New York

Published on: October 8, 2012

Man Receives Life Sentence for Distributing Heroin

by Stephen Bilkis

In this drug offense, petitioner was a 21 year old heroin addict. On September 18th, two agents of the Sheriff’s Department of Louisiana, accompanied by a paid informant, and encountered petitioner. Aware of petitioner’s addiction, they asked him whether he had any heroin. He answered that he did not but agreed to “score a bundle” for them. This jargon describes the purchase of 25 packets of individual doses of heroin, a retail transaction. Petitioner telephoned his “connection” (i.e. his supplier), the agents provided the funds to enable him to make the purchase and he left to accomplish the transaction. He returned with 22 packets. The agents took 19 and allowed him to retain three.

Some months later, a New York Criminal Lawyer said that petitioner was arrested, tried and convicted of distributing heroin. Petitioner testified at trial. He did not deny the facts set forth above, but contended that he was entrapped. He admitted that his addiction required five to six packets of heroin each day, but he was not able to afford that much. He paid $10 to $12 per packet. He was employed as a carpenter earning $3 per hour, but he did not work steadily. He admitted that he had previously been convicted of two felonies, burglary and theft by fraud. His wife testified that, while she also worked, her husband was a good provider for her and their one child. A New York Criminal Lawyer said that petitioner was sentence to life imprisonment without parole for distributing heroin.

The issue in this case is whether petitioner’s sentence is grossly disproportionate to his crime as to contravene the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

Published on: October 8, 2012

Defendant Contends Confession was Coerced

by Stephen Bilkis

In this criminal case, a New York Lawyer said the defendant was arrested by a Police Officer at 144th Street in Manhattan and charged with possession of a 9mm firearm. While en route to the 32nd Precinct, he initiated a conversation with the Police Officer in which he asked him to let him go and stated that he would help him by bringing in additional guns. They arrived at the precinct at approximately 7:50 p.m. and while the Police Officer elicited pedigree information, the defendant continued to talk about bringing in additional guns. The defendant, who was “kind of fidgety”, talked continuously and was “over-excited”, told the Police officer that he “used” heroin. At 9:05 p.m. A detective read Miranda warnings to the defendant. The defendant indicated that he understood his rights and wished to answer questions. Thereafter, the Police Officer and the Detective spoke with the defendant intermittently. During this period the defendant also was questioned by homicide detectives from the 32nd Precinct. Thereafter, the defendant gave a detailed oral statement to the detective in whom he explained where and from whom he had purchased the 9mm weapon and said that he had purchased cocaine from the same location. At approximately midnight, the defendant made two telephone calls: one to his wife and the other to an unidentified male. He told the man that he had been arrested, that he was “working with some good police officers” and that the man should gather the guns and gave them to the defendant’s wife. The Police Officer told the defendant that he would tell the District Attorney’s Office that the defendant was cooperating. At approximately 2:00 a.m. the defendant’s wife arrived at the precinct and the defendant, in the Police Officer’s presence, instructed her to get the guns. At about 4:00 a.m. she returned to the precinct with a Cobray Mac 11 gun, a .380 caliber pistol and matching ammunition.

The defendant was then transported from the 32nd Precinct to Manhattan Central Booking for arraignment. He complained of being ill and asked to see a doctor. Central Booking, therefore, would not accept him and he was returned to the 32nd Precinct. The Police Officer filed a felony complaint on the arrest with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. The Warrant Officer again transported the defendant to Manhattan Central Booking. At 10:15 a.m. the Warrant Officer received a call from the Police Officer asking that he return the defendant to the 32nd Precinct and the former did so.

At 11:45 a.m. another Detective in the Brooklyn South Homicide Task Force learned from the Police Officer that the defendant, a suspect in the December 20th shooting was being returned to the 32nd Precinct. Defendant was questioned by narcotics detectives from Manhattan South. The detective questioned the defendant, asking him about a gun trafficker in Brooklyn. Twenty minutes into their conversation, he told the defendant that he and a Sergeant were from Brooklyn and “that they knew that he had done a shooting in the apartment on Parkside Avenue.” The defendant shook his head “No” and the detective repeated that they knew he had done it and wanted to hear his version of what had happened. The defendant stated: “He tried to f* * * my wife. My wife called me and I went over there.” The detective then showed the defendant the Miranda waiver, signed the previous evening, and “reminded him that he had waived his rights, signed the Miranda form and agreed to make a statement.” The detective then re-administered Miranda warnings and the defendant once again indicated that he understood. During the next hour the defendant made statements concerning the shooting. The defendant, also, told the detective that he was a heroin user.

