Articles Posted in New York

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The defendant in this case is charged with a DWI and violation of vehicle and traffic laws. A hearing was ordered by the court to determine if the blood test obtained from the defendant had led to the violation of vehicle and traffic laws.

The police officer who arrested the defendant was named the witness in the hearing. There were no witnesses for the side of the defendant. The court heard the testimony of the witness and examined the evidence presented before it.

According to a New York Criminal Lawyer, after the witness had testified, the court has found the witness to be credible since the witness is a veteran police officer. On the day of the arrest, the officer was on his usual patrol when he received a report concerning a vehicle accident. He arrived at the scene and found the two cars involved in the accident. He noted that one car had attained damages on its rear end. The other car had damages at the front. The police officer chose to approach the car with the front damage. The driver of the vehicle was the defendant in this case.

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A man was arrested in November 14, 2007 for driving while intoxicated and his license was revoked. As part of his conviction, his driver’s license was revoked for six months. But because this conviction was the man’s first, he was able to join a rehabilitation program offered by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said that as part of the rehabilitation program, the man was issued a conditional license. This license imposed restrictions on him: he can only drive to and from work; he can only drive to the rehabilitation program and its related activities; he can only drive to and from school; and he can only drive between 12:00 noon and 3:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

On February 10, 2008, the man was arrested once more for driving while intoxicated. He was arrested at 1:04 p.m. He was with his girlfriend and upon his arrest he told the arresting police officer that he and his girlfriend came from a bar. He was charged for driving while intoxicated and other offenses. Under the indictment, he was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the first degree.

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In New York City, a man was charged with four counts of manslaughter in the second degree, four counts of vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, two counts of DWI (driving while intoxicated), reckless endangerment in the second degree, driving with a suspended registration and various traffic infractions. A New York DWI Lawyer said that the charges arise out of a single-car collision that resulted in the death of three people, a pregnant woman and her son and the sister of the pregnant woman. Also at issue is whether the son, delivered by cesarean section after the death of the mother, was an additional fatality under the law. The defendant is alleged to have been driving while intoxicated and above the legal speed limit when he ran a red traffic signal and collided with the family crossing the intersection.

Records revealed that the defendant had the opportunity to examine the Grand Jury minutes and claims that the evidence before the Grand Jury is insufficient to support any of the charges of manslaughter in the second degree while conceding the sufficiency of the evidence regarding the charges of vehicular manslaughter involving the deaths of the three victims. The defendant claims, however, that none of the charges were sustained with regards to the son. He argues that he cannot be charged with the death of a child who was never legally alive.

A New York DWI Lawyer said that he also seeks a number of rulings to be disqualified prior to trial. He seeks to exclude the testimony of a lay witness who testified as to the speed at which his vehicle was traveling; the testimony of his alleged drinking prior to the collision; the prosecution from introducing evidence of the name and nature of the bar where he was said to have been drinking; and to exclude the testimony that two empty beer cans were recovered from his vehicle. He also seeks to disqualify the court from introducing evidence of his refusal to submit to a coordination test. In addition, he moves to suppress his statements allegedly made to a Police Captain.

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The defendant was charged with DWI including various traffic violations. A suppression hearing was scheduled to determine if the statements admitted for evidence were allegedly given by the defendant. The hearing will also determine if the breath test results of the defendant will be placed under suppression.

The only witness in the hearing was the police officer who arrested the defendant for driving while intoxicated. The court was tasked to make a decision regarding the motion to suppress by reviewing the facts and the precedents of the case.

According to a New York Crirminal Lawyer, the police officer who arrested the defendant is an experienced female officer who already had several DWI arrests under her belt. On the day of the arrest, the female officer was on her usual patrol when she pulled over the defendant’s car. When the officer approached the car, she asked to see the license and registration. While the defendant produced the needed documents, the officer asked the defendant if he knew why she asked him to pull over. The defendant remarked that he was driving like an asshole.

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According to a New York DWI Lawyer, the defendant has filed a motion to deny the request made by the prosecution that he should be sentenced as a felony offender for the first time. The defendant had given a guilty plea for attempting to sell illegal drugs. The defendant was convicted for assault charges which he admitted he was guilty. He was sentenced to a prison term of at least one or one and half years. The maximum sentence is four years. The defendant has already admitted that he was the same defendant who was initially charged for the first felony. The defendant has challenged the conviction made in his second conviction. The defendant contends that he received ineffective counsel from his lawyer.

