Articles Posted in Petite Larceny

On 2009, a seventeen years old girl was arrested and subsequently accused of felony charges in two separately docketed felony complaints. She was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree when an undercover police officer alleged in the complaint that she along several others, were selling narcotics from a first-floor apartment window of a building. The officer specifically alleged that the girl, who he saw at the window inside the apartment, handed three bags of crack cocaine (cocaine possession) to his colleague, who was standing on the sidewalk outside the window. The man then immediately delivered the crack cocaine in her possession to the officer.

In a separate complaint, the girl was also charged with crack possession. Another police officer alleged that, at about the same time the sale occurred, he entered the aforementioned apartment and found the girl and a twenty-three-year-old man, inside. The officer further stated that he recovered fifteen clear bags containing crack cocaine sitting in plain view on the dining room table. While the police officers were in the apartment, the girl’s brother entered and asked what is going on. The brother was also arrested, along with the girl and the man.

The girl appeared for her arraignment and the court assigned the public defender organization to represent her. A very experienced staff attorney from the organization was designated to be the girl’s attorney. The attorney met with the girl to discuss the case prior to her court appearance. He went over the factual allegations in the accusatory instruments with her, and she then told the attorney her version of the events. When the girl appeared, she entered pleas of not guilty to all charges. The cases were deferred for grand jury action.

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The plaintiff in the matter is the Greenview Trading Company. The defendants in the matter are Hershman & Leicher, P.C., Harold M. Hershman, Indu Craft, PLC of New York, Incorporated, and Richard Rottman. The case is being heard in the Supreme Court in the state of New York located in New York County. The acting justice in the case is David B. Saxe.

The question before the court in this case is whether state courts have concurrent jurisdiction with federal courts to hear private civil actions regarding damages under the RICO act, or are these actions only within the federal domain.

Case Background

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The Facts:

An NYPD Officer, a nine-year veteran, investigates drug sales in lower Manhattan. He has made 500 narcotics-related arrests.

On 28 February 2010, the officer and his partner entered the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) building. They were there to conduct a vertical floor-by-floor patrol of the premises during which the officers search for loiterers, drug users, people consuming alcohol and trespassers. In housing projects, unlike police procedures applicable to private apartment buildings, officers may question anyone they encounter to determine whether they are on the premises lawfully. Sometimes, at his discretion, the officer requires that purported residents provide identification or a key. Such individuals must prove that they are not trespassers and persons claiming to be legitimate visitors must also supply corroboration.

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In a criminal case, a Westchester Criminal Lawyer said that, at approximately 9:45 a.m., a civilian resident living at 174 Tibbetts Road, Mr. James Nolan, heard his doorbell ring. When he answered the door, he observed a male Hispanic, wearing a blue jacket and yellow hood, who asked him if he had a room available. When Mr. Nolan stated he did not, the Hispanic male apologized and walked away. Mr. Nolan observed the Hispanic male cross the street towards 175 Tibbetts Road and saw him ring that doorbell; no one answered the door and the Hispanic male crossed the street again and walked toward 178 Tibbetts Road. When the Hispanic male arrived at 178 Tibbetts Road, he rang that doorbell as well, and Mr. Michael McGee opened the door. Mr. McGee testified that there was a male Hispanic at his door inquiring if he had a room available. When Mr. McGee responded that he did not have a room available, the male Hispanic thanked him and walked away. Mr. Nolan, Mr. McGee’s next door neighbor, observed the exchange and continued to observe the male Hispanic continue walking northbound towards another house. When Mr. Nolan was unable to see the male Hispanic from his home, he went outside to his front porch and observed a yellow moped at the side of a hedge within his property of 174 Tibbetts Road. Within minutes, Mr. Nolan observed the Hispanic male come back to his property, pick up the yellow moped and walk northbound. Mr. Nolan lost sight of the male Hispanic and got in his pick up truck, which was parked across the street, to see if he could locate and observe the male Hispanic. When Mr. Nolan crossed the street he discovered that the yellow moped he had previously seen in his property was behind a bush at186 Tibbetts Road. Mr. Nolan was in his truck approximately seven (7) to eight (8) minutes, when he saw the male Hispanic run down the side of 184 Tibbetts Road. Mr. Nolan called 911; as he was reporting the incident, he observed the male Hispanic pick up the yellow moped and drive toward McLean Avenue. Mr. McGee also testified that he observed the male Hispanic drive the yellow moped toward McLean Avenue.

Thereafter, a Westchester Criminal Lawyer said that, several Yonkers police officers heard a radio transmission reporting a suspicious person in the vicinity of Tibbetts Road; the description transmitted was that of a male Hispanic, wearing a blue jacket, yellow collar and driving a yellow scooter. It was further transmitted that he was observed ringing doorbells in that vicinity. Several units responded to this radio transmission as the police investigation was swiftly developing; officers transmitted, through the radio, that the description of this suspect fit the description of a repetitive burglar who had been burglarizing the area for the past several weeks and that the burglary suspect also drove a yellow scooter. Sergeant Kreso, one of the responding officers, drove to 174 Tibbetts Road where he encountered Mr. Nolan and Mr. McGee. At the scene, both Nolan and McGee described the individual to Sgt. Kreso. Another officer who also responded to Mr. Nolan’s 911 call searched 184 Tibbetts Road and that officer discovered that there was an open window at that location; the description of the suspect was again transmitted over the radio as well as the fact that an open window was observed by police officers at 184 Tibbetts Road.

Detective Benash was on duty the morning of the incident, and had been listening to the various radio transmissions describing a suspected repetitive burglar driving a yellow moped in the vicinity. Detective Benash was on an observation spot on the west side of the McLean Avenue bridge when he observed a male on a yellow scooter, with no license plates, wearing a blue jacket, yellow collar, driving on the wrong side of the McLean Avenue bridge. As the suspect drove by on the yellow scooter, Det. Benash exited his unmarked police vehicle and grabbed a hold of the yellow scooter’s handlebars; other officers arrived at the scene simultaneously and assisted Detective Benash. When the suspect came to a stop, Det. Benash informed the individual that he was investigating an incident and directed the suspect to sit by the street curb. One of the officers at the scene transmitted over the radio that an individual fitting the description of the burglary suspect had been detained in the area of McLean Avenue.