New York City

Published on: April 22, 2012

Court Decides if City is Obligated to Provide Housing Subsidies to the Homeless

by Stephen Bilkis

Plaintiffs are a class of formerly homeless families and individuals for whom the City paid rent through a program called Advantage. The City induced these plaintiffs, many of whom are victims of domestic violence, to leave the relative safety of the shelter system and to enter into leases for apartments they could not afford. The City accomplished this by agreeing to pay all or a portion of plaintiffs’ rent for a year with the promise of a second year if they met the eligibility requirements for the Advantage program. However, a New York Criminal Lawyer said once plaintiffs took the City up on its offer and moved, the City terminated that funding during the lease term.

An action for specific performance, and declaratory and injunctive relief was filed where plaintiffs seek to bar termination of a rent subsidy program (the Advantage Program) run by the NYC Department of Homeless Services even though federal and state funding was withdrawn effective April 2011.

Plaintiffs argue that the various documents appertaining to the subsidy program (Certification Letters, Participation Agreements and Lease Riders) contractually obligate the City to continue the subsidies.

Published on: February 27, 2012

Defendant Appeals DWI Charge for Lack of Sufficient Evidence

by Stephen Bilkis

The defendant has filed an appeal for his conviction. The court found the defendant guilty of DWI. He was also found guilty of violating traffic rules and regulations. The defendant reportedly failed to stick to the right side of the road while driving and went over a hazard marking.

The court finds the defendant guilty of the DWI after he went off the rural road while driving and as a result, his car hit the telephone pole. The defendant allegedly left the scene without reporting the incident to authorities. After his trial by jury, the court sentenced him to 1 to 3 years of imprisonment. The defendant has filed a motion for appeal.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that the defendant asserted in his appeal that the proof of his intoxication while driving should be declared as legally insufficient. According to his statement, the defendant claimed that he did not become intoxicated until after his accident involving the telephone pole.

Published on: January 20, 2012

Army Crime-Lab Worker Blotched Tests Leaving Many DNA Cases in Doubt

by Stephen Bilkis

Over the past several years, DNA science has made extraordinary progress and its implementation in many criminal cases has both convicted the guilty and exonerated the innocent. A New York Criminal Lawyer has learned that one federal crime lab is struggling to keep its reputation afloat following reports that one of its more senior and experienced forensics examiners not only blotched, DNA tests, but also falsified records.

A worker at the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Laboratory, near Atlanta, is being investigated for alleged mistakes that may have allowed the guilty to go free and may have contributed to many to be wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit, sources tell.

Unfortunately, the problem appears to go much deeper than just one worker that was making mistakes and then attempting to cover them up. Sources alleged to a New York City Criminal Lawyer that the forensic examiner’s supervisors were not only slow to recognize his mistakes, but also wanted to keep any investigation of these mistakes in-house so that the facility would not lose its accreditation.

Published on: January 20, 2012

Barry Bonds on Trial for Allegedly Lying to a Federal Grand Jury

by Stephen Bilkis

The trial of former major league baseball player, Barry Bonds, is underway in U.S. District Court, a New York Criminal Lawyer has learned. The former San Francisco Giant all-star is accused of “obstructing justice and three counts of making false statements to a grand jury.”

During their opening arguments to the jury, prosecutors stated that when Bonds testified to the grand jury in 2003 that he had immunity and that all he had to do was to tell the truth, which they allege that he did not, the New York Criminal Lawyer was told. His testimony was in regards as to whether he had knowingly used anabolic steroids, which Bonds denied. Bonds baseball career was essentially over when he tested positive for “banned substances” during a team administered urine test. He has not played major league baseball since he was indicted in 2007.

One of those expected to testify against Bonds, is his former mistress who will reportedly testify that Bonds told her that he suffered from sexual dysfunction due to steroid use. His mistress was reportedly with the former ball player for more than 10-years and during two of his marriages.

Published on: September 16, 2011

Man Accused of DUI Says He Was Walking, Not Driving

by Stephen Bilkis

A 33-year-old man from Tinley Park fought with police about his arrest for driving under the influence at almost 3am March 18 near the intersection of Oak Park Avenue and 175th Street.

As stated by the New York Criminal Lawyer, the man was pulled over after supposedly stopping his car inside the cross streets at a red light and weaving in and out of his lane.

He apparently reeked strongly of alcohol, had bloodshot and glossy eyes and at first told officers he had just a couple of drinks, but then said he had not been drinking and again later said he had a few drinks. He changed his story repeatedly, leading to doubts about his credibility in this case. That and the fact that he could not pass sobriety tests that were given to him over the course of the night. In New York City and Nassau County, police are on the lookout for drunk drivers. Nassau Criminal Lawyers have many cases involving DUI and DWI.

Published on: September 5, 2011

Florida Father Charged with Child Abuse after Pushing Infant Son

by Stephen Bilkis

A man from Pensacola, Florida, is accused of pushing his 4-month-old son. The violence caused the child to suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI). Bond for the man was set at $150,000.

The 20-year-old father, of the 200 block of Marigold Drive, was charged with three separate counts of aggravated child abuse when he was arrested last week and placed in the Escambia County Jail where he still remains.

The child was brought to a hospital by someone close to him, but the exact details of that are not available at the present time. According to an NYC Criminal Lawyer, the Sacred Heart Hospital contacted the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office when it was suspected that the child’s injuries were non-accidental.

Published on: June 25, 2011

Ex-con Claims To Be Victim in Knifing

by Stephen Bilkis

A man linked to New York crime families claims to have been the victim in a knife fight with a Brooklyn pizza maker. The mob-linked suspect even went so far as to show his knife wounds to a judge in court. He was charged with murder in this case that has confused both prosecutors and defense thus far.

The pizza maker had cuts all over his body from the scuffle on Smith Street in Carroll Gardens, and he faces charges himself – felony assault, with more that might be coming, a spokesman for the District Attorney revealed to NY City Criminal Lawyers.

“I got arrested because of all the publicity,” said the pizza maker as he lay in a hospital bed in Lutheran Hospital. “They think this is some kind of mob story. I was just trying to defend myself.”

Published on: June 6, 2011

8 year-old Molested by Tutor

by Stephen Bilkis

According to initial reports, an 8 year old girl was molested and sexually assaulted by the college student who was paid to be her tutor.

The girl said a tutor in her third-grade classroom at the Angelo Elementary School had put his hand down her pants many times, and molested her.

Then, the college student would very often touch her on the shoulder and tell her, “Good job,” the young girl told police. On Thursday, she said, that tutor –who was identified as a junior at a local college, indicated a New York City Criminal Lawyer—proceeded to rape her.

Published on: May 29, 2011

Stories from All Over NYC

by Stephen Bilkis

New York Criminal Law Offices have seen or heard of a number of crimes in Brooklyn.

A Brooklyn man went into the basement of a building in Bedford-Stuyvesant and found the bodies of two men, one of them his son, law enforcement sources reported.

It is believed the pair had been killed in a drug-related execution.