If you have been arrested for a crime, the fact is you need not prove anything. The most fundamental principle of our criminal justice system is that a person who is accused of committing a crime is presumed innocent. This presumption stays with the accused throughout the entire case and only leaves them if they
Very often we are presented with a case involving a client who has been arrested for Driving While Intoxicated after having been involved in an accident. Generally speaking, the District Attorney’s Office in Suffolk County is going to take those cases more seriously than they do those cases where the motorist was merely stopped for
A Driving While Intoxicated arrest can have serious consequences to your driver’s license. In addition to a suspension of your privilege to drive while your case is pending, and a revocation of your license if you are convicted, there are fairly new regulations promulgated by the DMV which can result in further loss of your
Domestic violence, the verbal or physical aggression of one spouse against another, has been a societal problem for many years. In the recent past the law, and the court system, has recognized domestic violence for the serious problem that it is. In fact, special judges and courtrooms have been established to handle domestic and family
I have represented many clients who come to see me after they are charged with shoplifting claiming that they took the property out of the store without realizing they were doing so. The truth is that you can be charged with taking an item from a store accidentally because the security guard or store employee
There are many differences between defending a Federal Drug Trafficking crime, as opposed to a New York State Drug crime. The most important being that the federal law makes no distinction between the crimes of sale or possession. Any defendant charged as part of a federal drug trafficking conspiracy falls under the same section of
If you are charged for the first time with Petit Larceny, or shoplifting, you can expect to make at least two appearances. If you were given an appearance ticket at the time that you were stopped, the date on the bottom of your ticket is the date for your arraignment. On that date, you will
If someone is arrested and charged with possession of crack cocaine, they will be charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance. The level of the offense depends on how much of the drug they are accused of possessing. Possession of less than 500 milligrams will be charged as a misdemeanor in New York. One
If someone is arrested for any type of crime or offense, they should immediately contact an attorney. An arrest triggers many very important rights which should be protected, such as: The right to an attorney, The right to remain silent, The right to have your guilt established beyond a reasonable doubt by the government, and
Being charged with a crime of domestic violence has some unique consequences which distinguish it from other offenses. First, these cases are handled in courtrooms designated as “domestic violence” courtrooms. While this is done to create some consistency in the prosecution of these cases, it can be problematic for someone charged with a crime of