New York

Published on: May 11, 2012

Defendant Charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance

by Stephen Bilkis

The Court of Appeals held that a conviction of criminal sale of a controlled substance premised upon an offering for sale theory must be supported by evidence of a bona fide offer to sell, which means that the evidence must show that the accused had both the intent and the ability to proceed with the sale. The accused assert that the evidence supporting the conviction was insufficient because no drugs were recovered by the police upon their arrest. A New York DWI Lawyer said they also claim that the court erred in failing to specifically instruct the jury that it could convict the accused only if it found that they had both the intent and ability to proceed with the sale.

The case originates from community complaints received by the New York City Police Department regarding drug crime and narcotics sales in Manhattan. A New York DWI Lawyer said in response, an undercover buy-and-bust operation was organized for the afternoon of April 24, 1998, in which undercover officer would attempt to purchase drugs at the location, a location where he had previously purchased crack and guilty of cocaine possession.

On that day, the undercover approached a group of individuals using the street term for crack, asked where he could get some. The accused the undercover what he was looking for and the undercover responded. The accused told the undercover he only had $10 per bag and the undercover ordered two dimes.

Published on: May 10, 2012

Court Decides if it Will Accept Independent Evidence

by Stephen Bilkis

Police officers were assigned to conduct surveillance of an apartment in Brooklyn on suspicion of sale and possession of heroin. The police observed the apartment from 11 am to 1:30 pm of October 22, 1971 before one occupant (the first man) of the apartment came out. Forty-five minutes after that a second man knocked on the apartment door and spoke with the man who opened the door. A New York DWI Lawyer said the second man entered the apartment. An hour later, the second man came out of the apartment accompanied by the owner of the apartment.. The police arrested these two men.

When the police were approaching the apartment, the man who first left the apartment came back. The police arrested him as he got off the elevator. The police knocked at the door and a fourth man answered the door. The police entered the apartment and found a woman lying naked on the bed under the blankets.

On the kitchen table, the police found one thousand three hundred plastic sachets. A New York DWI Lawyer said they also found two huge plastic bags with white powder; a big plastic bag contained capsules. They found a scale, three boxes of cellophane, and a box of rubber bands.

Published on: May 9, 2012

Attorney Involved in Death of Young Girl

by Stephen Bilkis

On the night of March 12, 1976, an attorney was at the home of an 18-year-old girlfriend of his. He was known to use heroin. He had offered the girl’s brother some in the past. The girl’s brother later testified in court that on this night, he went to his sister’s room and knocked. She did not answer her door and it was locked. He left and returned later. He again knocked on the bedroom door of his sister. This time the door was opened by the attorney. The brother could see his sister in the bed gasping for air and breathing heavily. The boy asked if she was OK and was advised by the attorney that she was just coming down from some depressants. A New York DWI Lawyer said the attorney told the girl’s brother that she would be OK in the morning. The boy went in to check on her and the attorney grabbed his briefcase and left in a hurried fashion.

The girl passed out and the brother left her in her room because the attorney had said that she would be all right. The attorney went to the home of a different friend and was in an agitated state. He informed the group of friends that was gathered there that he had injected the girl with a small amount of heroin in her buttocks. He said that he panicked when she passed out and ran out of the house. The following morning, the brother found his sister dead.

Several months later, the attorney was arrested in connection with the girl’s death. A New York DWI Lawyer said he was indicted and convicted of manslaughter in the second degree, and criminal injection of a narcotic drug. He had been charged with criminally negligent homicide as well, but he was acquitted on that charge. He filed an appeal. The defendant maintains that the prosecution did not have sufficient evidence to corroborate the information that they had obtained from the civilian witnesses that he had confessed to. He maintains that if the prosecution does not have sufficient evidence to prove the case, then there should be no conviction based solely on statements that he may have made to third parties after the event.

Published on: May 8, 2012

Court Determines Technical Violations of Parole

by Stephen Bilkis

Defendant sold crack cocaine to an undercover police officer, a drug crime. On the day after the sale, defendant was arrested.

A New York DWI Lawyer said the defendant was charged with the crime of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.

Defendant pled guilty to the sole count of the indictment and in exchange was promised an indeterminate sentence of five to ten years of incarceration.

Published on: May 7, 2012

Defendants Claim Confessions Read at Trial Unfairly Swayed Jury

by Stephen Bilkis

On January 10, 1990, two men who were drug dealers met and decided that they were going to have to rob a convenience store owner from India because he owed them $5,000 for a previous drug deal. A New York DWI Lawyer said he had not paid the men and they wanted to make an example of his as well as recoup some of their losses. They went to the store that evening and he was not there. The following day, the two men met with two other men and arranged to get a van and meet at the convenience store that night. One man drove the van and dropped the others off at the store.

There was one other employee in the store that night. He was also from India. He saw the discussions that were taking place between the storeowner and the two men who were at the store, but claims that he did not take any notice. He had gone to work at the convenience store for less pay than he had been making as a cab driver before taking the job. There was some speculation as to his involvement in the drug business that was going through the convenience store. The store was to close at around three in the morning. At closing time, the employee counted out the store’s receipts for the day and gave them to the owner. It was about $2,500 in cash. The two men accompanied the storeowner and the employee out of the store. In front of the store, the owner and employee pulled down the security shutters and locked the building.

