New York

Published on: February 16, 2012

Court Decides Drug Possession and Sale Case

by Stephen Bilkis

On May 24, 2011, a Kings County, New York man was arrested during the execution of a search warrant. According to a New York Criminal Lawyer, the search warrant was the result of an undercover investigation that covered more than four months. On 13 separate occasions, undercover police officer’s observed the man in possession of heroin and in possession of cocaine. They also observed him sell heroin and cocaine on these occasions.

The case was referred to the Brooklyn Treatment Court on August 16, 2011. The man had requested to be considered for Judicial Diversion of his case. Judicial Diversion is a program that was designed for certain felony offenders spelled out in Criminal Procedure Law Article 216. It grants the judges authority to decide which nonviolent offenders have committed their offenses as a result of substance abuse or dependence. They are then given the opportunity to avoid a jail sentence by contracting with the state to complete a court monitored treatment program.

Criminal Procedure Law Article 216 defines the eligible offenders for Judicial Diversion as those “charged with certain Class B, C, D, and E felony drug offenses, or those charged with specified nonviolent offenses listed in CPL § 410.91(4), so long as they do not have a disqualifying condition listed in CPL § 216.00(1).” The District Attorney then decides who among these offenders is eligible. There are to be no violent or Class A felony offenders allowed into the program. The statute does not speak to the inclusion of misdemeanor crimes which are lessor included offenses to the felony charges that an offender has committed.

Published on: February 15, 2012

Court Rules on Murder Case

by Stephen Bilkis

A husband was convicted after a jury trial, of attempted murder, assault in the first degree and assault in the second degree. His terms were to run concurrently.

The husband repeatedly stabbed his wife, causing her serious and permanent injuries, and forced her seven year old step-daughter to fall out of a window. A New York DWI Lawyer explained that the principal question is whether the husband was entitled to the requested charge of reckless criminal assault, as a lesser included offense of intentional assault. The husband contends that the court should have granted his request, arguing that it was inherently inconsistent for the court to charge intoxication but not the lesser included offense of reckless assault arising out of that intoxication.

To establish entitlement to a lesser included offense charge, the defendant must show that the additional offense he seeks to have charged is a lesser included offense, an offense of a lesser degree. He must also show that it is theoretically impossible to commit the greater crime without also committing the lesser one and there is a reasonable view of the evidence that would support a finding that he committed the lesser offense but not the greater. A New York Criminal Lawyer contends that with the circumstances presented, it was impossible to commit intentional assault without also committing reckless assault. While the evidence of intoxication may be considered as negating the element of intent, there was insufficient evidence of intoxication for a reasonable person to entertain a doubt as to the husband’s. Thus, as the court argued in opposing the husband’s request for a charge on intoxication, no reasonable view of the evidence show that he was intoxicated. The issue of his intoxication should not have been submitted to the jury, and the court’s failure to charge reckless assault under the theory he was intoxicated was not an error and does not warrant reversal.

Published on: January 22, 2012

High School Shooting Puts Police on a Manhunt

by Stephen Bilkis

Police in Nova Scotia have issued an arrest warrant for a 16-year old male they believe to be responsible for at least some of the shots that were fired at a high school this past Monday. The youth is facing multiple charges that include at least eight offenses involving possession of a weapon, and two counts of attempted murder. While Halifax police believe that only two persons, who have not been named thus far, were targeted by the youth, multiple gunshots were fired outside of the high school that the youth does not attend as a student.

Investigators have also learned that the shooting is believed to be a payback for another recent shooting of which a 16-year old was shot on Saturday, a New York Criminal Lawyer was informed. Police have confirmed they are exploring the possibility the two incidents are related.

While it is unusual for police to announce publicly information on a juvenile, a judge has given them five-days to announce his name and photograph publicly due to the nature of the incidents. The fact that the incident involved seemingly indiscriminate violence with a firearm at a school weighed heavily in the judge’s decision, sources. However, if police have not arrested the 16-year old within that five-day time period, the permission to use his name and photograph publicly will expire.

Published on: November 3, 2011

New Illegal Immigrant Policy at the US-Mexico Border

by Stephen Bilkis

In Arizona, the controversy continues surrounding the status of illegal immigrants. Despite recent legislative changes in the treatment of illegal immigrants, little has been solved regarding the treatment of these people who are living in the United States illegally. The United States Border Patrol has enacted new policy which includes sending illegal immigrants back across the border.

The new unofficial policy is to send anyone illegally crossing the United States-Mexico border to be sent back to Mexico instead of being arrested. Local law official say that sending people back to Mexico does little to solve the problem; they report that people tend to make multiple attempts to cross the border if the first attempt is unsuccessful.

There are some accusations that the new policy is politically motivated. The theory is that the change in policy is attempting to keep the number of border arrests down to improve the security statistics. By sending the border crossers back to Mexico, the number of arrests along the border has decreased and politicians are using this statistic to suggest that the US-Mexico border has become more secure.

Published on: October 30, 2011

Manshot by gun wielding cops outside daycare near Washington, DC and dead at the scene

by Stephen Bilkis

An axe-wielding man outside an in-home daycare was shot and killed by three police officers in Prince George’s County, near the District of Colombia, authorities reported.

The incident occurred before 3 p.m. a county police spokesman told a New York Gun Crime Law Firms. Officers were sent to the daycare to address reports of an armed man on the premises.

The man with the axe was involved in a child custody battle and wanted to take his children out of the daycare, the police spokesman explained. The daycare provider had called the mother of the children, he said, and she told the provider to keep the children and not give them to their father.