New York

Published on: August 8, 2012

Defendant Contends Identification Procedures by Police Incorrect

by Stephen Bilkis

Stalking is a crime that affects everyone who is around the intended victim of the crime. Stalking is a crime that causes a pervasive level of fear that is intolerable for most people. However, a New York Criminal Lawyer said people who have never seen this crime often have a difficult time understanding that the stalker is so focused on their victim that they often do not consider the penalty involved in their actions. The drive to possess that other person is so strong that they will often do anything within their power to have that person and to prevent anyone else from having that person.

In 2008, a woman was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend in New York. She had moved on with her life and was seeing a co-worker romantically. One day while they were at work, her ex-boyfriend showed up. A Staten Island Criminal Lawyer said he began insisting that the woman talk to him. The new boyfriend approached the pair and assessed the situation. He realized that the situation was about to get violent and had the man removed from the business. He thought that the incident was over, but the following day while they were driving to work, the ex-boyfriend drove up beside them on the roadway and brandished a knife in their direction. They refused to pull over and began driving toward the local police station. On their way to the police station, the stalker rammed their mini-van with his car.

Coincidentally, a patrol car was positioned at the street corner just up from the location of the assault with the motor vehicle. The officers heard the impact that they recognized in their experience to be the result of a motor vehicle accident. They immediately turned their patrol car onto the roadway in the direction of the impact sound. When they were on the road, they observed the mini-van and the couple inside the mini-van. The couple motioned to the officers that the car that was behind them needed to be stopped. The officers observed the stalker driving at a high rate of speed in reverse. He changed his direction and began to take evasive action. A New York Sex Crimes Lawyer said the officers turned on their emergency lights and siren to indicate to the driver of the vehicle that he needed to pull over.

Published on: August 8, 2012

Defendant Contends Pat Down Was Illegal

by Stephen Bilkis

Police officers are required to operate under strict adherence to the laws of the state. That means that every time that a police officer comes in contact with a citizen, they are required to operate under certain rules. A New York Criminal Lawyer said these rules are mandated in the United States Constitution, state laws, federal laws, local ordinances, and case law. In order to determine if the officers have overstepped their authority under the law, it is often critical that a defendant hire a good criminal attorney to represent their side.

The rules of search and seizure and admissibility of evidence can be very complicated and they are often argued in a court of law. A New York Criminal Lawyer said each case is different, and each case requires that the persons who are affected by the conduct of police officers on the street are well represented. One case that illustrates this issue occurred in New York on May 14, 1985.

Two patrol officers were patrolling the area of Eighth Avenue around 136th street. It was in the early morning hours of about 2:30 a.m. when they were flagged down by a well- dressed man who was standing beside the road. When they talked to him, he told them that he had been leaving a bar in the area when he noticed a man in front of the bar with a pistol tucked down the front of his pants. The man described the pistol as a small revolver that was commonly referred to as a snub nose. He stated that it was black in color and was in the front of the man’s pants. The complainant was especially concerned because he was afraid that the man was considering a hate crime against the homosexual population in the area. The bar that he had been in front of was a bar that catered to the homosexual population. A New York Drug Possession Lawyer said the complainant advised that he had followed the man and his companion as they left the area of the bar hoping to flag down a police officer to have him checked out. He described the man with the gun as a short black male in a white t-shirt and dark blue jeans. He stated that he was in the company of a man in a darker shirt with light blue jeans.

Published on: August 7, 2012

Defendant Contends Unlawful Stop and Frisk

by Stephen Bilkis

Police patrol officers encounter a wide variety of calls for service. Some of these calls are hazardous some are humorous. Some of these calls are somewhere in between the two. That was the case when two seasoned patrol officers in New York responded to a radio call in the early morning hours on August 4, 1979. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the radio operator advised the officers that an anonymous call had come in to the radio call center regarding an Hispanic male with an afro style haircut wearing light blue pants and a light shirt. The description involved his height which was listed as five foot ten inches tall. The caller advised that the subject was concealing a handgun inside a white shirt that he was carrying.

The officers responded to the location and observed several persons at that location, but none of them fit the description that was provided by the radio operator. They began to check the area and noticed the defendant walking on Amsterdam Avenue. He was wearing a light short sleeved shirt and was carrying a white shirt in his right hand. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the shirt that had been described in the radio transmission was a t-shirt, but this subject had on a banlon shirt. The officers determined that it would be accurate to assume that someone observing him from a distance would think that the shirt was a t-shirt. They observed the subject walk up 95th street and stop in front of a building. He walked up the first three steps and began to open the door with his left hand. He was having difficulty with the door, so he set down the white shirt that the informant had stated concealed the gun.

One of the police officers came up beside him and put his hand over the shirt on the ground so that the defendant would not be able to pick it up. He stated that as soon as he placed his hand on the shirt, he could feel that it concealed some type of handgun. The defendant began to struggle with the officer. Both officers were in uniform when the second officer approached with his firearm out. He ordered the man to stop fighting and not to move. The officers discovered that the white shirt contained a .22 caliber handgun. The subject was placed under arrest and was transported to the jail. He filed a motion to suppress the evidence of the gun.