It was then that the employee said that the men pointed a gun at the storeowner and the other man put a gun into the employee’s side and told them to get into the storeowner’s car. They were taken to an isolated area where the man in the front passenger seat shot the storeowner in the head. The van pulled up and the men got out of the car with the employee. They left the storeowner slumped over his steering wheel presumably dead. The employee was taken back to his home and told that if he told anyone about what he had seen, he would be killed. The other men left the van abandoned and got into a different vehicle and everyone was dropped off at their homes.

Published on: May 5, 2012

Court Looks at Possible Illegal Search

by Stephen Bilkis

A police officer was on patrol one evening when he received a call regarding a disturbance at a certain street. He was advised that an occupant of a tan Honda Accord, with the license plate no., was holding a gun out of the window; a possible gun crime. However, no description was given regarding the occupants of the vehicle.

A New York DWI Lawyer said he aforesaid street was a known gang and drug location where a gang known as the “MS-13” displayed their “tags”, symbols on buildings at that location. The police officer on patrol had previously responded to the same street and was familiar with the area.

The police officer responded to the call and upon arrival at the street he observed four to five individuals next to the tan Honda Accord with the same license plate as reported, some of whom were wearing the blue bandana gang colors of “MS-13”, who were believed to be the occupants of the vehicle.

Published on: May 4, 2012

Defendants Convicted of Violation of the Hobbs Act

by Stephen Bilkis

The United States of America is the plaintiff and the appellee in this case. The defendants and appellants of the case are John Franklin Roper and Dr. Luther Lewis Ashley, Jr. The case is being heard in the fifth circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.

Criminal Case and Appeal

A New York DWI Lawyer said this is a criminal appeal as the defendants were convicted of violations of the Hobbs Act on four counts. The indictment charged Loren Ralph Fossum, Ashley, and Roper of extorting over three hundred thousand dollars from Eastern Airlines.

Published on: May 3, 2012

Defendant Appeals for Sentencing Reduction

by Stephen Bilkis

The plaintiff and appellee in the case is the United States of America. The defendant and appellant of the case is Felicia Monique Dunn. The case is being heard in the fifth circuit of the United States Court of Appeals.

Appeal

A New York DWI Lawyer said Felicia Monique Dunn is appealing her sentence for possessing cocaine with the objective to distribute. She also was charged with aiding and abetting cocaine. Her reason for appeal is that there were two shoplifting convictions that were used to add to her sentence. Under guidelines for sentencing she states that a lower enhancement is necessary as both the offenses occurred at different stores located in the same mall during roughly the same time frame and were heard in the same court with the same pleas and sentences that were concurrent.

Published on: May 2, 2012

Defendant Claims Sentencing was Disporportionate to the Crime

by Stephen Bilkis

This is a case of Ewing versus California. The case is being heard in the Second Appellate district in the Court of Appeals in California. The original case was argued on the fifth of November in 2002 and the decision was made on the fifth of March in 2003.

Case Discussion and History

A New York DWI Lawyer said California is one of the states that have initiated a three strikes rule. Under this law it is stated that if an person is convicted of a felony and has been convicted of two vicious or serious felonies in the past, an indeterminate life term in prison will be given. The defendant will be eligible for parole on a date that is relevant to the minimum term of the case. In this particular case the parole date is set at 25 years.

Published on: April 30, 2012

Court Decides if DWI Offender Should be Denied Gun License

by Stephen Bilkis

The right to bear arms in this country is a vital part of our country’s history. In recent years, the right to bear arms, has been more limited than at any other time in the history of this nation. In order to bear arms in New York, a person must apply for a license. The laws that control the eligibility requirements for obtaining a pistol license are unusually broad. The pistol-licensing officer has tremendous discretion when it comes to approving permits. Penal Law § 400.009(1) states that the pistol licensing officer has the right to deny any application for any good cause.

A New York DWI Lawyer said there have been several appeals based on decisions of pistol licensing officers to deny the right to bear arms in the state of New York. No one wants to have people with mental problems, or serious criminals running around with firearms. So where is the line drawn? Florida’s stand your ground law is being criticized in the news because of the recent shooting involving a neighborhood watch representative who was armed when he encountered a teen in a hoody this year. The teen did not survive the encounter. There were no witnesses to the shooting. The neighborhood watch representative stated that the teen attacked him and he was in fear that he was going to sustain serious bodily harm. Following the police investigation and community outcry, the neighborhood watch representative was arrested. If the neighborhood watch representative had not been armed, the situation would have been different. Whether that means that the neighborhood watch representative would have been injured by the teen is unknown. There have been many situations where people who have exercised their right to bear arms, have had to justify their choices. Ultimately, if a person has to defend their lives in the face of a threat, they are glad to have a gun with them.

In one case from New York in 2011, a man appealed the judgment of the pistol licensing officer who denied his request for a pistol license. He stated that there was no reason for the license to be denied. A New York DWI Lawyer said the pistol licensing officer determined that the man had been arrested three times for DWI and had one conviction for DUI. One of the arrests for DUI occurred while his pistol license was in review. In this case, it is fairly obvious that this man did not exercise good common sense when it came to his actions. Does this mean that he should not be allowed to carry a pistol? It would probably be a bad idea.