New York Criminal Lawyer BlogAs a Title IX attorney routinely representing clients accused of dating violence or some form of harassment or sexual misconduct at a college or university, I sometimes find it incredibly frustrating to deal with the general lack of due process provided to students, especially the accused. Compounding matters, as an advisor to these students, I have witnessed time and time again the lack of practical and actual experience those in charge of investigating criminal-type offenses have despite their ability to upend the academic lives and futures of so many young people. Sadly, even with the flimsiest of evidence, the power bestowed upon these administrators, investigators, and fact-finders by way of Title IX creates a lethal combination that can define and destroy a student well beyond the four walls of his or her institution of higher education. With that in mind, on the heels of a recent exoneration of a student falsely accused of sexual misconduct and dating violence at a different university, Saland Law is once again pleased to share another victory after a successfully appealing a college’s initial determination that our client violated a no contact order by way of third-party.
Articles Posted in Case Results
Saland Law Secures Mistrial for “Empty Chair” Client Before Jury Hangs in Loaded Firearm Trial
There are few things more difficult as a criminal defense attorney than representing an “empty chair” at trial where that chair, or, better stated, client, is accused of possessing a loaded and disguised “cell phone” gun in a vehicle he is driving without any passengers. OK, well, maybe that is surmountable, but throw in the fact that the evidence before the jury demonstrated that the accused’s DNA was on both the firearm trigger and grip, and that he had what police called a “holster”, things tick up in difficulty. Sound insurmountable? Well, you’d be wrong if you said “Yes”, but that is not all Saland Law faced in defense of a client standing trial for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Penal Law 265.03. In fact, there is much more…
New York Criminal Lawyer Secures Dismissal of Domestic Violence Assault & Criminal Obstruction of Breathing Charges
On the heels of a “Not Responsible” finding for a client accused of dating violence at his college in violation of Title IX policies against sexual harassment and domestic violence, New York criminal lawyer Jeremy Saland is once again pleased to share that Saland Law exonerated another client accused of domestic charges and crimes. Arrested for Third Degree Assault, Penal Law 120.00, Criminal Obstruction of Breathing or Blood Circulation, Penal Law 121.11, and other crimes after our client’s then-girlfriend alleged he choked her, tore off her necklace, and repeatedly struck her in a hotel room during a holiday visit to Manhattan, prosecutors moved to dismiss the case before picking a jury and commencing a trial in the Jury Court Part. Though it was both deserved and a long time coming, what started off as a frightening night in custody, sending our client’s life spiraling, ended up in a complete and total exoneration.
Another Saland Law Client “Not Responsible” After Title IX Dating Violence Hearing at Top University
Since starting my career in 2000 as a lawyer in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and establishing a successful criminal defense firm that has grown into servicing other areas of law, I have become all too familiar with the gravity and magnitude a criminal accusation can and does have upon a person and his or her family. More specifically, as my law practice grew into representing clients involved in university and college Title IX and code of conduct investigations, I quickly learned that even beyond a criminal case, any allegation is overwhelming. When the target or subject of misconduct is a young person – a college, university, or high school student – an allegation that he or she violated a school’s Title IX policies against dating violence, sexual harassment, or some other infraction involving the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) amendments to the Cleary Act, the emotional burden for a client is often at its greatest. Why? Without an adult’s life experience, lack of a local support structure or fear of involving parents, and perception that their “life is over”, these teens or twenty-somethings find themselves in a place of despair, facing a stained academic career with the real possibility of suspension or expulsion, and a future life and career on the precipice.
Felony 2nd Degree Strangulation & 2nd Degree Assault Indictment Dismissed: Client Withdraws Plea & All Charges Dismissed
Sometimes good people do terribly bad things, regular people make incredibly poor choices, and bad situations find everyday people who did nothing much at all. No matter how they got there, when the handcuffs are locked around their wrists and a Grand Jury hands down an indictment, they face the same dire consequences within the confines of New York’s criminal justice system.
Regardless of the bucket a recent Saland Law client could point to, he found himself in desperate need of an experienced criminal defense lawyer. Facing the Class “D” violent felonies of Second Degree Assault, Penal Law 120.04, and Second Degree Strangulation, Penal Law 121.12, and a presumptive mandatory two to seven years in prison, our client, a professional working for a large organization, knew his life, liberty, and career were all in jeopardy.
Prosecutors Dismiss Loaded Firearm Felony Against Promising Young Attorney in Interest of Justice After Client Accused of Brandishing Loaded Weapon
Usually, one of the first questions clients ask me in my capacity as a criminal defense lawyer after they have been arrested by the NYPD or Port Authority Police for possessing a loaded firearm is, “What is the penalty is for carrying a gun in New York City?” and “How long do you go to jail for having a gun in New York even if you have a conceal carry permit in [Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Connecticut, Virginia…]?”. While a conviction for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Penal Law 265.03, can saddle you with a sentence for as long as 15 years in prison, with a compulsory minimum of three and a half years if the firearm is “loaded” (bullets needn’t be in the weapon for it to be “loaded” as a matter of law”), a judge can hand down punishment of up to four years behind bars for Criminal Possession of a Firearm, Penal Law 265.01-b(1), even when there is no ammunition at all.
