Category Archives: Criminal Defense
New York’s Highest Court Changes Deportation Rules
The relationship between deportation and criminal law has always been rather difficult to define. But People v. Suazo provided some additional clarity. Saylor Suazo was an undocumented immigrant in New York. In 2012, prosecutors charged him with various domestic assault counts. All these alleged crimes were Class A misdemeanors. Just before trial, the prosecutor… Read More »
Police Scuffle Ends With Child Endangerment Charges
Video posted to social media shows NYPD officers separating a Brooklyn mother from her 1-year-old child after an altercation at a food stamp office. According to witnesses, 23-year-old Jazmine Headley had been sitting on the office floor for about two hours due to a lack of chairs. When a security guard told her to… Read More »
‘Nails’ Update: Dykstra Rejects Deal; Pleads Not Guilty
The troubled former Met is back in trouble again, this time after allegedly threatening an Uber driver and possessing illegal narcotics. Police in New Jersey arrested Dykstra earlier in 2018 after an Uber driver made the above accusations. Police did not recover a weapon, but they did find narcotics in the car’s back seat…. Read More »
Giants QB Asks For Pretrial Diversion
Kyle Lauletta wants to enter a program which, if completed, will leave him with no criminal record. The same option may be available to ordinary criminal law defendants in New York as well. You do not have to be a professional athlete. In October, the young man made an illegal turn and ignored officers’… Read More »
Apologetic Giants Rookie QB Will Not Face Discipline After Arrest
One week after he was arrested for a string of traffic violations near the Lincoln Tunnel, fourth-round pick Kyle Lauletta said he was sorry and coach Pat Shurmur said he would not suspend the young man. The charges included obstructing administration of law, eluding police, resisting arrest, reckless driving, improper turn, disregarding an officer’s… Read More »
Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes Spike
The overall crime rate has dropped, but anti- Semitic crimes have increased 22 percent since 2017. NYPD Police Commissioner James O’Neill offered few explanations for the sudden rise. However, he did say that the department was “concerned” about the increase and that “none of it will ever be tolerated in New York City.” Most… Read More »
Dykstra’s Dispute With Uber Driver Heads To Court
Troubled former Met Lenny Dykstra is back in trouble again. Union County authorities recently filed charges against the erstwhile outfielder stemming from his bizarre dispute with an Uber driver in May 2018. Appearing in criminal court with his attorney, Mr. Dykstra pleaded not guilty to one count of making a terroristic threat and two… Read More »
Shaky Forensic Evidence Taints Thousands Of Drug Cases
Massachusetts’ Supreme Judicial Court has already thrown out 11,000 drug convictions that a disgraced chemist handled, and that number may only be the beginning. In 2014, former state chemist Sonja Farak pleaded guilty to evidence tampering charges. She was a lead investigator in Amherst’s methamphetamine lab between 2009 and 2013. According to court documents,… Read More »
New Jersey Tightens Expert Witness Standards
The Supreme Court of New Jersey, the state which was my first admission to the bar, recently held that expert witnesses in civil trial must now pass muster under the Daubert standard as opposed to the less restrictive Frye rule. The new standard only applies to civil cases unfortunately. The underlying case involved the… Read More »
Fyre Festival Fraud Mastermind Asks For Leniency
Unless a Manhattan judge shows mercy, Billy McFarland might spend over ten years in prison for his role in orchestrating a 2017 fraud scheme. His lawyer made just such a plea, insisting that his client had bipolar disorder which caused “delusional beliefs of having special and unique talents that will lead to fame and… Read More »
