Westchester County

Published on: April 8, 2012

Court Hears Tragic Domestic Violence Case

by Stephen Bilkis

Sometimes, the stories that create law are so horrendous that they speak directly to our hearts. It is at that time that you realize how important the law is. It is also when you realize how important another person’s job can be to the lives of others. In many cases, overworked and underpaid civil servants lose sight of how important their calling is. When that happens, they can drop the ball and cut corners. Cut corners always lead to a bad ending.

In New York, the job of the Clinton County Department of Social Services encompasses the assessment of homes to determine if children are deprived or neglected. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the primary goal of the social worker is to work with the parents to keep the child in their natural born home, if at all possible. Sometimes, it is not possible. Sometimes, the social worker does not keep the paperwork as meticulously as it should be kept. Sometimes, it is not possible for the social worker to predict that the parents who are not beating their children or leaving them without food might be the biggest risk to the children in their care.

On March 31, 2010, a set of twins was born to a young couple in Clinton County, New York. One was a boy named Zachary and the other, his twin sister, Zoe. On July 26, 2010, the New York State Central Registry received a complaint that the twins were being abused or mistreated. The department sent a social worker to the home and discovered that the couple engaged in domestic violence in the direct presence of the twins. There was no information recorded about how this information was received, and no documentation of any steps taken to council the parents. The documentation states that the caseworker recommended that the couple engage in mental health counseling and substance abuse treatment. However, there is no documentation about why these steps were recommended. There is no documentation of any mental health problems or substance abuse associated with the report.

Published on: April 6, 2012

Domestic Violence Cases are Difficult for Everyone Involved

by Stephen Bilkis

Domestic Violence situations are difficult for everyone who is involved in handling them. Family dynamics can be extremely volatile. When domestic violence occurs, there are many people involved. Family Violence Laws encompass past or current spouses; children or step-children, parents and children, foster parents and foster children, siblings, and anyone who has ever lived or is living in the same residence. This is a broad definition of the relationships that are included in the definition of the domestic violence statutes. Domestic violence laws are created not just to deal with crimes that have already occurred; they are expected to intervene to prevent future assaults from happening. However, whenever a law is created that is expected to prevent future offenses before they have occurred, abuses to that law often follow. Many people are arrested in domestic violence situations who did not need to be arrested. Many are arrested who do need to be arrested, but still deserve a fair hearing in a court of law.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that often police officers are called upon to enter a home and restrain one or more of the parties involved in the altercation. When this happens, it can be a dangerous situation for the police officers. In April of 2006, a New York City police officer responded to a domestic violence call in Albany County. During the course of that call, the officer had to struggle with and restrain a male subject. The officer in question and his partner ended up against a table which collapsed under the weight of the three people. The subject had pushed one of the officers onto the table before the officer in question was able to hand cuff him. The officer sustained a debilitating injury to his right shoulder. In July of 2007, he applied to the New York State and Local Police and Fire Retirement System to obtain accidental injury retirement benefits. The Hearing officer determined that this officer was not able to obtain these benefits because the injury could not be considered an accidental injury because it occurred in the normal course of performing his ordinary employment duties.

The officer argued that the collapse of the table was not an expected ordinary course of his employment duties. The state did not agree and refused his petition. The state maintains that responding to domestic violence calls and restraining unruly participants is a normal course of a police officer’s duties. If that officer in catastrophically injured in the course of those duties, the state does not feel that they should be responsible. A Westchester County Criminal Lawyer said the Officer appealed this decision. The State Court of Appeals upheld the verdict.

Published on: April 3, 2012

Court Rules on Domestic Violence

by Stephen Bilkis

A wife and her husband filed their individual action for the child custody of their twin son. The twins were in the Dominican Republic and it is undisputed that the father obtained a default order of custody there in 2002.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said a review of the documents of the Dominican proceedings confirms that the mother and father separated. At that time, in accordance to an agreement signed before the assistant to the prosecutor, the father consented to the terms of an order of protection, agreeing to refrain from assaulting the mother verbally or physically, and to vacate the family home until the mother was able to find other housing. He agreed to pay child support, and was given regular visitations as long as he behaves appropriately.