With this type of exposure in mind, Saland Law is incredibly grateful, though not as much as our client after her arrest for Penal Law 265.03, prosecutors took the time to truly review what I presented, examine our client’s case, and advance the matter for dismissal in the interest of justice. While a non-criminal Disorderly Conduct violation or Adjournment in Contemplation (ACD) of dismissal after six months would have been considered a “win” assuming there was no legal impediment to the case, such as in cases I have handled in Queens County where unknowing travelers checked their firearms with the TSA at either JFK or LaGuardia Airport, and downward departures and re-pleaders to non-criminal pleas in other counties such as Manhattan and elsewhere, Brooklyn prosecutors went the extra mile to make an objectively just decision on a case that appeared ugly if one did not do one’s “homework”.
NY Forcible Touching Case Dismissed: Prosecutors Drop PL 130.52 Charges After Accuser’s Lies Exposed
Due to the nature of the underlying allegations and elements of the offenses themselves, there are certain crimes in New York that carry with them a horrendous stigma. Both misdemeanors and felonies, many of these crimes are New York Penal Law Article 130 sex offenses and include Forcible Touching, Penal Law 130.52, on the “lesser” end, and varying degrees of Rape on the more violent side of the spectrum. While it would be hard to disagree that individuals convicted of these crimes are deserving of our collective scorn for their sexual misbehavior and abuse of another, what is unjust is our cavalier willingness to strip these individuals, often men, of their presumption of innocence. Instead of treating and holding them to the same standard we are entitled and would demand for our loved ones, we, without pause, saddle them with something far worse – not a mere presumption but a firmly held determination of their guilt right out of the box. Fortunately for a recent Saland Law client accused of Forcible Touching by a former co-worker, despite this presumption of his guilt and months of challenging the arrest, prosecutors finally dismissed the case against him on the merits.
Felony Attempted Second Degree Assault Plea Vacated: Prosecution Dismisses in the Interest of Justice
In one of the most rewarding cases I have handled as either a prosecutor or a criminal defense lawyer, I am beyond proud and pleased to share that my client, arrested for three counts of Second Degree Assault, New York Penal Law 120.05, and one count of Third Degree Grand Larceny, New York Penal Law 155.35, not only avoided imprisonment, but with great effort on his part, along with compassion and consideration by prosecutors and the presiding judge, walked out of the courtroom without any criminal record at all. Though the People moved to dismiss his case in the interest of justice, when our client, a young professional, first came to Saland Law, he faced a presumptive two years and as much as seven years in prison for each count of Second Degree Assault. Compounding matters, not only would he lose his liberty upon conviction, but he would likely lose his license and ability to practice in his chosen profession after he served his sentence.
Prosecutors Reconsider Plea to Non-Criminal Offer in Sex Abuse Case Involving Client with Borderline Mental Retardation
“Jeremy wasn’t just ‘there’ for us 24/7, his experience and character shined when we needed it most.” – Father of client accused of Sex Abuse and Forcible Touching.
When people learn that as a criminal defense attorney I represent clients accused of sexual offenses including Rape, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Misconduct, and Forcible Touching, the response is often some form of questioning of how I can represent such people along with an assumption of my client’s guilt. While there are times when the evidence of wrongdoing is strong, there are other times when claims are false in part or in whole. Accept it or not, the fact is that false claims of Rape, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Misconduct, and Forcible Touching do happen. Whether it is .005% or far greater or much less, when you are the accused, it is of no consequence. It matters not what the percentages are or what has happened to somebody else. What matters is if the allegation made against you was weaponized to punish you out of anger or jealousy, used to facilitate a favorable outcome in a separate legal proceeding or other dispute, is born from regret, or is intentionally or accidentally false for any number of reasons.
The Dangers of Finger to Nose Selfies: Saland Law Ends Separate Harrowing Sextortions by Two Online “Women”
In two back-to-back cases involving extorters blackmailing their targets from outside New York State, one of whom was abroad, Saland Law’s Jeremy Saland, along with Sage Intelligence Group’s Herman Weisberg, shut down callously selfish harassers from syphoning more money from our clients after these victims wizened up and retained the “‘A-Team’ of ex-lawmen extracting victims from blackmail ploys”. Beyond putting an end to their thieving ways, both bad guys, yes, men posing as women, licked their wounds and profusely apologized for the error of their ways after being ferreted out from their wrongfully presumed shadowed corner of the internet. Very simply, upon being confronted with the grave consequences of their actions no matter where they hid, these men made it overwhelmingly clear, and repeatedly so, that their threats and demands were no more.