Published on: October 6, 2012

Defendant Convicted of Intent to Distribute

by Stephen Bilkis

The defendant’s convictions arose from a series of drug transactions which began when a certain person contacted another person and informed the latter that he had heroin for sale. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the former was unaware that the latter was a confidential informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The parties and co-defendant agreed that the former would sell the informant 25 ounces of heroin for $6,000 per ounce. While the co-defendant was in Mexico he ran into the defendant who offered to drive him to Texas. He agreed and the two men drove to the border. As they approached the border the co-defendant told the defendant that he wished to walk across the border and would meet the defendant on the United States side. The defendant drove the vehicle across the border while co-defendant walked across carrying the one gram sample of heroin.

A Houston Heroin Possession Lawyer said that, the defendant and his co-defendant drove to the informant’s apartment where they met the informant and an Agent outside the apartment. The defendant and the Agent remained outside in their respective vehicles while co-defendant and the informant went inside. When the two men left the apartment the Agent saw co-defendant hand informant a piece of paper later found to contain .12 grams of heroin (heroin possession). The informant gave the paper to the Agent. Co-defendant, the informant and the Agent then discussed the purchase of a test ounce and the full 25 ounce shipment. The defendant drove the co-defendant to another apartment where he met with the certain John doe while the defendant remained outside in the vehicle.

Later that evening co-defendant and the informant took one ounce of heroin to the Agent’s motel room and sold it to him for $5,000 cash. Co-defendant returned to Mexico where he processed the remaining ounces of heroin. The defendant came into the apartment while this processing was being done. The next morning co-defendant secreted heroin in the stereo speaker of his vehicle. After doing so he asked the defendant for help in replacing the screws. The two men then drove to the informant’s apartment in the United States. While en route into town co-defendant advised the defendant that what he was doing was not honest and that he should not get involved in similar “deals”. A Nassau County Criminal Lawyer said when co-defendant and the defendant arrived at the informant’s apartment the defendant carried the heroin into the apartment. Later the three men left for the Agent’s motel with the defendant driving. Co-defendant, believing they were being followed, directed the defendant to return to the informant’s apartment. Co-defendant and the informant then drove to the Agent’s motel to deliver the heroin and the defendant left. Co-defendant was arrested as he delivered the heroin to the Agent. Defendant was arrested near Hidalgo, Texas.

Published on: October 6, 2012

Defendant Claims He was Denied a Right to a Speedy Trial

by Stephen Bilkis

In this drug offense, petitioner was a 21 year old heroin addict. On September 18th, two agents of the Sheriff’s Department of Louisiana, accompanied by a paid informant, and encountered petitioner. Aware of petitioner’s addiction, they asked him whether he had any heroin. He answered that he did not but agreed to “score a bundle” for them. A New York Criminal Lawyer said this jargon describes the purchase of 25 packets of individual doses of heroin, a retail transaction. Petitioner telephoned his “connection” (i.e. his supplier), the agents provided the funds to enable him to make the purchase and he left to accomplish the transaction. He returned with 22 packets. The agents took 19 and allowed him to retain three.

Some months later, a New Orleans Heroin Possession Lawyer said that petitioner was arrested, tried and convicted of distributing heroin (heroin possession). Petitioner testified at trial. He did not deny the facts set forth above, but contended that he was entrapped. He admitted that his addiction required five to six packets of heroin each day, but he was not able to afford that much. He paid $10 to $12 per packet. He was employed as a carpenter earning $3 per hour, but he did not work steadily. He admitted that he had previously been convicted of two felonies, burglary and theft by fraud. His wife testified that, while she also worked, her husband was a good provider for her and their one child. A New Orleans Drug Crime Lawyer said that petitioner was sentence to life imprisonment without parole for distributing heroin.

