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Many people believe that if you need a top criminal defense attorney, or any for that matter, you are clearly guilty of something. Whether that belief is misguided is fairly irrelevant, of course, until it is you who needs a criminal defense lawyer. That said, there are very few things in life as debilitating and emotionally destructive as being accused of a crime you did not commit. Maybe you did something morally wrong or maybe you did nothing improper at all, but law enforcement, such as the NYPD and the District Attorney, or a complainant incorrectly interpreted your acts or intent. Yes, where there is smoke there is often fire, but life teaches us that this is by no means a given truth.

You, the accused, have rights and the prosecution must prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Their failure or inability to do so means your case should be dismissed. For a recent Saland Law PC client employed in the banking and financial sector, a dismissal of all charges, including felony Third Degree Grand Larceny, is just how the criminal case ended not merely because our client was innocent, but due to advocacy of those same criminal defense attorneys many of us believe only represent the guilty.

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The question isn’t whether you should work with a New York “expungement” lawyer or sealing attorney to hide or conceal an old criminal record or conviction, but whether or not you are eligible to do so. With the passage of NY Criminal Procedure Law 160.59, what was only offered by other states is now available to those who have criminal convictions in New York more than a decade old. Although NY CPL 160.59 and the equally important NY Executive Law 269(16) does not take effect until October 2017, there is no reason to wait until then to begin the long process to prepare your motion and petition for sealing and pseudo-expungement. Should you successfully petition your sentencing court, other than law enforcement, most public and private employers and licensing and certifying agencies will see nothing but a clean slate.

Simply, there is no better place to start on your path to a sealed criminal past than with Saland Law PC’s NY quick and easy conviction sealing eligibility quiz.

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Sometimes people make bad mistakes. Really bad mistakes. When youth is mixed with alcohol and testosterone is running through one’s veins, there is a often a toxic mix that can end in disaster. Unfortunately, a recent client who retained the New York criminal lawyers at Saland Law PC learned this the hard way after the NYPD arrested our client in Manhattan charging our client with Second Degree Assault, New York Penal Law 120.05, and other crimes. Our client, a recent college graduate, got into a confrontation with anther person at a NYC bar and allegedly attempted to smash a glass mug on the person’s head or face, but instead the glass was alleged to have bounced and shattered on the face of a nearby person. As a result, the unintended victim whom our client was alleged to have struck suffered significant injuries to his jaw structure and bone as well as numerous stitches to close the wound from the broken glass. Hauled off to court and arraigned before a judge on two separate counts of Second Degree Assault under the theory that a dangerous instruments was used to cause a physical injury and that it was our client’s actual intent to cause a serious physical injury, our client faced a potential indelible felony conviction and as much as seven years in a New York State prison. As unfortunate as those circumstances may have objectively been, the New York criminal defense attorneys and former prosecutors at Saland Law PC were able to secure not merely a downward departure from a felony to a misdemeanor, but our client was ultimately sentenced to a Disorderly Conduct, New York Penal Law 240.20. In the end, our client did not sustain a criminal record.

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Westchester County is the home to almost 1 million residents and many more business and tourist travelers. Like any highly populated region, crimes occur throughout the county. One of the busiest municipalities in terms of arrests is White Plains. Whether you are charged with a misdemeanor Third Degree Assault or felony Criminal Mischief, any charge, crime or arrest that is either a misdemeanor or a felony that has not been indicted is processed through the White Plains City Court and prosecuted by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office’s White Plains Branch Office. This blog entry will touch on the process, procedures and background of the White Plains City Court as it relates and is relevant to criminal prosecutions.

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Can I have my criminal record sealed in New York? Are convictions eligible for sealing in New York? Whatever your question may be, after asking whether or not you are eligible to have your criminal record sealed and what standard your sentencing judge will follow when deciding whether he or she will seal your criminal record (as noted repeatedly, this is different than expunging your criminal record, but the most similar pathway New York), the follow up questions is quite obvious. “What is the impact and effect of sealing a criminal conviction if it is not exactly the same thing as expungement?” Good question. I couldn’t have asked it any better if I wrote it out myself.

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Second Degree Aggravated Harassment, New York Penal Law 240.30, is a fairly common misdemeanor crime charged by the NYPD and prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys throughout the City of New York. A common Domestic Violence crime, but not always a “DV” offense, an arrestee can be prosecuted by means of a trip to Central Booking for up to 24 hours or a Desk Appearance Ticket whereby the accused merely spends a few ours in custody at the precinct of arrest. Simply, none of these scenarios is appealing.

