New York Criminal Lawyer Blog

Published on: May 29, 2013

Felony charged in DWI case

by Stephen Bilkis

On October 16, 2004, in the Town of Ashford, defendant was arrested for DWI and Failure to Keep Right. When a DMV check showed a previous conviction, a felony complaint was filed charging the DWI as a felony. Defendant was arraigned and the case was adjourned to November 18, 2004 for defendant to appear with counsel. A DWI Lawyer said that, on or about October 29, 2004, defendant retained an attorney. Counsel, on that date, filed with the court a notice of appearance and a demand for all the paperwork and sent a copy to the assistant district attorney that handles Ashford Town Court. Thereafter, after speaking with the court clerk, counsel faxed the court a letter, again with a copy to the assistant district attorney, waiving a preliminary hearing. A hard copy was also sent to both the assistant district attorney and the court. On April 21, 2005, Town Court forwarded the paperwork to County Court. Why the case was not forwarded to County Court for five months is not addressed in the papers.

A Criminal Lawyer said that, defense counsel waived 30.30 time until June 20, 2005 in an attempt to negotiate a plea. On June 15, 2005, counsel wrote the District Attorney revoking the remaining time on the 30.30 waiver because his client had rejected the plea offer. On July 21, 2005, the District Attorney sent defense counsel a copy of the indictment and the statement of readiness and notified him that arraignment was scheduled for August 1, 2005. Defendant was arraigned on that date and the case has proceeded from that point with motions and the appointment of a special prosecutor when the District Attorney’s office discovered a conflict. However, on November 4, 2005, a scheduled hearing was postponed until November 10, 2005 because the special prosecutor failed to appear.

The issue in this case is whether defendant’s right to speedy trial has been violated.

Published on: April 24, 2013

Plaintiff Moves for Summary Judgment in DWI Case

by Stephen Bilkis

The Plaintiff moves pursuant to CPLR §3212 for an order granting summary judgment as to the issue of the liability on behalf of the Defendant, The Dizzy Lizard, Inc., and directing an assessment of damages to be determined by a jury.

A New York DWI Lawyer said in this criminal action, the Plaintiff was injured in a motor vehicle accident, while he was a passenger in the automobile operated by the defendant, and owned by the co-defendant. Said accident occurred at approximately 1:45 a.m. when the vehicle collided with a train overpass. On the date of the accident, both parties were each 18 years of age. The defendant was arrested and charged with DWI in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192.3. Prior to the subject accident, the Defendant was a patron of a tavern located somewhere in New York. As a result of the injuries sustained, the Plaintiff commenced the underlying action against individual defendants, based upon negligence and against the defendant tavern, predicated upon General Obligations Law§§ 11-100 and 11-101. The Plaintiff s instant application seeking summary judgment as to the liability of the defendant tavern thereafter ensued and is determined as set forth hereinafter.

A New York DWI Lawyer said in support of the within application, a New York Drunk Driving Lawyer said that that the record herein conclusively demonstrates that defendant was intoxicated at the time of the accident and that said intoxication was the direct result of the several hours he spent drinking at the tavern. In so arguing, counsel makes particular reference to the annexed police report, which states that defendant was charged with DWI at the time of the accident. Counsel additionally provides various pleadings attendant to a Federal Court action commenced against the tavern by an Insurance, which issued a series of liquor liability insurance policies to the Defendant. The Insurance Company sought rescission of three such policies based upon the tavern’s alleged misrepresentations in the applications for the insurance coverage. Counsel further points to several building violations, in connection to which tavern plead guilty to reduced charges, as well as to pleadings relating to other prior incidents involving the tavern, but which are not related to the within.

Published on: April 24, 2013

Defendant Charged with Heroin Possession

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts of the Case:

A New York Drug Crime Lawyer said petitioners were charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, to-wit: grand larceny. At a jury trial, petitioners requested an instruction on breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor, petit larceny, but this request was denied. Thereafter, the jury found the petitioners guilty as charged and the criminal court sentenced each of them to fifteen (15) years. On appeal, the District Court of Appeal, Second District, affirmed the guilty verdict holding that the proof of guilt was overwhelming and that any error committed by the court’s refusal of the requested instruction on the alleged lesser offense was harmless.

The case is now before the court for certiorari.

Published on: April 24, 2013

Court Looks at Elements of Burglary vs. Petit Larceny

by Stephen Bilkis

A man entered a home in Dade County, Florida. He did this in the middle of the night without the knowledge and consent of the two people who lived in the premises, a brother and a sister. The man ransacked the house and took away with him a color television set. He was later apprehended by the police.

A New York Criminal Lawyer said the charges of larceny and burglary were brought against him. The larceny charge was brought for the taking of the television while the charge of burglary was charged for breaking and entering into the house owned by another person for the purpose of committing a crime.

