New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
Any attorney who holds him or herself out as a New York firearm lawyer or an airport weapon attorney, and serves clients arrested or issued summonses in Queens County’s JFK or LaGuardia Airport for weapon possession crimes, must have more than a basic legal and practical knowledge of how these offenses are prosecuted, how to identify the right strategies, and the best means to implement the strongest defense. Why is that? While it is not atypical for the Port Authority Police to arrest travelers for crimes including both misdemeanor and felony Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance for possessing heroin or cocaine in checked luggage or carry-on bag, the most serious offenses often involve criminal possession of a firearm, and to a lesser extent, batons, brass knuckles, knives, ammunition, and other weapons. Whether your baton, knuckles or ammunition was inadvertently left in your carry-on bag screened by TSA, or, even worse, you thought you were abiding by the law and doing the right thing when you declared your otherwise legally owned pistol or revolver to a TSA agent or airline employee when you were checking your luggage, the immediate and collateral long-term ramifications are as potentially severe as they are career and life altering.
With the above in mind, Saland Law is please to share that over this past summer, north of ten different clients charged with Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon (Penal Law 265.03), Criminal Possession of a Firearm (Penal Law 265.01-b(1)), Fourth Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon (Penal Law 265.01), and Unlawful/Criminal Possession of Ammunition (NYC Administrative Code 10-131) all had their cases dismissed or walked away with non-criminal violations. What started as a missed flight and trip to Queens County Central Booking, being printed and released with a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT), or finding themselves with a pink criminal summons in hand, not a one of these men and women ended up with a criminal record. Instead, each of them moved forward in their respective lives and careers without a blemish.
As unique as any criminal case may be, there are some common themes why and how these defendants found themselves before a judge of the Queens County Criminal Court: they didn’t know it, whatever “it” may be, was illegal to possess, they were unaware the item in their possession was considered a weapon in the eyes of New York State, they thought they were following the law when they declared their firearm, and/or they didn’t know the weapon was in their bag.
Because ignorance of the law is not a technical defense, though often relevant to it, the below demonstrates how these latter two themes can still form a viable and successful defense when implemented and presented in a compelling manner.
Common Theme Number One: I Thought I was Following the Law
More often applicable to individuals with firearm licenses and conceal carry permits in their home state who travel through JFK and LaGuardia Airport, a routine scenario occurs when a resident of Arizona, California, Texas, Florida or Washington, for example, declares his or her pistol or revolver at the airport before boarding the plane. After all, that is exactly what they did when they left their departure airport. Though locked in a hard sided case, and despite having no issue transporting the firearm into New York, the Port Authority Police arrest the defendant solely for possessing the gun. Why? Simply, New York does not recognize your concealed carry permit or other lawful ownership here and requires that you have a specific permit to possess the weapon in this state. Making matters worse, even if the firearm is not capable of being discharged because it is boxed up or taken apart, if there is ammunition accompanying the gun in the hard side case, the law considers the gun loaded and elevates the offense from the class “E” felony of Criminal Possession of a Firearm to the class “C” felony of Second Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon.
Having represented multiple, multiple dozens of people facing these crimes and obtaining dismissals or non-criminal violations for them in the past few months and years, Saland Law recognizes that as bleak and frightening it may initially be, the right guidance and steps can make a difference in the trajectory and outcome of even the most serious airport gun arrest. Case in point, last month, Saland Law secured a dismissal for a client charged with Penal Law 265.03 and Penal Law 265.01-1(b)(1) in this precise scenario. Facing a mandatory three and one half to fifteen years in prison, we successfully argued that our client’s legal ownership in his home state, efforts to comply with the law at JFK, corroboration of his upstanding character, and numerous other mitigating factors made him worthy of not a permanent, even if lesser, misdemeanor conviction nor even a non-criminal violation but a pathway to a completely clean record and a dismissal.
Common Theme Number Two: I Didn’t Know It Was in My Bag
Yes, people do sometimes forget they left their legally owned firearm in the bag they screened through TSA before getting on their flight. We know this because Saland Law has obtained non-criminal dispositions in these felony firearm arrests as well. However, more often the crimes charged in the “I didn’t realize it was there” scenario for carry-on bags, as opposed to checked luggage, are the misdemeanor offenses of Fourth Degree Criminal Possession of a Weapon, Penal Law 265.01, or Criminal/Unlawful Possession of Ammunition, Administrative Code (AC) 10-131. That is because the weapon in question is not usually a gun, but something deemed “per se” or automatically a dangerous instrument, weapon, or otherwise illegal because New York deems so. As such, an accused had no reason to believe he or she couldn’t have it in the first place even if they also forgot or did not know it was in the carry-on bag at all. While the reason the person had the baton, switchblade, brass knuckles, bullets or other contraband often includes for self-defense, as a gimmick, joke or gift, or, in the case of bullets or a magazine, because ammunition was stored in the bag or transported in the pack to and from a firing range, for example, the charges are nonetheless criminal and amount to either a class “A” misdemeanor or equivalent with a potential sentence upon conviction of up to one year.
With the above in mind, over this past summer alone, Saland Law secured outright dismissals, six-month adjournments for dismissal (ACDs), and non-criminal violations across the board for approximately ten plus clients, most of whom we appeared on their behalf and in their absence as they remained in their home state or outside the United States. While disputing the search of their respective bags was a non-starter, like with more serious offenses involving revolvers and pistols, the right mitigation was the path to avoid any blemish on their clean records.
Your Case, Your Rights, Your Future
No attorney should be calling him or herself an expert in airport criminal defense, gun defense, or weapon defense, but experience and knowledge speaks for itself. No, a dismissal in one case does not guarantee the same result in another, but knowing the process, finding the right mitigating factors, and challenging the law where appropriate, even if it is far more difficult at airports than in car stops and other searches, can and does make the difference between a permanent criminal record, a violation, and even a dismissal.
Educate yourself on the types and degrees of New York weapon crimes found in Article 265 and the NYC Administrative Code, retain the right counsel you believe is best suited to assist you, and take the steps to put your airport nightmare behind you to best ensure your future and life remains as untarnished as it did before you stepped foot in JFK or LaGuardia.
Founded by Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan prosecutor serving under Robert Morgenthau from 2000 to 2007, Saland Law is a criminal defense firm representing clients in all criminal matters at JFK and LaGuardia airports as well as all weapon crimes throughout New York City’s boroughs and suburban counties.