Not a full analysis of all legal challenges and issues associated with NY PL 240.30, the question addressed by this blog entry briefly touches on what constitutes free speech and whether one communication can be grounds for committing Second Degree Aggravated Harassment if it is not a “true threat” of physical harm.

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There are multiple standards throughout the different levels, stages and proceedings in a criminal case. For example, probable cause for an arrest in New York is far less than the proof beyond a reasonable doubt needed by the prosecution to secure a conviction at trial. Since the relatively recent (in terms of the history of the New York Penal Law and New York Criminal Procedure Law) acceptance that a laboratory analysis or field test is not needed at the initial pleading stage to establish a sufficient complaint in a criminal court for drug possession, there have been many legal challenges by those defendants charged with Seventh Degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance.

New York Penal Law 220.03 makes it a crime to knowingly possess a controlled substance. Sounds fairly straight forward, but when you see your judge at our arraignment, what must the police officer alleged to support his position? Training and experience in identifying drugs? The packaging of the controlled substance? What about if the police officer hits up the internet and lands on a page such as Drugs.Com? Can law enforcement merely reference an online resource in concluding that you possess a particular drug without some sort of chemical test or an elaboration of his or her experience in identifying drugs? Read below for the answer.

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How do I get my criminal conviction expunged in New York? Is anyone eligible for expungement of their criminal history? For that matter, does New York expunge past criminal convictions? The short answer to these very good questions is that while New York will start sealing certain criminal convictions in October 2017, New York does not expunge. Period (but read on).

Not all is lost, however, and quite far from it. Thanks to a very generous and fairly progressive policy, while not a vacating and removal of your criminal conviction, the hardships you endured with a decade old or more non-violent felony can be sealed from eyes of employers and the public providing you with a path to the redemption you have waited so long to embrace.

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blackmaol-300x208At first she demands a few hundred or even a couple of thousands of dollars. Maybe he tells you he just needs some money because of an emergency, but you know what’s coming. You’re not naive. You can see the writing on the wall. Blackmail. Extortion. Coercion. Harassment. You say to yourself, “I am being blackmailed. I am being extorted. Do I hire an attorney to get my blackmailer to stop? Is there any alternative to stop an extorter other than the police? How do I best keep all of this a secret and not expose my affair, drug use, business fraud or other wrongdoing whether it is my victimizer is telling the truth or concocting a completely bogus story?” While each situation demands a different analysis as to the pros and cons of protecting yourself through the assistance of law enforcement or an attorney and private investigator, the moment you have handed over even one dollar to your blackmailer, he or she has committed the felony of Grand Larceny Extortion. That crime, Fourth Degree Grand Larceny, New York Penal Law 155.30(6), is a class “E” felony with a potential sentence of up to four years in prison. If your extorter threatens violence and some physical injury or to damage your property, the offense jumps to a class “C” felony of Second Degree Grand Larceny, New York Penal Law 155.40(2). Again, irrespective of the amount actually secured from you or the nature of the property, this offense is punishable by as much as fifteen years in prison.

As important as it is to know the consequences of your victimizer’s actions, it does not answer the question as to what you should do. Do nothing and hope that it will stop? File a complaint with the police? Hire an attorney to stop your extorter in his or her tracks? While the first of these options is not much of an option at all, the New York Daily News’ story on Saland Law’s PC’s “Busting Blackmailers” puts one option front and center.

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“Violence” and “violent” are both ugly words. In the New York Penal Law and New York Criminal Procedure Law, offenses that can cause catastrophic injuries, traumatic physical and emotional wounds and even death are designated as violent crimes. While each one of us may have a subjective view of what violent means in the context our respective lives, New York Criminal Procedure Law 70.02 specifically defines and differentiates New York violent crimes from all other offenses. The relevancy as to what is a violent crime and what is an “ordinary” offense is critical to any criminal case as well as to how a criminal defense attorney manages his representation of a client. As a preliminary matter, sentencing for violent crimes differ from other offenses and for those who want to pursue the sealing of their criminal record for up to two convictions in accordance with New York Criminal Procedure Law 160.59, any violent offense precludes such a remedy.

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