Published on: August 6, 2012

Probable Cause Questioned in Drug Crime

by Stephen Bilkis

Drug offenses are governed by numerous laws of varying degrees. Each one is reliant on the laws of search and seizure at the federal and state level to ensure that the officers and prosecutors do not overstep their boundaries in a zealous attempt to make more cases. A New York Criminal Lawyer said if they do, then they jeopardize the trust that the citizens have placed in them. The laws of search and seizure are in place to protect all citizens from illegal intrusions into their homes and businesses. If the prosecutorial team violates that trust, then it is a threat to the freedom of all people, not just the defendant in the drug crime case.

On January 19, 1973, at around 7:30 at night, a narcotics officer was observing activity in a known high drug trafficking area from the roof top of an eighteen story building. He observed a man approach a suspected drug dealer and offer him money. The suspected dealer refused the money and the man produced a larger amount from his pocket. The dealer accepted that amount and left to enter a building. He came back a short time later and put his hand on top of the recipient’s hand in an awkward hand shake. The officer stated later in court that in his experience, that type of hand motion is used to conceal the passing of narcotics from one person to another.

The observing officer communicated with a uniformed chase officer on the roadway that he had observed the drug transaction. He described the defendant by his physical description and by his clothing. He told the chase vehicle that the defendant was walking down the roadway toward his location. He observed the recipient as he walked right up until his contact with the chase officer when the observing officer told the chase officer that it was the man right next to him.

Published on: August 6, 2012

Court Determines Confession is not Valid

by Stephen Bilkis

New York statutory law requires that certain crimes be convicted only if there is corroboration that the event took place. If there is no corroboration, then the defendant cannot be found guilty. However, the statutory law does not include this requirement for corroboration if the crime that has been committed is a misdemeanor. In 2011, a defendant challenged his conviction on misdemeanor driving while under the influence, because he claims that the admission of the evidence does not provide corroboration of the crime by the admission of additional evidence.

The prosecution claims that on the night that he was arrested, he was not guilty of any illegal action. A New York Drug Possession Lawyer said he contends that an officer approached him while he was standing next to a car. He was not physically in control of the vehicle at the time that he was approached. The police officer contends that he observed an obviously intoxicated man standing next to a vehicle. He stated that the defendant had watery eyes, slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet and had a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage on or about his clothing. He asked the defendant if he had been driving the vehicle and the defendant told the officer that he had. The officer arrested him for driving while under the influence of alcohol and transported him to the location of the intoximeter breathalyzer machine. The defendant was requested to blow his breath into the machine. The machine reported that the defendant had a blood alcohol content of .141 which is considered to be over the legal limit.

The defendant stated that because there was no corroborating evidence that he had been driving the car except for his confession, that the confession is not valid. The Supreme Court evaluated the problem. They observed that although the legislature intentionally put a statement into action in regards to felony confessions, they did not list a corroborating evidence clause in misdemeanor cases. A New York Drug Crime Lawyer said the court is certain that the absence of this corroborating evidence clause was not merely an oversight. Since, the legislature saw fit to include the corroborating evidence clause in the felony statute, it stands to reason that the failure to include this clause in the misdemeanor segment of the statute is clearly the intent of the statute. If the legislature had intended that corroborating evidence is necessary if a defendant confesses to a misdemeanor offense, they would have specifically spelled out that qualification in the law. A Suffolk Drug Possession Lawyer said because it is not spelled out in the law, the court does not find that it would be appropriate to assume an intent that has not been demonstrated.

Published on: August 6, 2012

Court Hears Illegal Abortion Case

by Stephen Bilkis

In 1955, abortion was illegal in New York State. That meant that the only termination of a valid pregnancy was if it was necessary to save the life of the mother. In the case of an abortion to save the life of the mother, it is called a therapeutic abortion. In legal terms, an abortion is any pregnancy that is spontaneously or induced to be terminated. In a spontaneous abortion, the pregnancy is terminate by a cause that is a natural act that is either normal or abnormal. The key is that a spontaneous abortion is one that occurs without any outside force being placed upon it either legally or illegally. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the code section that applied to abortions in New York in 1955 was the Sanitary Code of the City of New York § 224. At the opposite end of the spectrum defined by §224, is the induced abortion. An induced abortion is one that is caused by a person by artificial means. An induced abortion may be caused by a doctor, nurse, layperson, or even the woman herself.

A spontaneous abortion is most commonly referred to as a miscarriage and cannot be governed by the laws of society. In 1955, the prosecutors became concerned that there were illegal abortions being performed by a local hospital. The District Attorney of Kings County went to the Grand Jury of Kings County and requested an inquest to determine if the hospital was covering up illegal abortions. A Nassau County Criminal Lawyer said they stated that they thought that the doctors were not reporting the illegal abortions that were brought to them.

