New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
Nobody likes to falsely be accused of wrongdoing. Even worse, nobody ever wants to be accused of a crime he or she did not commit. Whether in New York City or any other city or state, the consequences of an arrest are often devastating to one’s mental health and one’s career and future. Unfortunately for a Saland Law PC client, after a former lover made bogus allegations of Second Degree Aggravated Harassment (New York Penal Law 240.30), detectives with the NYPD arrested, incarcerated our client over night, and presented the case against our client to prosecutors. Right or wrong, due to New York’s strict domestic violence laws and NYPD policies, the mere allegation of Aggravated Harassment was enough for an arrest even though no corroboration of the complaint existed at the time of the allegation or anytime thereafter. Fortunately, due to the diligence of our criminal defense lawyers, what started off as a nightmare ended with full exoneration and vindication after the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office thoroughly investigated the accusations and ultimately dismissed the case on its merits.
After meeting online, the relationship between our client, an Ivy League financial sector professional, and the false accuser, a “Big Law” associate and top five law school graduate, went south. In fact, at the time the false accuser reported the allegations of Aggravated Harassment against our client to the NYPD, the accuser was set to stand trial in Massachusetts for assaulting our client. This trial was in connection to a nasty assault allegation where the false accuser smashed a can of soda into our client’s face causing lacerations, cuts and bleeding. Sadly, it appears that this may have not been the first time the false accuser abused Saland Law PC’s client. Apparently desperate to find a way out of the pending assault charges in Massachusetts and the accuser’s apparent fear that the criminal conduct would result in a firing from the law firm and loss of certain parental rights in a pending matrimonial action from a prior marriage, the fraudulent accuser told police in substance that our client called and threatened to have the fictitious accuser beaten up. After reporting the incident to the police, the credibility challenged complainant signed, under penalty of perjury, a supporting deposition verifying that the complaint was true. Fortunately, not taking the time to recognize that phone records are easily obtained, one of Saland Law PC’s criminal defense attorneys presented the phone records from our client’s phone reflecting the time and date of the alleged violation of NY PL 240.30. To the surprise of no one, the complainant did not receive a call from our client as was sworn to, but in fact our client received two calls from the complainant. On its face, it appears as if the “victim” lied.
Beyond what appeared to be an outright lie, Saland Law PC presented photographs of the injuries suffered in connection to the pending trial in the Massachusetts for the violent attack with the soda can as well as pictures of a prior incident in New York reflecting another attack against our client at the hands of the false accuser. Further, although we do not know how far the District Attorney’s Office investigated this particular allegation, we provided the name of another woman who may have been wrongfully accused by the complainant for similar behavior in the past. Additionally, Saland Law PC directed prosecutors to some online stories and videos of the complainant lashing out against a photographer and breaking some equipment after the complainant’s mother was sentenced to jail for a fraud crime. Coupling all of this with the argument that the false allegations were merely a means or an attempt to “dirty up” our client before our client testified at trial against the complainant, Saland Law PC convinced prosecutors to advance the case from a later date and dismiss it in its entirety. While it took meetings with the prosecutor and the production of evidence corroborating our client and discrediting the complainant, prosecutors did the right thing and dismissed a case that should never have began in the first place.
To learn about Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree, PL 240.30, examine the links contained here and information found on any of the websites below.
New York criminal lawyers and former prosecutors with the New York County District Attorney’s Office, Saland Law PC represents those accused of violent and harassment related crimes throughout New York City and the suburban regions.