The issue in this case is whether petitioner’s sentence is grossly disproportionate to his crime as to contravene the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

Published on: October 5, 2012

Defendant Claims he was Denied a Right to a Speedy Trial

by Stephen Bilkis

On February 1986, there was a gathering of people in the apartment of a woman. The woman requested a man to bring to that event several glassine bags of a white powdery substance which the state asserts was heroin (heroin possession). At some time during the course of the evening the substance was injected into the body of the woman and her boyfriend. The next day, the substance was injected by two other men to their own body. One of the men took 11 envelopes after agreeing to help the man sell the substance. At about 4:00 p.m. that day, the woman became ill and died of causes apparently unrelated to the case and an investigation was conducted.

As a result of a search of the apartment, several items were seized including a piece of mirror with white powder residue, a box found in the medicine cabinet containing a black shoe lace, syringe, hypodermic needle and bottle cap cooker, an empty bottle cap found in the medicine cabinet, a syringe and needle found in a dresser drawer, and a plastic bag containing white powder which was found in a kitchen drawer. A New York Criminal Lawyer said after testing by a forensic scientist, only the bottle cap cooker tested positive for the presence of narcotics. The forensic scientist who performed the autopsy of the woman’s body found the presence of substances including quinine but no traces of the presence of either heroin or morphine.

The man and his companion were indicted for three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and two counts of criminal injection of a narcotic drug. The man’s motions for severance were denied and a joint trial was held wherein the other man chose not to testify but the man testified on his own behalf.

Published on: October 5, 2012

Court Discusses Mental Hygiene Law

by Stephen Bilkis

The complainant brought this action to recover damages for injuries he claims to have suffered as a result of being knocked down as he attempted to board a bus operated by the accused. At the time of jury selection, the complainant moved to preclude the accused from offering evidence of or in any way calling the jury’s attention to the facts of the complainant’s incontestable past use of heroin and his current participation in a methadone treatment program. A New York Criminal Lawyer said at the jury coordinating part, the judge determined that the accused would be precluded from any reference to the complainant’s current use of methadone or his participation in the treatment program. He reserved to the trial judge the issue of whether the complainant’s past use of heroin was admissible in the liability phase of the trial.

Following jury selection and prior to opening, the court granted the balance of the complainant’s motion and precluded the accused from mentioning or offering any evidence of the complainant’s past use of heroin. Given that there is a paucity of reported case law regarding the admissibility of such evidence in civil proceedings, the court files the decision to memorialize its opinion.

The motion does not question whether a complainant’s use of heroin is admissible in the damages phase of a civil trial where the jury is assessing a variety of health and life issues relating to the complainant, such as life expectancy. In that context, with an appropriate foundation, testimony regarding the complainant’s heroin use would surely be admissible. Nor is it about whether the complainant was under the influence of heroin at the time of the accident so that his powers of perception or recollection might actually have been impaired by his heroin habit; nor whether the complainant was under the influence of heroin at the time of his testimony. The use of heroin by the complainant in those circumstances would be admissible even in the liability phase to impeach his credibility as a witness. Indeed, in all of those situations, proof of heroin use and addiction even by extrinsic evidence would be proper. The lone issue decided by the court on the branch of the motion reserved to it was whether the complainant’s past use of heroin was admissible as an act of moral depravity offered only to attack his credibility as a witness.

Published on: October 4, 2012

Court Discusses Larceny Charges

by Stephen Bilkis

A man went to a house in a residential neighborhood. It was eleven thirty in the evening and all the three residents of the house were fast asleep. The man went up the roof and was preparing to enter the house through a bedroom with an open screened window.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said tne resident of the house was fast asleep in the bedroom as the man was trying to enter through the screen window. The noise made by the man outside the window woke the resident of the house. He had a .25 caliber hand gun in a drawer in his bedside table. He cried aloud and said “Who’s there?” When the man crouched down in an attempt to hide, the occupant fired a warning shot.

Another occupant called an emergency hotline and the man was unable to get down from the roof until the police got there. The man was charged with attempted breaking entering with intent to commit grand larceny. It was alleged that the three occupants in the house had cell phones, laptop computers and other valuables inside the house which could have been what the prowler intended to take.

Published on: October 3, 2012

Court Discusses the Elements of Burglary

by Stephen Bilkis

Sometime on July 14, 1995 at 11:30 pm two police officers were in a police cruiser and they were parked with the headlights turned off. They were observing two men outside an auto mechanic’s garage which was already closed for the night. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the two policemen were observing two men who were circling around a parked Chevrolet outside the auto mechanic’s garage.