The defendant presented a memorandum to support his motion. The letter memorandum contained an outline of the defendant’s case. It also includes information that the defendant had informed his lawyer about the facts of his alleged offenses. These offenses were the basis of his current assault conviction.

A New York DWI Lawyer said that the defendant further contends that his previous lawyer failed to present a DWI defense during his previous conviction. The defendant also challenged the prosecution that his guilty plea should be removed from the records since he was denied the effective counsel assistance. To support this statement, the defendant has submitted a letter from that lawyer who affirms the circumstances that are relevant to his guilty plea. The prosecution has opposed the motion of the defendant and filed a motion for the court to sentence him for his second felony conviction. It has been noted by the court that the defendant did not submit to a letter from the previous case’s lawyer that should have explained the circumstances involved.

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In 1981, a wife was shot and killed at her home by her estranged husband. The defendant husband was charged for murder in the second degree for intentionally causing the death of his wife. At trial, the husband did not deny that he fired the shots which killed his wife; rather, he offered evidence to establish that he did not have the right state of mind to commit intentional murder. Specifically, the husband sought to show that at the time of the shooting he was suffering from hypoglycemia, a condition resulting from his having taken an excessive amount of insulin to control his diabetes, which rendered him, in effect, intoxicated and incapable of forming the requisite intent.

Records revealed that the defendant husband requested to the jury that manslaughter in the second degree and criminal negligence homicide be charged as lesser included offenses of intentional murder. After the County Court denied his request, the husband was found guilty as charged and a term of imprisonment of 25 years to life was imposed. The husband appealed and raised several grounds of error.

Initially, the Penal Law has established a hierarchy of culpable mental states with felonious negligence as the least liable mental state, recklessly as the next highest, and intentionally as the most liable mental state. It is further recognize that the lower mental states are necessarily included in the higher forms of mental liability. A review of the statutory definitions of criminally negligent homicide, reckless manslaughter and intentional murder reveals that these crimes are distinguished only by the degree of their required mental states. Thus, it is impossible to commit the greater crime without concurrently, by the same conduct, committing the lesser crimes. Criminally negligent homicide and reckless manslaughter are, therefore, lesser included offenses of intentional murder.

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According to a New York DWI Lawyer, a Lounge bar petitioned for the dismissal of charges against them by the State Liquor Authority after they were found guilty of selling alcoholic beverages to a person under the age of 21 years. The bar’s liquor license was suspended for 15 days and was imposed a penalty. The person to whom the bar allegedly sold the alcohol was killed in a car accident shortly after driving while intoxicated from the Lounge bar.

A Nassau County Criminal Lawyer said that the record establishes that the Lounge was a topless go-go bar whose entertainment fee was included in the additional cost of each customer’s first drink. The Lounge bar’s witnesses testified that its doorman admitted the minor after he displayed false identification. However, the police officer who subsequently inventoried his personal effects found a variety of identification documents, but no false ones. Moreover, his two friends testified that the identification was not checked at the door, but that he was admitted while they were excluded based on their respective physical appearances.

A New York DWI Lawyer has not disputed that the minor spent about an hour inside the bar. During that period, when his two friends testified that they approached the door to the Lounge bar and observed him inside drinking from a bottle of beer, the Lounge bar witnesses claimed that he was not served any alcohol. In addition, all of the witnesses agreed that at some point he endeavored to bribe the doorman to admit his two underage friends. According to his friends, while negotiating with the doorman, he was visibly drunk and was holding a bottle of Budweiser beer in his hand. The bribery attempt was reported to the bar manager, who testified noticing the minor who was then intoxicated and signaled the barmaid to stop serving the minor alcoholic beverages. No Lounge bar employee made any effort to drive him out.