The criminal information filed against him alleged that sometime on May 9, 1976 in Dade County, the man unlawfully entered the house owned by VA, the owner and custodian of the home with intent to commit the offense of petit larceny.

Published on: April 24, 2013

Court Distinguishes between Attempted Grand Larceny and Grand Larceny

by Stephen Bilkis

A man broke into and entered a dwelling house. Once inside, he committed grand larceny by taking away from the premises properties belonging to the owner of the dwelling house which amounted to more than one hundred dollars.

The prosecutor was charged under an information with two crimes: the breaking and entering a dwelling with intent to commit grand larceny; and grand larceny. The man pleaded not guilty and he was tried before a jury. He was later convicted by that jury for the two crimes of breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny and grand larceny. The trial court judge sentenced the man to imprisonment of two years for the grand larceny and one year for the breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny, both sentences to be served concurrently.

The man appealed the conviction and the sentences imposed upon him. The sole ground of his appeal was that he should not have been charged, tried, convicted or sentenced to two separate crimes of breaking and entering to commit grand larceny and grand larceny. He claims that the grand larceny should be comprehended in the one charge of breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny because the grand larceny was just an element or a facet of the crime of breaking and entering.

Published on: April 24, 2013

Court Discusses Elements of Grand Larceny

by Stephen Bilkis

A man knocked on an apartment door. He claimed to be delivering something for the resident in the apartment. He asked the resident for some personal identification. A New York Criminal Lawyer said the resident of the apartment left the apartment door open and left the man at the door while she went inside the apartment to get her ID. With the apartment door left open, a television set can be seen which was put on a stand situated very near the open apartment door. On the floor near the television, there were sweaters scattered all over. The man took the TV and the sweaters on the floor.

A Westchester County Criminal Lawyer said the man was seen by another delivery man who was making a delivery in a nearby apartment at the same time. He saw the bogus delivery man go inside the apartment and leave holding the TV set and the sweaters. He also saw the bogus delivery man leave the apartment and ride a bike while carrying the TV set and the sweaters. The delivery man followed the bogus delivery man and saw that at the nearest corner, the bogus delivery man dropped the TV and the sweaters. He left them there on the street where they fell. And he rode the bike all the way to a nearby restaurant. At the restaurant premises, the bogus delivery man left the bike. He went to the parking area of the restaurant and rode in a car. The delivery man wrote down the license plate of the bogus delivery man’s car. When a police cruiser came by, the delivery man told them his story and gave them the license plate of the bogus delivery man. He also led them to the spot where the TV and the sweaters were dropped.

The bogus delivery man was later arrested. He was charged with two crimes in one information: he was charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny and grand larceny. The bogus delivery man moved for a trial without a jury. The man was convicted with breaking and entering with intent to commit grand larceny but he was convicted only of petit larceny and not grand larceny because the prosecution failed to prove that the properties taken were valued beyond $100.

Published on: April 23, 2013

Defendant Claims Rights to Due Process Violated in DWI case

by Stephen Bilkis

The defendant was indicted for operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, in violation of Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 (2) and (3), and vehicular assault in the second degree, in violation of Penal Law § 120.03 (1). A New York Criminal Lawyer said that, in his pretrial omnibus motion, the defendant moved, inter alia, to suppress the results of a blood alcohol test, which the trial court granted to the extent of conducting a joint Dunaway/Huntley hearing.

A New York DWI Lawyer said that, at that hearing, the People adduced the following evidence. On July 28, 2006, at approximately 4:00 A.M., in the City of Poughkeepsie, the defendant drove a pickup truck through a red traffic light and struck a marked patrol car driven by a city police officer. The Officer who was removed from the scene by ambulance and transported to St. Francis Hospital, suffered head injuries and spent one month in an in-patient rehabilitation facility before returning to work six months after the accident, in January 2007. Immediately after the accident, the Patrol Officer observed the defendant, who was still seated in the driver seat of his pickup truck, detected alcohol on his breath, and saw that his eyes were glassy and bloodshot. The defendant told the Patrol Officer that he had consumed one half of a beer and was on his way to a bar when the accident occurred. Because the defendant complained of possible head injuries, no field sobriety test was conducted. The Patrol Officer could not determine at that time whether the defendant was intoxicated. When the ambulance arrived, the defendant exited the truck without assistance and was transported by ambulance to Vassar Brothers Hospital.

A New York DWI Lawyer said the County Deputy Sheriff arrived at the hospital, where the Patrol Officer briefed him on the circumstances of the accident, his observations of the defendant at the scene, and the defendant’s statement to him at the scene that he had consumed one half of a beer earlier that night. Approximately 20 minutes later, at 5:04 A.M., the Deputy Sheriff administered a prescreening test called an Alco-Sensor, which indicated the presence of alcohol in the defendant’s system. Based upon his observations, training, and experience, the Deputy Sheriff was by then of the opinion that the defendant was under the influence of alcohol. At approximately 6:01 A.M., the Deputy Sheriff placed the defendant under arrest and read him his (DWI) driving while intoxicated warnings, which the defendant indicated he understood.

