New York Criminal Lawyer BlogDrug, 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.
Articles Posted in Case Results
Client Arrested in New York with Two Unlicensed Firearms and Hundreds of Rounds of Ammunition Receives ACD Dismissal & “Nullified” Arrest
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.
Alleged NYC Craigslist Adderall Seller Avoids Felony Conviction for PL 220.31 & Receives No Jail & No Probation
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.”
JFK Airport Firearm Arrest Ends in Non Criminal Violation: Accused Avoids 3.5 to 15 Years on NY PL 265.03 Conviction
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.
Federal Computer Hacking (18 USC 1030) Is Not Always What It Seems: Client Gets Federal Misdemeanor and No Jail
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
Jury Finds Saland Law PC Client Not Guilty After Trial: Client Exonerated of Knife Point Kidnapping, Unlawful Imprisonment & Stalking
All too often, criminal defendants face a rightful presumption of innocence coupled with a wrongful assumption of guilt. The greater the severity of the arrest, indictment or allegation, the stronger the negative inference. Although this should not be the case, as New York criminal lawyers this is the reality that we see many of our clients face. In fact, for one particular Saland Law PC client, this presumption-assumption issue followed him for a year after he was arrested and indicted for Kidnapping in the Second Degree (New York Penal Law 135.20), Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree (New York Penal Law 135.10) and Stalking in the Second Degree (New York Penal Law 120.55). Fortunately, however, with diligence and hard work, our client’s presumption of innocence prevailed and the assumption of guilt was put to rest after a jury acquitted our client after trial of Kidnapping, Stalking and Unlawful Imprisonment.
On its face, the allegations against our client were horrific. It was alleged that our client kidnapped his ex-wife at knife point after he used a ruse to deliver her furniture from their former apartment to her home that she shared with her mother and daughters (from a different relationship) on her birthday. The complainant claimed that she had no idea our client was going to move her property, did not have plans with him on her birthday, had no contact with him other than responding to his unwanted texts and calls, and only got inside his vehicle after threats of violence were made. Doubling down, the complainant asserted our client brandished a knife and threatened to kill the complainant as well as her daughters and mother. Driving up to Bear Mountain, the complainant contended she only escaped after convincing our client to go to a diner where she then reached out for help from waitstaff. Compounding the accusation, numerous waitstaff stated that they heard our client repeat the threat to kill the complainant’s mother. Complicating matters further, upon arrest zip ties, duct tape and a rope were recovered form our client’s car. No knife was ever recovered.
NY PL 220.16 Drug Felony Reduced to NY PL 220.03 Misdemeanor & Ultimately Adjourned for Dismissal: Client Receives ACD After Prosecutors Alleged Possession of 45 Bags of Heroin with Intent to Sell
If your client is arrested for and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (New York Penal Law 220.16) for allegedly possessing 45 glassines of heroin with the intent to sell that drug, you certainly engage the Assistant District Attorney when a non jail offer is made to the lesser felony of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fifth Degree (New York Penal Law 220.06). After all, the term of imprisonment on a class B felony is from one to nine years in prison upon a conviction. However, despite the apparent generous offer, when prosecutors made this exact offer to a Saland Law PC client, the response was likely not what the Assistant District Attorney expected in such a facially strong case. Whether it could be proven at trial or not, prosecutors filed a felony complaint alleging the police recovered 45 baggies of heroin from our client’s bag. Instead jumping at the offer, having discussed the arrest allegations in great detail with our client, the first question asked of the prosecutor was whether each of the 45 glassines contained heroin in a useable amount or merely residue. If the latter, then it would seem unlikely that our client intended to sell used baggies of heroin. Simply, it does not take a New York criminal defense lawyer (or even more importantly, a prosecutor) to recognize there is no market for used residual narcotics or controlled substances.
Sadly, the prosecutor from this New York City borough refused (yes refused) to answer whether or how many of the glassines contained residue. In substance, the Assistant District Attorney asserted that the information was not discoverable at this stage and the prosecutor was not required to tell the defense pre-indictment. In response, I argued that as a practical matter, the prosecutor should be less concerned about securing a felony conviction and more concerned about pursuing justice. A bad, weak or bogus felony is a bad, weak, or bogus case no matter the crime or its degree. Further, I told the prosecutor that if the bags only contained residue or the vast majority contained residue, then that evidence is what those who practice criminal law refer to as Brady material. In non legal terms, Brady material are those items, documents, recordings and any other physical or no physical information or evidence that tends to or can exculpate a defendant. Here, because the charge was that our client intended to sell heroin, we stated that if the heroin was not consistent with the amount or form that could be sold (again who is purchasing residue or empty glassines), it would exculpate our client in connection to the felony crime of PL 220.16. Disagreeing with us further and refusing to answer ourquestion, the prosecutor compounded matters by refusing to provide a supervisor’s name to discuss further.