A little later, the two men took out tools from a tool box they carried and they started removing the hub caps and the lug nuts of the parked car. A while later they were able to remove all the four tires of the car. They took the tires and the hub caps and loaded these into the trunk of their own car. Before they could start their engine the police officers came towards them and declared them arrested.

At the police station, the police officers charged the men for burglary, for possession of tools for burglary and for burglary of a conveyance. A New York Lawyer said the two men pleaded not guilty and they also filed a motion to dismiss the two charges for burglary and the possession of burglary tools.

Published on: October 3, 2012

Defendant Claims Insufficient Evidence for Drug Charges

by Stephen Bilkis

The defendant’s convictions arose from a series of drug transactions which began when a certain person contacted another person and informed the latter that he had heroin for sale. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the former was unaware that the latter was a confidential informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The parties and co-defendant agreed that the former would sell the informant 25 ounces of heroin for $6,000 per ounce. While the co-defendant was in Mexico he ran into the defendant who offered to drive him to Texas. He agreed and the two men drove to the border. As they approached the border the co-defendant told the defendant that he wished to walk across the border and would meet the defendant on the United States side. The defendant drove the vehicle across the border while co-defendant walked across carrying the one gram sample of heroin.

A Heroin Possession Lawyer said that, the defendant and his co-defendant drove to the informant’s apartment where they met the informant and an Agent outside the apartment. The defendant and the Agent remained outside in their respective vehicles while co-defendant and the informant went inside. When the two men left the apartment the Agent saw co-defendant hand informant a piece of paper later found to contain .12 grams of heroin. The informant gave the paper to the Agent. Co-defendant, the informant and the Agent then discussed the purchase of a test ounce and the full 25 ounce shipment. The defendant drove the co-defendant to another apartment where he met with the certain John doe while the defendant remained outside in the vehicle.

Later that evening co-defendant and the informant took one ounce of heroin to the Agent’s motel room and sold it to him for $5,000 cash. Co-defendant returned to Mexico where he processed the remaining ounces of heroin. The defendant came into the apartment while this processing was being done. A Bronx Criminal Lawyer said the next morning co-defendant secreted heroin in the stereo speaker of his vehicle. After doing so he asked the defendant for help in replacing the screws. The two men then drove to the informant’s apartment in the United States. While en route into town co-defendant advised the defendant that what he was doing was not honest and that he should not get involved in similar “deals”. When co-defendant and the defendant arrived at the informant’s apartment the defendant carried the heroin into the apartment. Later the three men left for the Agent’s motel with the defendant driving. Co-defendant, believing they were being followed, directed the defendant to return to the informant’s apartment. Co-defendant and the informant then drove to the Agent’s motel to deliver the heroin and the defendant left. Co-defendant was arrested as he delivered the heroin to the Agent. Defendant was arrested near Hidalgo, Texas.

Published on: October 2, 2012

Court Discusses Crime of Possession of a Controlled Substance

by Stephen Bilkis

On this proceeding, the state presented evidence about a pharmacologist who was a member of a conspiracy to procure heroin. The pharmacologist and his accomplices were guilty of attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance based on a series of events that commenced in the state. Even if the jury found him guilty of both the crime, on appeal, he challenges the state’s exercise of territorial jurisdiction over the second offense only.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the evidence revealed that the leader of the conspiracy was a man. Through a wiretap surveillance of the telephone line to the leader’s residence, the law enforcement authorities discovered that the leader was raising $120,000 to pay a courier fee to obtain a large quantity of heroin to the state. The intercepted conversations cryptically identified the various players in the proposed drug exchange. The state theorized that the pharmacologist’s role in the project was to test the purity of the heroin.

The leader and another individual discussed the pharmacologist’s availability for the project. Upon receiving a telephone call advising that the pharmacologist had been located. Thereafter, a woman used the leader’s telephone to make airline reservations for three men to fly at 8:00 p.m. that evening and all of them were under the same surnames. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the law enforcement authorities observed the pharmacologist together with two other men aboard the flight. At the request of an investigator, a state’s troop followed the activities of the three men. After registering at the airport’s hotel under aliases, they were seen entering and leaving each other’s rooms during the next 24 hours.