The mother left the Dominican Republic in December 1999, leaving the children with her mother and remarrying in June 2000. Five weeks later, while the mother was still in the United States, the father filed a claim for custody of the two children in the Court of the First Instance for Children and Adolescents. The maternal grandmother, who had physical custody of the children at the time, was named as offender in the matter.

Published on: February 14, 2012

Court decides Risk Assessment in Light of SORA

by Stephen Bilkis

James Taylor was 21 when he broke into a New Rochelle home on May 2, 1975. Assisted by three other men, Taylor entered the home of a suspected drug dealer with the intention of stealing money from the residents. Asleep in the home were the alleged drug dealer’s wife and three daughters, who were aged two, five and seven. According to a New York Criminal Lawyer, the four men, who were armed and wearing masks, demanded money from the wife and threatened to kill the children when she stated she had none. After she repeated her claim that there was no money to steal, the men threatened to kidnap the youngest daughter and hold her for ransom.

One of the men took the girls’ mother into a bathroom just off the master bedroom and closed the door. While holding a gun to her head he told her he would kill her if she didn’t reveal where they hid their money. She was then tied, bound and locked in a closet. When she escaped, the men were gone, along with her two-year-old daughter. She called police, who arrived on the scene. An officer noticed a blue Datsun in the area, which was occupied by Taylor, another man and a little girl. Police attempted to stop the vehicle, which lead to a high-speed chase. Finally, the car collided with a light pole, allowing police to rescue the child and apprehend Mr. Taylor and the other man.

At a non-jury trial, Mr. Taylor was convicted of first degree kidnapping, first degree robbery, criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree and first degree burglary. He was sentenced to 20 years to life. In November 1995, Mr. Taylor was paroled and as a condition of his release, required to register as a Level Three sex offender. At a redetermination hearing held in 2005, a Westchester County Court found that the Sex Offender Registration Act was unconstitutional in Mr. Taylor’s case and that he was not subject to its requirements. In April 2007, the court’s decision was reversed on appeal and a new hearing requested. The case was then forwarded to the Westchester County Supreme Court.

Published on: January 21, 2012

Accident Victims Shot

by Stephen Bilkis

Three accident victims were shot after being injured in a car accident in rural southern town, said a New York Criminal Lawyer. The accident occurred at night in the early evening. The victims included the driver and his two young daughters, ages four and seven.

Local police officers at the scene revealed that the victims’ car was rear-ended by an African American male, 21, early Tuesday evening near an intersection. Once he left his car, the African American male walked up to the car with a .22 pistol and began shooting frantically into the victims’ vehicle. The driver was shot three times. The seven year old daughter was shot four times. The youngest daughter was not injured by the gunfire.

According to authorities, the gunshot victims were treated for minor injuries at a local hospital. Their injuries were determined not to be life-threatening. The father was released the next morning, Wednesday, following treatment. No information was available concerning the status of the two daughters or when they were released.

Published on: January 16, 2012

Doctor’s License Reinstated Following Rape Acquittal

by Stephen Bilkis

The Tennessee State Board of Medical Examiners in TN, unanimously voted to reinstate the medical license of a doctor who was recently acquitted of rape charges. The State Board had previously suspended the doctor’s license after the rape charges were filed against him.

Four male patients, all in their twenties, had accused the doctor of performing unnecessary medical procedures during exams in 2008. A New York Criminal Attorney also confirmed that each of these male patients were all exhibiting symptoms of sexually transmitted diseases (STD) and the doctor had performed these procedures on their rectums and genitals.

