New York Criminal Lawyer Blog
There are few crimes in New York that are more serious than the crime of Burglary. Whether the allegation is that you perpetrated Burglary in the Third, Second or First Degree, there is potential for significant state prison. In fact, Burglary in the Second and First Degree have a mandatory minimum term of incarceration for first time offenders of three and one half and five years respectively. Make no mistake. Whomever your criminal lawyer may be, he or she must be both a skilled advocate and an attorney versed in the laws and procedures of New York criminal practice to successfully combat a Burglary arrest.
Briefly, you are guilty of Burglary when you trespass into a building and have the intent to commit a crime. Although any crime is included in this intent, prosecutors need not prove a specific intent to perpetrate a specific crime. Moreover, the degrees of Burglary are enhanced to violent felonies if, for example, the structure entered is a dwelling, you possessed a weapon or someone was injured while you committed the offense.
In a recent case handled by the New York criminal lawyers at Saland Law PC, our experience and guidance paid off tremendously for a client charged with Burglary in the Second Degree pursuant to New York Penal Law 140.25. It was alleged that our client burglarized a Brooklyn store attached to apartment buildings. Not only was our client facing a mandatory minimum term of jail, the evidence appeared “solid” against him at first glance. In fact, two separate witnesses identified our client in a lineup procedure at a nearby police precinct at the time of his arrest. These “hits” by the two witnesses put our client at the scene of the crime and allowed prosecutors to hang their proverbial “hats” on this evidence.
Not deterred by this evidence, Saland Law PC argued that both identifications were actually misidentifications. That is, we argued that the wrong person was identified. Upon investigating the case, it was not merely our assertion that convinced the prosecution, but concrete evidence. After speaking with at least one person who could place our client at another location near the time of the alleged crime, we were able to gain further evidence to support our contention. Approximately 45 minutes after the alleged Burglary in the Second Degree, video surveillance caught our client in another office building in Manhattan where he worked. Although the argument and analysis was much further in depth than mentioned here, we argued that it was physically impossible for anyone to perpetrate a crime this far away and to be back at work within 45 minutes. Again, the two witnesses were mistaken and identified the wrong person.
A short synopsis of one case, and not a guarantee of a future result, the example above illustrates that what appears to be powerful evidence in the hands of the prosecution may in fact be quite the opposite. Because anyone can be wrongly accused, diligence, perseverance and timely action are all critical in each and every case.
A significant amount of information on the crime of Burglary in New York can be located through the links above. Additional information on violent crimes, legal case decisions, statues and newsworthy cases can be found on Saland Law’s NewYorkCriminalLawyerBlog.Com.
Established by two former Manhattan prosecutors, Saland Law PC represents the accused in all criminal arrests, investigations and trials throughout the New York City area.