Violent Crimes

December 10, 2016

I Didn’t Threaten to Hurt Him: When Your Words Don’t Violate PL 240.30(1)(b)

A few years ago the New York State Legislature tightened up the Second Degree Aggravated Harassment crime found in the New York Penal Law. Whether by Desk Appearance Ticket in Manhattan or by Domestic Violence Arrest in Brooklyn, the law was no longer vague. More specifically, addressing solely subsection (1)(b) or New York Penal Law 240.30, it is a class “A” misdemeanor if you have an intent to harass another person and you cause a communication to be initiated by telephone, email, or any electronic means. This communication must be a threat to cause physical injury or unlawful harm to the person or property of that person or a member of his or her family or household. Moreover, when making your communication you should reasonably know that it will cause a reasonable fear of such an injury or harm.

Well, if that isn’t wordy enough, let’s try to get right to the point of this blog. Simply, what type of speech or statements violate PL 240.30(1)(b) and when does your language necessitate the assistance of a criminal defense attorney to challenge the legal sufficiency of a complaint you face in a New York criminal court?

November 26, 2016

Box Cutters, Pocket Knives and Other Blades: Possession and Non-Criminal Intent

by Jeremy Saland

New York Penal Law 265.01(1), Fourth Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, delineates the type of weapons that are per se, aka, automatically, weapons in New York based on the law no matter how you intended on using them. If you knowingly possess the weapon, then you are guilty. No, you are not merely walking into a courtroom with your criminal lawyer and pleading guilty to a misdemeanor crime that is accompanied by a sentence of up to one year in jail, but you are guilty barring certain defenses, such as challenging the probable cause for your arrest and how you were searched. This is because there is a strict liability standard at trial assuming the prosecution proves their case beyond a reasonable doubt. Looking at it slightly differently, you always have the ability to challenge an arrest on legal, factual, evidentiary, and mitigation grounds, but without any defense, a jury or judge can find you guilty if the People meet their burden.

Putting aside this strict liability standard and whether or not the NYPD and District Attorney should be prosecuting honest, hard working, regular people who legally purchase one of these gravity knifes at Home Depot, Amazon, a local sporting goods store or any other retailer having no reason to believe that in New York it is a crime to possess such a “weapon,” other types of blades and objects can be considered dangerous instruments and weapons depending on the matter they are possessed or used. The statutory authority to prosecute these crimes is also Fourth Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, but is found in New York Penal Law 265.01(2). This entry will address a recent court decision examining the legal sufficiency of a PL 265.01(2) arrest and prosecution in connection to the possession of a box cutter.

November 14, 2016

New York Criminal Contempt: Can Prosecutors File a Legal Complaint without Naming the Protected Party or Victim

by Jeremy Saland

I’ve been arrested for Second Degree Criminal Contempt. I don’t understand why I am being prosecuted for New York Penal Law 215.50. How can the police arrest me or the DA prosecute me without naming the victim or protected party? While I may have posed those questions as a New York criminal defense attorney and not an accused, they are quite reasonable ones to ask. After all, if the complaint against you is not legally sufficient regardless if you’re charged with NY PL 215.50 or any other crime, then ultimately your criminal defense lawyer will likely file a motion to dismiss or seek the dismissal of your criminal case on some other procedural grounds. Generally speaking, however, one of the common difficulties securing a dismissal of a Second Degree Criminal Contempt arrest and charge is that even where a victim is not compliant either a third party or other evidence can corroborate there was contact in violation of a court order. This evidence can come from a friend who observed a defendant having contact with a victim or even text messages or phone records reflecting the same. After addressing the crime of PL 215.50, the purpose of this particular blog entry is to provide an example of an insufficient criminal complaint where conclusions by the NYPD did not satisfy the burden that prosecutors are required to reach.

October 17, 2016

Understanding the Minimum Requirement of “Forcible Stealing” in a New York Robbery Arrest and Prosecution

by Jeremy Saland

Robbery is one of the most serious crimes in the New York Penal Law. Criminal defense attorneys in New York see Robbery crimes come in a variety of different scenarios and allegations. Sometimes a weapon is used such as a firearm or a knife while other times a victim suffers some form of a physical or serious physical injury. Depending on whether or not there is an injury and even if multiple robbers are involved, the crime of Robbery can elevate from Robbery in the Third Degree to Robbery in the Second Degree or Robbery in the First Degree. The consequences are quite serious for an accused because a Third Degree Robbery conviction for PL 160.05 is not a violent crime under the New York Penal Law and does not carry a mandatory term of prison for a first time offender. Second Degree Robbery and First Degree Robbery, pursuant to PL 160.10 and PL 160.15 respectively, are mandatory minimum crimes with sentences starting at three and one half and five years in prison.

