New York Criminal Defense Legal Questions

You both are charged with crimes so you need an attorney. If you are indigent, the Court will assign you a public defender. I handle cases like this all the time and there are likely ways to get the case dismissed and sealed. Feel free to contact me if you wish to hire a lawyer. A case like this should not be too expensive, especially if you and your friend hire the same lawyer.... Read More

Your instincts are correct. Assaulting Police Officer is a Class D felony punishable by up to 7 years in jail. I am not suggesting he will get jail but the charge is serious. I am a former federal and State prosecutor and have been doing criminal defense for over 18 years. Your friend can call me if he wants to discuss retaining counsel.... Read More

The best way for this situation to be straightened out is for your son to have a criminal defense attorney.  If he meets the income guidelines the court will appoint one or him.  He should tell his story to the attorney only and not speak to police unless his attorney is present.  Obviously he will need someone to corroborate his story and that person should speak with your son's attorney also.  The attorney should then speak with the prosecutor and hopefully the charges will be dropped.... Read More

Do not plead guilty! You are charged with a Class A misdemeanor so pleading guilty will give you a criminal record for life unless you waste your Youthful Offender, which is a silly thing to do on a pink summons case. There are ways to get this case dismissed and in all but 1 court you do not have to go to court yourself if you hire a lawyer. I handle these all the time so feel free to contact me If you wish to hire a lawyer.... Read More

Did you receive a Pink Summons for violating the Park Rules? If YES, you are charged with a misdemeanor so I suggest that you hire a good criminal defense lawyer. In all but 1 court you would not have to appear yourself if you hire a lawyer. I handle these all the time and there may be a way to get it dismissed and sealed.... Read More

The answer to the "can I sue" question is at most times, yes for anything, however, not always successfully.  Are you sure it was the Dept. of Corrections that sent you back to jail, from your facts, it sounds more like it was the police making possibly a false arrest or at least an arrest based on faulty information.  There is not much of a civil law suit in these facts.  It sounds like the DA was not able to make a case and thus you were not convicted or charged with the crime.  Your only damages would be the time in jail, and while that is important to you, it would rise to enough to bring a successful suit.  However, this is in the criminal law section, a penal civil rights attorney may have a different answer for you.... Read More

The main question is have you made a plea agreement with the DA yet?  If not, then any of these things should be presented by your attorney to the court or the DA to signify your attachment to the community and that people are relying on you financially.  If you have already made a plea deal, then that deal will be the one that presented to the judge, if you have questions on the deal bring them up to the judge when they ask you if you agreed to this deal. ... Read More

This is not totally unusual in New York courts.  Your attorney might have waived any speedy trial provisions with the hope of coming to some deal with the DA.  Conversely, the DA may have come without some vital piece of evidence or witness and the judge allowed them a continuance.  You need to ask your attorney to explain these delays to you, or if you are representing yourself, you need to make it clear to the judge that you do not understand why the case is going to be continued. ... Read More

I am not sure if you are trying to exact some revenge on these people or if you have a legitimate complaint against them for harrassment.  If you have evidence of harrassment and hopefully witnesses to the events, you can do what they did and file a report with the police.  There is no other legal recourse and if you are considering suing them in civil court you would need to have a certain amount of damages.  The fact that you entered a guilty plea is not helpful in this either. ... Read More

There is a certain time period for appealing cases. However, when it comes down to reopening a case that has been closed and appealed, the requirement is very high.  There has to have surfaced totally new evidence regarding your particular case.  You state that the "victim's" future actions or rather actions after you were convicted can prove this, but actually only her actions in the particular incident you were convicted of can be used.  If you have new evidence pertaining to the time period of the incident then you would file a motion.... Read More

New York has a statute - General Business Law section 218 - that allows a store to detain someone in a reasonable manner but for not more than a reasonable time to permit investigation or questioning by a peace officer, police officer or by the owner of the retail mercantile establishment, where shoplifting is suspected. Therefore, you son was not kidnapped. However, being held for 5 hours in the store may not be reasonable. A lawyer would need to hear the whole story before deciding whether you and your son have an illegal detention case. I'm not sure there is a case because he could have been arrested and held for 24 hours before seeing a Judge.... Read More