Case Results

December 14, 2015

Second Degree Assault and Endangering the Welfare of a Child Dismissed: Knife Injury to Eye of Child an Accident

I have discussed it many times on the NewYorkCriminalLawyerBlog.Com. Endangering the Welfare of a Child, New York Penal Law 260.10, may not be the most serious offense in New York’s criminal code, but it is a crime that is horrifically stigmatizing and one that carries up to one year in jail upon conviction. There is no way around it. An accusation of Endangering the Welfare of a Child cannot be ignored or brushed aside. It is bad enough if the child is not your own, but if the minor is your son or daughter you should expect that either the Administration for Children Service (ACS) or Children Protective Services (CPS) will be knocking on your door to open their own parallel investigation. Simply, when an allegation is untrue or there is a misunderstanding, the consequences of an Endangering the Welfare arrest will not merely go away. Law enforcement is always overly cautions and often for the right reasons even if the accused has done nothing wrong.

A recent example of the above scenario, a client of Saland Law PC not only fought through the embarrassment of a PL 260.10 arrest, but a felony charge of Second Degree Assault, New York Penal Law 120.05, as well. This latter offense carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison, dwarfing the one year of jail a defendant faces on an Endangering the Welfare of a Child conviction. Although the allegations were serious – the NYPD arrested our client for striking the client’s child with a knife in the eye requiring hospital treatment – prosecutors dismissed the all of the charges.

October 13, 2015

Reckless Driving and Resisting Arrest Misdemeanors Dismissed: Client Wrongfully Arrested and Maced

by Jeremy Saland

Like in any profession, from teachers to doctors and lawyers to carpenters, there are a few bad apples. Sometimes the consequence of a bad apple is more than a mouthful of unpalatable food. In the realm of law enforcement, a bad apple can mean a night (or a lot more) in jail and a face full of mace. Sadly, this scenario is exactly what a client of Saland Law PC faced when a police officer with the NYPD falsely arrested our client, stated our client had a warrant out for our client’s arrest, pepper sprayed our client and then charged our client with violating VTL 1212 (Reckless Driving) and NY PL 205.30 (Resisting Arrest). Fortunately, however, with the strong advocacy from our New York criminal lawyers, prosecutors agreed to review the case, speak with the arresting officer and dismiss the criminal complaint.

September 17, 2015

New York DWI Arrest Dismissed on the Merits by Prosecutors: Accused Never Committed VTL 1192.3

by Jeremy Saland

In the City of New York there are cabs, livery cars, Uber services, buses and subways. All of these modes of transportation make it a difficult sell to prosecutors that a drunk driving, DWI or DUI arrest was due to an inability of an accused to get home. Not that such a defense would be a viable or strong one, but these facts explain why prosecutors are often unsympathetic to the plight of an individual accused of VTL 1192.2 or VTL 1192.3. Couple this with the fact that drunk driving crimes in New York (or anywhere) can have significant collateral and direct consequences to other drivers and pedestrians, don’t be shocked if the District Attorney does not want to budge on a good offer. Remember, if you are convicted not only can you face a year in jail, the suspension or revocation of your license, a $1,000 fine and the requirement that you install an ignition interlock, but a DWI will remain on your record forever. While I may be a New York DWI attorney and criminal lawyer, I would tell you the same thing I would tell a family member. While I certainly zealously advocate for my clients in every case, if you are concerned you might be intoxicated call a cab or give your friend the keys.

August 28, 2015

Second Degree Burglary Arrest Leads to ACD and Avoidance of Mandatory Incarceration or Criminal Record

by Jeremy Saland

Alcohol often brings out the worst in people. On occasion we may see the smiling, happy and funny intoxicated person, but more often than not extreme intoxication leads to terrible and sometimes life altering consequences. While Driving While Intoxicated, aka, DWI or DUI, often comes to mind, fights, thefts and other acts occur which the person in a sober state would never have contemplated. A recent night of binge drinking by a Saland Law PC client resulted in one of these terrible and life altering actions that but for the diligence and efforts of our criminal lawyers, could have devastated a young professional’s career, livelihood and future after prosecutors charged our client with the violent crime of Burglary in the Second Degree pursuant to New York Penal Law 140.25.

April 25, 2015

Second Degree Aggravated Harassment Charged Dismissed: Bogus NY PL 240.30 Arrest Dismissed after Complainant’s Allegations Exposed as False

by Jeremy Saland

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.

April 9, 2015

ACD Dismissal for NYC Man Charged with PL 220.16 Felony Possession of 71 Pills of Xanax & Alprazolam Along with a Half Pound of Marijuana

by Jeremy Saland

Drug, controlled substance and narcotics crimes in New York may not be punished to the same magnitude as the Rockefeller Drug Laws of the past, but any New York Penal Law Article 220 crime in New York City or in a suburban New York State county still carries a significant punishment. Where a person is charged with a “B” felony possession of a controlled substance with the intent to sell (New York Penal Law 220.16, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree), the sentence for a first time offender is one to nine years in a New York State prison. If the potential for years of prison and incarceration was not enough, a permanent ‘”scarlet letter” of a felony drug conviction may be enough to scare any young man or woman straight. Although all of us expect to stay far from the mistakes that could land us with a Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance or Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance arrest or conviction, nobody is perfect. In fact, even if we never possess cocaine, heroin or any other controlled substance, its possible for prosecutors and police officers to still attempt to hold us accountable for the actions of others. Yes, being in the wrong place at the wrong time can be the basis of an arrest, prosecution and criminal conviction in the world of narcotics. One such provision of the New York Penal Law that allows this, NY PL 220.25(1), permits a finder of fact to presume that all people in a vehicle knowingly possessed controlled substances found therein as long as the drugs were not on a specific person. Unfortunately, this is the scenario a Saland Law PC client found himself in having no knowledge of any drugs in the car where he rode as a passenger.