The goal of this blog entry is not to dissect and analyze the differences between New York’s Robbery statutes, but to examine the threshold of physical force that must be breached for a crime to go from one of a simple non-violent larceny to a more grave Robbery offense.

September 23, 2016

NYC Domestic Assault and Harassment Dismissed on the Merits: Allegations and Arrest Exposed Based in Lie

by Jeremy Saland

I am not a free lawyer, but that does not mean I do not handle pro bono work or represent individuals who do not have the means to retain an experienced New York criminal lawyer. Simply, everyone needs and should be entitled to quality representation by an attorney especially in the context of a life altering arrest. After meeting with a woman who was unquestionably the victim of domestic violence in both criminal and “merely” mentally abusive form, Saland Law PC took her case in New York City Criminal Court. Despite the public lawyer assigned to her case advising that she had a difficult path ahead, our client maintained her innocence in the face of charges including Third Degree Assault (NY PL 120.00) and Second Degree Aggravated Harassment (NY PL 240.30). While it was unlikely she would see any jail time even though the law allows up to one year in prison, any finding of wrongdoing or assertion that she assaulted and harassed her partner was unacceptable. Fortunately, through diligence, time and effort, Saland Law PC secured a complete dismissal of all charges.

August 1, 2016

New York PL 265.03: College Student Arrested at Airport for Checking a Firearm Gets Non-Criminal Violation and Record Sealing

by Jeremy Saland

Criminal lawyers or not, we can all argue and address the intentions and practical applications of the Second Amendment. Further, there are many of us who would agree that an AR-15 is not a reasonable weapon to have in your home or for hunting. That said, most weapon and gun crimes in New York are not of the assault rifle variety and tied to a complex Second Amendment issue. Each and every illegal firearm case prosecuted in New York may share certain traits, such as the potential for violating Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Firearm, but they are all far from the same. In the eyes of the law, however, while facts may be different, whether you possessed a revolver with the serial numbers scratched off, a glock in an ankle holster you purchased in cash from a guy you met on the street, or you are a licensed firearm owner visiting New York from Alabama, Texas, Ohio, Florida or another state, pistol, gun and weapon crimes pursuant to New York Penal 265.03 are offenses that carry a minimum of 3.5 year in prison upon conviction. Make no mistake. New York means business when it comes to illegal firearm possession and on its face an arrest for PL 265.03 is one of the most serious offenses in the New York criminal code. While everyone is entitled to a defense, police must follow proper procedure and prosecutors maintain the burden of proof, if you are an otherwise legal firearm owner arrested for a felony relating to that weapon, ensuring that you are not lumped into the same category as blatant abusers of the law who may possesses their guns for malicious purposes is critical. In the arena of a firearm arrest at JFK Airport or LaGuardia Airport in New York City’s Queens County, this could not be more true.

July 12, 2016

Another Felony Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon Gun Arrest at JFK Airport: Another Non-Criminal Result for Saland Law PC

by Jeremy Saland

It is painfully clear that New York State does a poor job in communicating to residents of neighboring states that merely because they legally own or possess their firearm – handgun, revolver, pistol – at home, when that same firearm is brought to New York it is a crime. Not just any crime, when the weapon is loaded with the ammunition and bullets capable of being fired from the gun (they need not be physically in it), the offense in New York is a class “C” violent felony. How do I know this as a criminal defense attorney in New York who represents clients arrested at LaGuardia or JFK Airport for New York Penal Law 265.03? I know this because I routinely am asked by defendants, “I was arrested for having a loaded gun in New York at the airport, but I legally own it and I followed the TSA guidelines. What did I do wrong and what is a violent felony and mandatory prison?”

