upon a jury decision, and imposing a sentence. A revised decision of the same court revoked a sentence of probation previously imposed by the same court upon finding that he had violated a condition and imposing a sentence of imprisonment upon his previous conviction of attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.

The accused man evidently sold a packet of cocaine to an undercover police officer. The undercover officer called the description of the seller to his backup team however the police were unable to locate the seller at that time. After three days, while observing the area from a rooftop, the undercover officer saw the man walking down the street. He called his backup team, and the man was arrested in a nearby restaurant. The undercover officer subsequently identified the man as the person of cocaine possession and sold him the controlled substance. No drugs or prerecorded buy money were found on the accused man. At the trial, the man’s wife testified that he was with her in their apartment the entire evening of the date of the transaction.

On appeal, the accused man contends that the questioning of his alibi witness and comments on summation deprived him of a fair proceeding. During the questioning of the man’s wife, the prosecutor deliberately bring forth that the man was involved in a drug treatment program at the time of his arrest. The court erred in permitting such questioning because the testimony would have no other purpose than to show a tendency to commit violation of the criminal law being charged. The information was not relevant to the elements of the drug crime charged or to the man’s alibi defense.

Published on: April 13, 2012

Defendant Objects to Prior Convictions Being Brought in as Evidence

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Gun Crime Lawyer said a man was charged with robbery for having forcibly stolen money from the complainant’s store while wielding a knife. The complainant testified that the man had taken money from both the cash register and a cigar box in which lottery receipts were kept, and had warned her not to tell anyone about the robbery. Testifying in his own behalf, the man admitted that he had stolen money from the cigar box, but denied that he had possessed a knife, stolen money from the register, or threatened the complainant.

Prior to trial, the man made a motion to limit the prosecution’s cross-examination regarding his prior criminal convictions. A New York Criminal Lawyer said he had three prior convictions of felonies and misdemeanor. The most recent involved a gun crime with robbery of a delicatessen. Initially, the trial court ruled that if he takes the stand, the Jury would be prohibited from cross-examining him regarding his two earliest convictions, but the Jury would be permitted, without inquiring into the underlying facts of the case, to confront the man with the fact that he had been convicted of robbery. Following jury selection, the court revised its ruling at the man’s request to limit the Jury’s inquiry to whether the man had previously been convicted of a felony without specifying that it was robbery.

When the man testified, the prosecutor abided fully with the court’s ruling and the man admitted of having previously been convicted of a felony. During the Court examination, however, the defense counsel asked the man, over the Jury’s objection, whether he had pleaded guilty to the prior felony charge. A Nassau Criminal Lawyer said the man responded that he did plead because he was guilty. Immediately thereafter, on the Jury’s application and over the defense counsel’s objection, the court modified its ruling to permit the prosecutor to examine the man about the facts underlying the prior robbery conviction.