Articles Posted in Desk Appearance Tickets

We have encountered countless people that have been surprised to discover that their knives were illegal. Indeed, for a long time, many knives that are technically illegal in New York were readily available for sale in stores like Home Depot. To this day, many can still be easily purchased online and in various hardware stores,…

Many New Yorkers and others have been arrested and received what is known as a desk appearance ticket. An example of such a ticket is below. Desk appearance tickets may be issued in cases involving minor violation or misdemeanor matters, and are often given to people who are arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana…

First-time offenders arrested for shoplifting at large department stores in New York (such as Sak’s Fifth Avenue, Century 21, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, or Uniqlo) typically receive Desk Appearance Tickets, or DATS, from the police. (For more on shoplifting and petit larceny arrests, click here and here.). However, many shoplifting defendants also soon receive letters from lawyers…

Many of our clients come to us after being issued Desk Appearance Tickets (“DAT”‘s) charging them with cocaine or other drug possession (the charge is usually “Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree” in violation of Penal Law section 220.03). Most of these clients have just experienced their first arrest and are…

If you’ve been told to appear in court for a summons, Desk Appearance Ticket (“DAT”), or other criminal case, you can face serious consequences should you fail to appear on your scheduled court date. We advise that you retain an experienced criminal defense attorney immediately to help you repair the damage that has already been…

Criminal Contempt charges are very serious and can be quite difficult to defend against in some circumstances. The overwhelming majority of the Criminal Contempt cases pursued by prosecutors involve violations of orders of protection, and usually are classified as “domestic violence,” meaning that the complainant and defendant are or were in some sort of romantic…

We have discussed the forgery laws in New York in general. This post will cover the a common type of arrest in New York City: underage people being caught with a fake ID or New York State Driver’s license. Many young people in the greater New York City area carry a fake ID in order…

As former prosecutors who now practice criminal defense, we have collectively dealt with hundreds upon hundreds of drug cases over the years. Throughout these years each of us has seen people from all backgrounds and professions walk through the courtroom doors to face drug charges. Whether the person is arrested and “put through the system,”…

We have previously discussed the law on Assault in the Third Degree (Penal Law Section 120.00), but in our experience, these cases often proceed differently and require a different strategy when they are initiated by Desk Appearance Tickets. A Desk Appearance Ticket (or “DAT”) for Assault in the Third Degree is usually only issued when…

Every year thousands of people get arrested in New York for crimes and offenses relating to their driving licenses or driving privileges. One of the most common of these offenses is Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the Third Degree under VTL (Vehicle and Traffic Law) Section 511(1)(a). Sometimes the police will arrest…