May 1, 2016

Airport Criminal Possession of a Firearm Arrest, New York Penal Law 265.01-b(1), Ends in Six Month Dismissal

by Jeremy Saland

Yes, the New York criminal lawyers at Saland Law PC represent numerous travelers flying in and out of area airports. No, just because the firearm is unloaded when you check it at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) or LaGuardia Airport (LaGuardia), doesn’t mean you will avoid an arrest. For that matter, merely because you checked in advance with the TSA or your airline, whether it is American, Delta, US Air, Southwest or JetBlue, that your hard side case was the proper means to store that pistol, in no way means police with the Port Authority will let you board your plane without an arrest. As you may only know now, your registration, carry permit or concealed license in Virginia, Texas, Ohio, Illinois or California (we can throw in Arizona or any other state if it makes you feel better), won’t shield you from an arrest and prosecution from the Queens County District Attorney’s Office. However, if there is any silver lining, albeit more of a silver colored paint as opposed to the precious metal itself, if an unloaded and unregistered firearm is recovered from you after you declare and attempt to check it, the crime you will face is not the dreaded Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon (New York Penal Law 265.03). As you will soon find out from your criminal defense attorney and the court, instead of a Class C violent felony, you will be booked and arraigned on the Class E felony of Criminal Possession of a Firearm (New York Penal Law 265.01-b(1)). While Criminal Possession of a Firearm is not as crippling as an arrest for possessing a loaded revolver, pistol or gun, its all relative. Unfortunately, a recent Saland Law PC client learned that the consequences of a weapon and firearm arrest in Queens County for trying to check an “illegal” handgun at the airport is no less significant whether its locked and loaded or merely the weapon itself. Fortunately, however, Saland Law PC mounted a successful mitigation defense.

April 18, 2016

The Importance of Experience and Advocacy Before and During Trial: A Recent Criminal Defense Review

by Jeremy Saland

When I served as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, my greatest achievement, selfishly or not, was securing a conviction after trial for Attempted Murder against a husband who had physically and emotionally abused his wife and children for years. From burning a son and repeatedly striking another child, his violent acts culminated when he repeatedly stabbed his wife after she turned down his sexual advances. Until that point, the wife, an immigrant without a full command of the English language, was hesitant to seek justice. While fortunately may not be the right term, on the night of this incident their pre-teen and fifteen year old children were home when their father went into a rage and began stabbing their mother with a knife he had been using to peal an apple. Not merely stabbing her once, the defendant stabbed the mother of his children repeatedly until the blade broke off in her shoulder and their fifteen year old son broke down the bedroom door with a hammer.

On many fronts, this conviction for Attempted Murder and the twenty five year sentence was gratifying. The bond and trust developed with the victims, providing them the protection they deserved, and bringing closure to a horrific time in their lives was rewarding. Why do I share this so many years later? I do so because despite the misconceptions that only prosecutors wear the “white hat”, criminal defense attorneys do so as well. Facing the same potential sentence of up to twenty five years in prison, a client of Saland Law PC was also brought closure as a victim even though he was charged with many crimes including Kidnapping in the Second Degree as opposed to being the accuser. After a lengthy trial, this innocent man was exonerated and found not guilty by a jury of his peers. Not due to a legal technicality, his innocence was “proven” because of my effort to provide justice to my client in the face of a fabricated story shrouded in what appeared to be significant and damning evidence. Through developing our own evidence and challenging the prosecution’s, and advocacy before and during trial, closure was seized. The following his this client’s review of our services as criminal defense attorneys and lawyers:

February 7, 2016

Following and Nothing More: Does Stalking without “Fear” Violate New York PL 120.45 or 120.50

by Jeremy Saland

Some times the best legal advice a criminal lawyer can give is not legal advice at all. In fact, it can be more parental than lawyer-like. Unfortunately, just as we don’t always listen to our parents we don’t always listen to our criminal defense attorneys either. With that little life lesson behind us, try listening to this. The best way to avoid an arrest or conviction for a New York Stalking crime, whether or not it is one of the two misdemeanor Stalking offenses of Stalking in the Fourth Degree (New York Penal Law 120.45) or Stalking in the Third Degree (New York Penal Law 120.50), is to steer clear of following, threatening or harassing other people. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn’t, but what if you are arrested for merely following a person without any allegations of physical or verbal threats? Is that sufficient grounds for the prosecution to sustain a viable complaint for Fourth Degree Stalking, NY PL 120.45? The following blog entry will address this very question.