Recently in Defense & Process Category

Things have certainly taken a dramatic turn for the New York State Senate candidate David Mejias along his campaign trail. The politician was arrested in Long Island on Wednesday after allegedly following his ex-girlfriend in his car, forcing her off the road before she got away.

According to the New York Post, the state Senate candidate was charged and arraigned with menacing, reckless endangerment and stalking after the domestic incident. In this case, it looks like David Mejias will need a New York criminal defense attorney not only to defend him of the criminal charges, but also to ensure that his reputation is protected during the remainder of his campaign for senator.

The New York Times reports that a panel of federal judges decided that the City of New York can keep police records secret. The surveillance data in question deals with 1,800 pages of information on the protests at the 2004 Republican National Convention. While this is mainly a civil rights case, it does concern a New York criminal defense attorney because it deals with arrests and detainments.

The opinion which was written by Judge José Alberto Cabranes, said that the release of the surveillance data "could undermine the safety of law enforcement personnel and would likely undermine the ability of a law enforcement agency to conduct future investigations."

New York criminal defense lawyers better let their clients know that law enforcement is on to some of their tricks.

The Wall Street Journal reports that there is a possible trend among criminals, especially murderers. They are sending text messages from their victims' phones to serve as an alibi.

The use of cell phones and texting to serve as an alibi is nothing new. According to a New York Times article back in 2004, cell phone technology has been used by cheating boyfriends in the past in order to have a reasonable alibi for their rightfully suspicious girlfriends.

Jeffrey Conroy, a teenager charged with the hate crime death of Marcelo Lucero, was sentenced to the maximum sentence of 25 years in prison, CBS reports. The Suffolk County judge who presided over the case said that the amount of evidence was the reason for the sentencing. CBS News quotes the judge as saying, "[T]he proof was overwhelming."

As we wrote about previously in this blog, Jeffrey Conroy and his six friends were looking for a dark skinned victim to attack. Unfortunately for Marcelo Lucero, the group of boys targeted him for the attack back in November 2008. The group of boys taunted, beat and stabbed the Ecuadorian dry cleaner to death. While the rest of the boys pled guilty to first degree gang assault, Jeffrey Conroy pled not guilty and relied on his New York criminal defense attorney to go to trial.  

Here's a mobster's tale of redemption.

But will it help his New York criminal defense lawyer convince the judge to grant him leniency?

Michael Finnerty was a Gotti man. He was a mobster. Twenty year ago, he allegedly ran with the likes of notorious mobster, John Gotti.

Vinny Gorgeous is getting cut some slack. He may not face the death penalty, after all.  

If you follow the ongoings of the New York underworld, then you know I'm not referring to a handsome model or actor.

New York criminal defense attorneys are learning to represent a new type of criminal: schoolchildren.

And, no, I'm not talking about "criminal schoolchildren" in the Phoebe Prince sense of the word, where incessant bullying leads to suicide. Those children deserve to be penalized.

Rather, I'm talking about the good schoolchildren who get arrested by the poorly trained NYPD "School Security Officers". These children don't deserve to be treated like criminals. Yet, they are handcuffed and arrested.

Take the case of Alexa Gonzalez, for example. The pre-teen was arrested for doodling on her desk. She was slapped with handcuffs and hauled away to the police station.

Here's a monumental decision for New York criminal defense lawyers and repeat offenders alike: A federal court has ruled against the constitutionality of judges granting harsher sentences for repeat offenders.

Indeed, New York criminal defense attorneys must be toasting to this victory. What it means for them and their client is essentially that repeat offenders aren't at the mercy of New York judges, when it comes to their sentencing. A state law, which lets judges give harsher penalties to repeat offenders violates the criminal defendant's right to a jury trial, according to the NY Times.

New York criminal defense attorneys had better get prepared for the summer. Police questioning is on the upswing, even for petty criminals in New York City. 

The New York Police Department wants to increase police questioning in response to a 22 percent increase in murders this year. As a result, detectives and warrant squad officers have been ordered to thoroughly question all prisoners, even petty criminals, in the hopes of getting information that would shed some light on the larger crimes and criminals. 

In addition to the increased questioning, the NYPD hopes to increase street presence by sending rookie officers to crime-prone areas. Operation Impact, as it's been named, is an initiative underway at the NYPD. It is an initiative where crime-prone areas are flooded with rookie officers.The initiative has led to a decrease in crime in heavy-hit crime areas of New York City.