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A driver was involved in a one-car accident in Albany County. The car he was driving left the highway and struck a tree. As the result of investigation, officers of the defendant Town Police Department went to the hospital to issue the plaintiff driver his appearance tickets charging him of DWI (driving while intoxicated), operating an unregistered vehicle and driving at a speed not reasonable and prudent. A New York DWI Lawyer said that a blood sample was taken from the plaintiff to determine his blood alcohol content, which later proved to be negative. Consequently, the charges against the driver were dismissed. Thereafter, the driver commenced a legal action against the defendant Town, the police department and the Police Officer for false imprisonment and malicious prosecution. The defendants answered and moved for dismissal of the charges. In opposition to the motions, the driver conceded that his claim for false imprisonment did not lie, but contended that his malicious prosecution claim was viable because the defendants lacked probable cause to initiate the criminal proceeding which was terminated in his favor. The Supreme Court granted the defendants’ motions and an appeal proceeded.

A New York DWI Lawyer explained that elements of an action for malicious prosecution are initiation of a proceeding without probable cause. Records show that the defendants submitted their testimony and affidavits of the police officers who were dispatched to the accident scene. The testimony and affidavits claim that the driver was observed to be somewhat incoherent, and that they detected a faint odor of alcohol emanating from him. When they asked the driver whether he had been drinking, the driver responded that he did not drink much. The police officers further alleged that the driver’s automobile had failed to negotiate a curve at the accident site and that the road surface was dry and free of any defects where the vehicle had left the road. Based upon the facts, the police officers asserted that there existed probable cause to issue the appearance tickets in question.

In opposition to the motion, the driver asserted that he had consumed no alcoholic beverages on the day of the accident, a fact confirmed by the results of his blood alcohol analysis, and that the accident resulted when he leaned over to pick up a cigarette that he had dropped. As to his alleged conversation with the police concerning his alcohol consumption, the driver alleged that he had no recollection of events from the time of the collision until he regained consciousness in the hospital two months later. A Nassau County Criminal Lawyer said that it appears that there are questions of fact as to whether probable cause existed for the issuance of the appearance ticket for driving while intoxicated. Notably, the driver’s alleged admission that he had not drunk much on the day of the accident was a matter solely within the knowledge of the moving parties, given the driver’s lack of recollection of events following the accident, and should not form the basis for dismissal.

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A 25-year old mother was indicted and convicted of a drug crime after trial of the sale of cocaine, which is considered a class A-I felony to an undercover police officer. According to sources, in a location known for rampant cocaine possession, the mother sold the undercover officer 214 vials of cocaine for $2,000 and promised to “take care of” him “the next time” he came. At the time of the sale she was 17 years old.

According to a New York Criminal Lawyer, under criminal laws, conviction of a class A-I felony carries a mandatory indeterminate prison sentence, the minimum of which is not less than 15 years and not more than 25 years, the maximum of which is life imprisonment. The trial court, however, determined that in this drug case, imposing even the minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years to life would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Accordingly, the trial court imposed an indeterminate sentence of eight years to life imprisonment. A divided appellate court affirmed. The judges who the dissented voted to reverse the sentence and remand the case to Supreme Court for resentencing in compliance with the Penal Law’s mandatory sentencing provisions for an A-I felony conviction. The State appealed.

On further appeal, the court pointed out that courts have upheld the facial and validity of the mandatory maximum life imprisonment sentence and various mandatory minimum prison sentences as against challenges under the cruel and unusual punishment prohibitions of the State and Federal Constitutions. The court, in many cases, adopted the principle that a sentence may constitute cruel and unusual punishment by being ” ‘cruelly’ excessive, that is, grossly disproportionate to the crime for which it is exacted.”

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A man was arrested for DWI after allegedly striking objects and vehicles in a trailer park.

The local 911 office received several calls from trailer park residents about a driver in a white Ford truck striking, fencing, an electrical box, power lines and other vehicles. When officials arrived on the scene, they observed the white truck driving southeast without headlights in a field. When the truck stopped, deputies discovered the driver had abandoned the vehicle.

After searching the area, deputies found the 41 year-old man 300 yards from the abandoned truck. He was hiding in a ditch. The man stumbled out of the ditch mumbling that someone had slipped something in his drink and it was making him act crazy. Officials observed that the man seemed extremely intoxicated and discovered a rifle the man had left behind in the ditch, stated a New York Criminal Lawyer.

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