March 29, 2015

Client Arrested in New York with Two Unlicensed Firearms and Hundreds of Rounds of Ammunition Receives ACD Dismissal & “Nullified” Arrest

by Jeremy Saland

New York City’s JFK and LaGuardia airports see their fare share of criminal activity. The airports are crawling with federal, state and local law enforcement ready to swoop down at the first sign of some wrong doing. One of the seemingly growing crimes that the Port Authority Police Department, TSA and airline ticketing agents seem to be ready, willing and able to pounce on is the crime of Criminal Possession of a Weapon. More specifically, the crime that is routinely prosecuted is Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree pursuant to New York Penal Law 265.03. Obviously each fact pattern is different, but the themes generally run the same. You are a legal or registered firearm owner in California, Florida, Texas or some other state. You are visiting New York City , Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Long Island, the Hudson Valley or a neighboring state such as New Jersey, Connecticut or Pennsylvania. Nobody stopped you from coming to this jurisdiction or advised you that you couldn’t bring your revolver, pistol or other gun to the State of New York. Why would you expect anything would be different when you packed up the gun, separately carried the ammunition and checked your firearm at the airport for your journey home? Why? Well, sadly the answer is clear and now you need a New York firearm lawyer and criminal defense attorney to mitigate your “wrongful” conduct from a statutory violent felony with mandatory incarceration to something that will not destroy your future or livelihood.

March 25, 2015

Alleged NYC Craigslist Adderall Seller Avoids Felony Conviction for PL 220.31 & Receives No Jail & No Probation

by Jeremy Saland

Selling adderall online on sites such as Craigslist is an extremely serious drug felony in New York. For that matter, selling adderall or other controlled substances to an undercover cop or any other buyer online or in person is criminally devastating. It is of no consequence whether or not you have a prescription for these “study aids” or not. At its core, an illegal drug sale is an illegal drug sale. If you are arrested in New York for selling “Pep Pills,” “Beans,” “Uppers” or any amphetamine or dextroamphetamine, you certainly will receive a boost in clarity coming from your jail cell, a prosecutor, the judge and even your criminal defense lawyer. What will be clear, however, is not the upper you get from ingesting adderall, but the reality that you now face one to two and a half ( 1 to 2.5 ) years in prison followed by one year post release supervision as a individual without any criminal history at all. Broken down to the simplest level, an arrest, indictment and conviction for Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree, New York Penal Law 220.31, is a crime that can, and often does, lead to a combination of incarceration, probation, and destruction of careers and livelihoods. How you implement your defense and the strength of that defense will decide if you are able to walk away unscathed, reduce the crime you are charged with or spend time “upstate.”

March 8, 2015

JFK Airport Firearm Arrest Ends in Non Criminal Violation: Accused Avoids 3.5 to 15 Years on NY PL 265.03 Conviction

by Jeremy Saland

Who ever thought legally owning a firearm, licensed handgun, revolver or other pistol would land you in jail? Your airline carrier didn’t tell you when you called or searched online. JetBlue, Delta or American airlines didn’t stop you when you checked it before you flew into New York City. There was nothing on a website dedicated to LaGuardia or JFK Airports that properly advised you. Even the TSA website proved useless. Believing you were compliant with the criminal and firearm laws of New York State, what did you do? You got arrested for checking your broken down, unloaded firearm properly locked in a hard side case before boarding your flight home. Sadly, the nightmare began when the gate agent called the Port Authority Police, without giving you any indication of your wrongdoing, as you waited with friends or family to get your boarding pass. Never suspecting you would need a New York firearm attorney or New York criminal defense lawyer, your life went from being a “regular” person to an accused criminal arrested and charged with violating New York Penal Law 265.03. Twelve, fifteen or even twenty four hours after sitting in Central Booking, you finally saw a Criminal Court Judge in Queens count who may even have set bail on your charge of violating Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon. Whether you were released or not, the three and one half to fifteen years you now face is rightfully terrifying.

January 6, 2015

Federal Computer Hacking (18 USC 1030) Is Not Always What It Seems: Client Gets Federal Misdemeanor and No Jail

by Peter Katz

Having the FBI knocking on your door at 6 in the morning can be the most frightening experience in your life. They enter, start searching through your most personal belongings, take your papers, records, phone and computers and leave. This is what happened to one of Saland Law’s recent clients (we’ll call him “Dave” – not his real name). He reached out to us a short time afterwards, when we put our experience and knowledge to work. After some initial investigation, we discovered that the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York was investigating an international computer hacking ring and that they believed Dave was involved. They initially intended on charging Dave with the serious felony of Computer Hacking under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1030(a)(i), which carries a potential sentence of 10 years in federal prison.

After a diligent and thorough examination of the evidence and Dave’s background, it became clear that Dave was not an international computer hacker. Rather, Dave was a down on his luck twenty-something, who had a troubled past. Dave had a difficult upbringing, growing up in a violence-filled household, child welfare agents constantly around. Dave witnessed abuse of his mother by his father and his sister’s suicide attempt. Dave sunk into deep depression. He spent more and more time and energy on the computer, eventually suffering an addiction to computer gaming and usage. Dave hit rock bottom when he wandered onto a website that promoted computer hacking – it described how to do it, and sold software that enabled the hacking. In a weak moment, Dave purchased the software and began to use it to look at other’s computer files, including his girlfriends. Dave wasn’t proud of his conduct, but because of his addiction, he couldn’t help himself. Dave didn’t try to steal credit card information, or his victim’s identification. Rather, he was only falling deeper into his computer addiction. Continue reading