Published on: April 23, 2013

Court Looks at Intent in Breaking and Entering Case

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts of the Case:

A New York Drug Crime Lawyer said the appellant was charged with the criminal act of breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor, viz.: petit larceny. The information charged three elements: unlawful breaking, unlawful entry and the intent to commit petit larceny. The jury found appellant guilty of two of the three elements set forth in the accusatory pleading by finding that he had made an unlawful entry with intent to commit petit larceny or entering without breaking with intent to commit petit larceny. Clearly, the verdict found defendant guilty of a crime included within the offense charged by the accusatory pleading.

The Issue of the Case:

Published on: April 23, 2013

Appellants Claim Jury Instruction Harmed Their Case

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts of the Case:

A New York Criminal Lawyer said petitioners were charged with breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony, to-wit: grand larceny. At a jury trial, petitioners requested an instruction on breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor, petit larceny, but this request was denied. Thereafter, the jury found the petitioners guilty as charged and the criminal court sentenced each of them to fifteen (15) years. On appeal, the District Court of Appeal, Second District, affirmed the guilty verdict holding that the proof of guilt was overwhelming and that any error committed by the court’s refusal of the requested instruction on the alleged lesser offense was harmless.

The case is now before the court for certiorari.

Published on: April 22, 2013

Defendant Moves to Supress Evidence in Vehicular Manslaughter Case

by Stephen Bilkis

The Facts of the Case:

On around 18 to 19 of October 2007, at around midnight, the defendant went to a nightclub with his girlfriend “A”, a friend of his girlfriend “B”, and another individual “C”. A New York Criminal Lawyer said after drinking alcohol at the nightclub, the defendant and “C” left and went to a nearby parking lot. According to “B”, defendant did not appear intoxicated at that time; that defendant stated in the parking lot that he lost his shit, presumably referring to drugs, and the defendant became upset. The defendant then went into the trunk of his car and searched for something. Thereafter, the defendant began arguing with his girlfriend. At approximately 3:15 A.M., several witnesses heard gunshots, but no one reported having seen the defendant fire a gun. The defendant then angrily ordered B to leave with his girlfriend. B did and drove the defendant’s girlfriend home. The defendant and C then entered the defendant’s vehicle, with the defendant driving. When police officers arrived at the parking lot only minutes later, at about 3:20 A.M., the defendant had left, and the officers recovered several 9–millimeter shell casings in the parking lot. At approximately 3:30 A.M., the defendant’s vehicle was seen traveling west in the eastbound lanes of the Southern State Parkway at a speed of 70 to 75 miles per hour. According to numerous witnesses, the defendant’s vehicle traveled in the wrong direction, from about exit 19 to exit 13, a distance of approximately five miles. According to a witness, the defendant was driving directly at him while changing lanes; that he had to immediately pull his vehicle onto the shoulder to avoid a collision; that the defendant continued driving the wrong way; that he observed the other vehicles on the parkway split apart in order to get away from the defendant; that the defendant was steadily going, not braking.

Another witness, a Police Sergeant, was also driving in the proper direction in the left eastbound lane of the parkway. According to the Sergeant, as he passed exit 14, he observed the defendant’s vehicle driving towards him at a high rate of speed which caused him to violently turn his steering wheel to the right to avoid a collision; that the defendant’s car came within inches of the Sergeant’s vehicle; that the defendant made absolutely no effort to get out of the way. Near exit 13, the defendant’s vehicle, without ever having slowed down, collided with the victim’s vehicle, killing the victim instantly and incinerating the victim’s vehicle. When emergency services and police arrived on the scene and attempted to remove the defendant from his damaged vehicle, the defendant was agitated and his breath emitted a strong odor of alcohol. The police then arrested defendant, and following his arrest, a blood sample taken from him at 4:49 A.M., just over an hour after the accident, indicated that his blood alcohol content (hereinafter BAC) was 0.19%. When the defendant was arrested, he was then removed from his vehicle, and the police thereafter began conducting an inventory search of the vehicle. The discovery of several 9–millimeter rounds in the trunk, however, transformed the search from inventory to investigatory, during which the police recovered a 9–millimeter semiautomatic pistol, what was later determined to be .395 grams of cocaine beneath the front passenger seat, and 41 rounds of 9–millimeter bullets contained in a partially loaded magazine and a box in the trunk. The gun recovered from the defendant’s vehicle matched the shell casings found in the parking lot near the nightclub.