Simply, we can all appreciate and respect the fact that just as the police act on calls, information and statements with the goal of providing safety and security to residents of New York, there are times when the police are not needed or warranted. Practically speaking, it is often difficult…
Facial Sufficiency is a vital consideration in the field of Criminal Law (one of many, of course). If a misdemeanor information (some people call it a complaint) is facially insufficient then the misdemeanor information is considered jurisdictionally defective and should be dismissed. In order for a misdemeanor information to be…
It may be great tabloid fodder for the foreseeable future, but hacking computers, PCs, mobile devices and Apple’s ICloud is a very dangerous and risky pastime. Sure, sharing intimate and naked photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and Kirsten Dunst may be good for sophomoric kicks and gossip sites. Arguably,…
Criminal Contempt is a crime that generally brings both personal attention and significant scrutiny from Assistant District Attorneys and judges beyond what one would normally expect in a criminal prosecution. Its not that other criminal cases aren’t thoroughly reviewed, but the personal and often domestic component to a Criminal Contempt…
New York, like all other states, has its own means to determine whether individuals can be arrested and charged as co-defendants for a particular crime. Obviously, merely being present when a crime is committed by another person is not legally sufficient enough to establish guilt beyond a reasonable doubt (although,…
With prosecutors seeking to protect proprietary and “secret scientific” information of financial, research, medical and other commercial institutions, it should come as no surprise to criminal defense lawyers regularly practicing in New York courts or those accused of crimes involving computers that Unauthorized Use of a Computer is potential crippling…
Every criminal arrest or conviction has a collateral consequence. Obviously, some are more severe than others. While an arrest can be humiliating, a conviction can strip us of many rights we take for granted, destroy our ability to continue in our career or set a chain of events into action…
If you are reading this blog entry regarding a gravity knife arrest in New York City or any other jurisdiction or municipality, there is a good chance you were stopped innocently walking down the street or driving your car and the police saw the knife’s clip outside your pocket. After…
While the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office will not be resolving the age old question of whether a dentist is in fact a “doctor” (I do not want to be accused of being an antidentite by-the-way), DA Thomas J. Spota’s Herculoids (a little homage to Hana Barbara, folks), will soon…
One of the most frustrating crimes that New York criminal lawyers must defend against is the crime of Resisting Arrest. Although New York Penal Law 205.30 is not as serious a crime as a felony offense, it is frustrating because for every legitimate Resisting Arrest charge that is prosecuted, there…