New York Criminal Lawyer BlogNew York Penal Law 215.50, Second Degree Criminal Contempt, is a crime that prosecutors are quick to charge and often for good cause. However, regardless of the subjective view of an Assistant District Attorney or a police officer with the NYPD or any police department outside New York City, cases must still be proven beyond a reasonable doubt whether you’re in Westchester, Rockland or Gotham. At earlier stages of litigation, the accusatory information – the complaint – must be legally sufficient or your case should not “pass go.” Therefore, mere allegations must be supported by some form of evidence or alleged facts. Tying this back to Second Degree Contempt, an “A” misdemeanor punishable by as much as one year in the county jail (can you say “Rikers Island?!”), the four corners of the accusatory instrument must legally support that there was a valid order of protection, the parameters of that order and how you violated the order. In a recent case out of White Plains, New York, the a court rendered a decision giving a broad interpretation of an order of protection and a defendant’s conduct that is worth reviewing and directly on point with the title of this blog entry.
Articles Posted in Orders of Protection
Securing and Challenging NY Orders of Protection: The NYC Family Court Restraining Order and Some Recent Scenarios
In New York City and throughout the State of New York from Manhattan to every municipality both big and small, domestic violence rears its ugly head. Sometimes individuals seek protection from the police and prosecutors while other times individuals pursue orders of protections or restraining orders in New York’s Family Courts. The reasons vary just as much as the people who pursue an order of protection or restraining order. It may be that a complainant (in the Criminal Court criminal context) or petitioner (in the Family Court civil context) doesn’t want the other party arrested or does not want to cede control of their personal life and the trajectory of a case to a prosecutor. Whatever the reason or choice of venue, it behooves a petitioner who seeks a Family Court order of protection to speak with an attorney or lawyer versed in the Family Court Act before taking the steps to try to secure a restraining order. If your need for an order of protection is not immediate (ie, you don’t need to call 911 for example) and the person who you are seeking protection from is a “family member” then taking seeking counsel is likely a smart move for the long term viability of your order of protection.