The ease by which the police can arrest and Assistant District Attorneys can prosecute denizens of New York City (or any municipality in New York State) for drug crimes can be greatly concerning. Merely because one is a New York drug lawyer or a New York criminal defense attorney should…
New York State is on tough place to face a criminal charge. Yea, there are always concerns with New York’s “strict liability” crimes where knowledge, as opposed to intent to commit a crime, is a sufficient basis for an arrest and conviction, but in the realm of New York City…
There are countless means in which a non-weapon, if used in a particular way, becomes a weapon in the eyes of the law. In New York, a tree branch, spoon, pair of shoes or just about anything else, if used in violent and assaultive way, can be the basis of…
Although wrongfully classified by many people as a narcotic drug crime, arrests in New York City and throughout the State of New York for possession of a marijuana (or marihuana as it is referred to in the New York Penal Law) are a distinct and separate category of crime. Criminal…
David Villalobos, the young man arrested for allegedly wanting to “become one” with a Bronx Zoo tiger, is far from the first New Yorker to commune so closely with nature. Antoine Yates, a/k/a, the “Tiger Man of Harlem,” has that distinct “honor.” In fact, as a prosecutor in the Manhattan…
There are few things more frightful and concerning than being arrested in a nation where you do not reside. Compounding matters, because the United States has a unique criminal justice system, you may not have any idea about the arrest process and what you may face whether you were charged…
Drug arrests for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, New York Penal Law 220.03, may come in the form of a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT) or a full 24 hour processing through the system. No matter how you were arrested, however, there are certain mandatory requirements…
From gravity knives to switchblade knives, whether in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens or out in Westchester County, as an experienced New York criminal lawyer I have frequently seed defendants charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. A misdemeanor, CPW 4, pursuant to New York Penal Law 265.01,…
Although the New York City Police (NYPD) can easily arrest you and send you to Central Booking for any misdemeanor or “E” felony, in certain circumstances they can, and will, give you a Desk Appearance Ticket (often called a “DAT” or “Appearance Ticket”) instead. While you have still been arrested,…
You received a summons for having an open container of beer somewhere in New York City either on the streets of Brooklyn or Manhattan. The police issued you a pink summons and you believed you were on your way to a slap on the wrist. However, to your surprise, you,…