Throughout the doctor’s rape trial, members of his staff had testified on his behalf stating that the alleged rapes did not occur, nor was there anything improper being done as there was always a staff member in the room with the doctor and his patient during these procedures.

Published on: January 12, 2012

School Board Member in Massachusetts Not Seeking Re-election After DWI Arrest Last Year

by Stephen Bilkis

A Massachusetts, a School Committee member has decided not to seek re-election. The decision seems to have been a year in the making, since many of his colleagues have repeatedly urged the 46-year old man to step down following his arrest last year for DWI.

The incident began on New Year’s Day 2010 following a call to 911 where the caller reported the driver of a pickup truck that was driving erratically, sources explained to a New York Criminal Lawyer.

An off-duty police sergeant was in his personal vehicle after completing his shift and heard the call over the police radio of what was happening. He spotted the pickup, radioed the location to the police dispatcher, and proceeded to follow it. Soon after he would observe the driver of the pickup, drive recklessly and almost hit two joggers. Soon afterward, a police cruiser arrived and stopped the truck. As part of the police’s investigation, they learned that the driver’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.25 percent, which is more than three times the Massachusetts legal limit of 0.08 percent.

Published on: January 7, 2012

Pain Study Car Crashes Lead to Higher Risk of Chronic Pain

by Stephen Bilkis

A recent study produced by a leading medical facility in Scotland finds that chronic pain risk is higher among car accident victims than other members of the population. Researches shared their findings with an New York Criminal Lawyer. Chronic pain is defined in the study as pain on both the lower and upper halves of the body, or on the right or left sides of the body, lasting 90 days or longer.

The new study drew from results of a previous study conducted over a four year period involving subjects who fit the criteria for widespread pain lasting 90 days or longer. The subjects had muscular and skeletal pain symptoms along with psychological distress from constant pain due to car accidents, job injuries, giving birth to children, broken bones, surgeries, and time in a hospital.

12 percent of those studied reported that they had new onsets of widespread pain over a 90 day period. Researchers relayed another findings that were particularly relevant to car crash studies. Eighty-four percent of this specific group representing 12 per cent of the over 2000 subjects in the study had been in vehicle accidents prior to the onset of new pain patterns.

Published on: October 19, 2011

Immigrant Fingerprinting as indicated

by Stephen Bilkis

A New York Criminal Lawyer was told by immigrant officials that in Wisconsin the state had every county being a part of the immigration enforcement strategy. Federal officials announced to a New York Criminal Lawyer that they have developed an information system that would share details with each country so that people who are accused of criminal charges will be easily identifiable.

The immigration officials told the press that about thirty seven states were on board with this program. It is anticipated that by the year 2013, more states will become a part of this immigrant fingerprinting system so that even if the illegal immigrant moves to another state, their information will still be available.

Wisconsin is one of the states that joined the immigration program on a state and federal level. This means that when fingerprints are taken from an individual who is being charged with a crime, they will be put in custody and their criminal records checked.

Published on: October 17, 2011

Changes in Mississippi Immigration Law

by Stephen Bilkis

The Mississippi Lawmakers told a New York Criminal Lawyer that they are one step closer to reaching the same decision about immigration law that Arizona has implemented and adopted. What this means is that soon Mississippi law enforcement can stop people at traffic stop lights and elsewhere and ask them to show the appropriate immigration documents.

There are many who welcome this idea, but there are a lot of Mississippi residents that loathe the idea and consider it as a form of racism and profiling. According to the state reports, there was a lot of Hispanics that moved into Memphis, Mississippi in 1987. “A lot of these people are non-immigrants and do not have the right to stay in the country, said one Police Office to the New York Criminal Lawyer. A legislative bill is expected in Mississippi to hold every law professional such as the Police to check someone’s status of immigration if suspicious. People will also go through random checks even in places like Staten Island and Westchester County.

One resident of Mississippi is angry about it. She says she is an American and does not think that the Police should ask her of her immigrant status when they don’t ask people who come from Canada the same question.