The law stated that anytime that a woman arrived at the hospital and the doctor believed that she had attempted to perform an illegal abortion on herself that they had to call the police and report the incident. The police would arrive and charge the woman with the misdemeanor offense of inducing an abortion in violation of the laws of the state. If a woman presented at the hospital and someone else had attempted to perform an illegal abortion on her, the doctors are responsible for notifying the authorities to come to the hospital and investigate the situation. The hospital administrator is responsible for keeping track of all of the numbers of miscarriages and abortions that are treated at the hospital. These statistics are turned in to the state and are reviewed. In reviewing these statistics, the District Attorney determined that they were not accurate. He had no proof that they were not accurate, only that he believed that they were not being reported correctly.

Published on: August 1, 2012

Defendant Charged with Cocaine Possession

by Stephen Bilkis

A man was standing in the corridor of a public housing project in Manhattan. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the housing projects are known to be a place frequented by drug dealers, drug addicts, those publicly drinking alcohol, trespassers and other persons engaged in criminal acts. Police officers have been assigned to conduct floor-by-floor patrols of the housing projects because of the prevalence of the crime in those areas.

On February 28, 2010, two veteran NYPD police officers made floor-by-floor patrol of a housing project in Manhattan. The police officers asked anyone they encounter in the housing projects their names, their addresses and even ask where they are going. When the police found persons in the corridors who are not tenants of the public housing apartment building they are patrolling, they ask for the persons reasons for being there. A New York Criminal Lawyer said they asked whether they are visiting, they asked the name and apartment number of the person they visited and they confirm with the tenant.

When the police officers encounter people who claim to be residents, they ask the people to prove their identity and prove their residence in the building by asking them for their key and asking for any identification that states their residence in the building.

Published on: August 1, 2012

Defense Moves to Supress Evidence

by Stephen Bilkis

A detective led a police team that was investigating the deaths of a two man. The bodies of the two victims were discovered in the bathroom of the other man’s apartment. Both men had been bound with duct tape and shot through the head. A New Criminal Lawyer said when the detective and his colleague went to the apartment, they smelled a strong odor of marijuana and observed marijuana residue. The police later discovered that the other man had been a low-level drug dealer.

A witness, who claimed to have been a close friend of the other victim undergone interview with the detective, during their discussions, the witness stated that he knew the victim and they had been friends for fifteen years. The witness also stated that the victim had been a marijuana dealer with regular clientele. He also revealed that he had been present in the victim’s apartment when the victim sold between a half-pound and a pound of marijuana to another man. The witness also asserts that the victim had also been well acquainted with his client, whom he sold the pound of marijuana. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the witness further states that the victim told him about a shipment of 30 to 50 pounds of marijuana and had some out-of-town buyers for it. The victim was nervous about so large a shipment and his client was present when the victim mentioned the prospective sale to the witness.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the police utilized the information from the witness to obtain a photograph of the victim’s client. They put the photograph into a computer-generated photo array which they showed the witness. The witness identified the person pictured in the photograph as the client who purchased the marijuana from the victim. The police also obtained a number of addresses of locations that were linked to the client. A New York Drug Possessionhttp://http://www.newyorkcriminallawyer24-7.com/lawyer-attorney-1732528.html Lawyer said another detective informed the head detective that the victim’s client had a reputation for robbing drug dealers. At about 7:00 pm that same day, the detectives visited one of the apartments in the hope of finding the victim’s client.

Published on: July 31, 2012

Court Decides if Defendant is Eligible for Resentencing

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts:

On 16 October 1994, defendant was arrested for selling $20 of cocaine to an undercover police officer. On 27 January 1997, he was convicted of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (drug possession). He was sentenced as a Second Felony Offender to concurrent indeterminate prison sentences of 5 1/2 to 11 years. He was convicted in that case of. On 19 May 1999, defendant was released on parole.

Approximately 6 months later, he was arrested for another drug sale charge. On 4 August 2000, he pled guilty to Attempted Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class C felony. A New York Criminal Lawyer said he then apparently failed to appear in court for sentencing and a bench warrant for his appearance was issued on 28 February 2001. He was returned on that warrant a little more than two years later on 2 May 2003. He was sentenced upon that conviction on 12 June 2003 to an indeterminate sentence of imprisonment with a term of 3 1/2 to 7 years.

Published on: July 31, 2012

Teenager Charged with Cocaine Possession

by Stephen Bilkis

On January 23, 1990 a police detective was looking through a one-way mirror at the passengers lined-up waiting for a bus to go to Virginia. The detective noticed a girl who looked no more than 13 years old lined up all by herself without a parent or guardian travelling with her. The detective also noticed that she had a bulge underneath her zipped-up coat.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said aware that some drug dealers used teenagers as drug mules to bring drugs across through state lines, and fearing that the teenager may be a runaway, the detective approached her and talked to her.

The detective sat behind her on the bus. The detective asked her first if she didn’t mind speaking to her and she assented. He asked her if she was travelling alone, how old she was and where she was headed. The girl confirmed that she was travelling alone and that she was on her way to visit family in Norfolk. She also claimed that she was 18 years old.