PL 265.03: New York Firearm & Gun Lawyers Get Two Non-Criminal Deals in Queens Airport Weapon Arrests
At no point did you believe that your flight home from New York City’s JFK or LaGuardia Airport would leave you stranded in New York. No, not stranded on the tarmac or in the airport, but in a jail charged with Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon (New York Penal Law 265.02). You thought you were adhering to the TSA’s rules. You even went online or called your airline to determine how to properly transport your firearm, pistol or revolver. According to JetBlue, Delta, American, or any airline, the transportation of your weapon must comply with certain requirements – requirements you thought you were complying with. Unfortunately, you didn’t know that if you have a firearm or gun that is not registered in New York (NYC has its own registration requirements greater than those in the State of New York) and you go to an airport in Queens (JFK or LaGuardia), you are in possession of an illegal weapon.
Some would argue that your second amendment right is kicked to the curb when you enter the boundaries of New York while others would argue that the legislature and citizens of the Empire State don’t want or need your guns flooding their borders. Regardless of your perspective on the law, “it is what it is.” When you check your hard sided case with an agent and you advise that the weapon is not loaded because the bullets or ammunition are not in the gun, he or she smiles back to you and tells you to wait. In only a matter of minutes you are handcuffed and arrested for Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (New York Penal Law 265.03) and potentially the lesser (but a still significant and crippling felony) of Criminal Possession of a Firearm (New York Penal Law 265.01-b(1)).
Brooklyn DWI Arrest Leads to Disorderly Conduct Due to Potential Mistrial After Cross Examination
Saland Law PC, a New York City criminal defense firm founded by two former DWI prosecutors and DWI defense attorneys, is pleased to announced a resolution to a case a long time in the making. Although the initial offer required a plea to the misdemeanor crime of VTL 1192.3 (also called “common law DWI”) with an opportunity to later re-plea to Driving While Ability Impaired (“DWAI”) pursuant to New York VTL 1192.1, our client rejected this deal and proceeded to trial. In the midst of the cross examination by Saland Law PC of the New York City Police Department officer who effectuated the arrest, the prosecution offered our client a plea to Disorderly Conduct (New York Penal Law 240.20). Instead of facing a potential conviction that would require our client taking the DDP, being fined hundreds of dollars and having our client’s license suspended, our client’s case was immediately sealed without any conditions.
After the prosecution conducted their direct examination of the officer who arrested our client for DWI (sometimes called “DUI”), Saland Law PC cross examined the witness on numerous inconsistencies between the police paperwork and his testimony. For example, the officer testified at a earlier hearing that the accused drunk driver was traveling westbound on the Belt Parkway, but later contradicted himself. Even more significant, the officer testified inconsistently between the initial hearing and paperwork regarding “watery blood shot eyes.” At trial, the officer testified our client’s eyes were clear. Further, while the prosecution stated in substance that our client drank numerous glasses of wine during the opening statement, the officer testified that our client only admitted to drinking one glass. The list of inconsistencies extended well beyond what is addressed above, but not all of these errors were exposed before the prosecution made an offer mid-trial.
New York Criminal Lawyers Get Dismissal of Client’s Weapon Possession Arrest of PL 265.01(2)
With the amount of blog entries I have recently drafted relating to New York weapon crimes including those involving New York firearm laws and knife arrests, one would think that the criminal lawyers at Saland Law PC spend their days solely defending clients against misdemeanor (New York Penal Law 265.01) and felony (New York Penal Law 265.02 and 265.03) weapon arrests. While we certainly do our best to keep ourselves up to date on the ever changing laws and regulations involving New York weapon crimes, this area of law is remains a significant piece of our criminal defense practice. Irrespective of how often we represent clients accused of possessing legally owned firearms at JFK or LaGuardia airports or gravity knives on the streets of NYC, there can be little dispute that many weapon statutes in New York are enforced with greatest of intentions, but often against honest, “clean” and law abiding people.
In a recent example of a “regular Joe” being ensnared in a New York weapon crime, Saland Law PC represented an attorney accused of possessing a knife with a blade exceeding four inches. Further, when arrested with possessing this knife, both the police and prosecutors at the District Attorney’s Office charged our client with violating New York Penal Law 265.01(2). Not the “per se” section of the New York Penal Law, this subsection of Fourth Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon makes it a crime (in substance) to possess any dangerous instrument (it has a very liberal definition) unlawfully against another person. Keep in mind…under the right circumstances a can of Red Bull or your backpack could be considered a dangerous instrument.