According to Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, a jury convicted Kevin Parker, a New York State Senator from Brooklyn, New York, on two counts of Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree. “A” misdemeanors, Senator Parker faces up to one year in jail (Rikers Island) on each count. It is highly unlikely Senator Parker would receive the maximum one year or that the sentences would run consecutive. Former New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate was convicted of Assault in the Third Degree during the 2008 to 2010 term.
Not considered a violent crime, Criminal Mischief generally occurs when one intentionally damages property of another without permission or authority. If the damage reaches a certain level, then the degree of the crime increase from a misdemeanor to a felony. Any damage, regardless of how insignificant, can be the basis of a Criminal Mischief conviction.
Although Senator Parker has the dubious distinction of joining former Senator Monserrate as a sitting legislator to be convicted after trial for a misdemeanor, the collateral consequences to Senator Parker’s career have yet to play out. I am happy to let another blogger ponder and contemplate that issue on his or her own time.
For extensive information on the crime of Criminal Mischief, please follow the highlighted links above. For additional information on this and other crimes as well as legal decisions and newsworthy cases, please read the New York Criminal Lawyer Blog and search the blog for “Criminal Mischief.”
Founded by two New York criminal lawyers who served under Robert Morgenthau in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Saland Law PC represents the accused throughout the New York City region from investigation through hearings and trial.