Articles Posted in Domestic Violence

Famous Hollywood actor Jonathan Majors was convicted today by a Manhattan jury of having previously assaulted his ex-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, following almost two days of jury deliberations. Specifically, the jury concluded that Mr. Majors was guilty of reckless assault in violation of New York Penal Law Section 120.00 (Assault in the Third Degree, a Class…

In 2019, to combat the phenomenon known as “revenge porn,” the state of New York added Penal Law Section 245.15 to its list of criminal charges. Specifically, it is now a class A misdemeanor for a person to unlawfully disseminate or publish an intimate image without the consent of the person depicted in the image.…

Today, New York-area.news outlets reported that an Instagram model with about 34,000 followers, Genie Exum, had been arrested and was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan on felony charges. Allegedly, she stabbed her boyfriend (ex-boyfriend) numerous times during an argument. The author of this post, Matthew Galluzzo, is a former supervising attorney in the domestic violence unit…

Strictly speaking, the criminal justice system does not require that victims of crime have lawyers. Prosecutors are responsible for pursuing criminal cases against perpetrators and are generally expected to at least consider the victims’ expectations or hopes regarding the outcome. However, over the years, Matthew Galluzzo (a former Manhattan prosecutor) has represented, advised, advocated on…

Understanding Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice System Some of the most common types of cases in New York City’s criminal courts are those involving domestic violence. The criminal courts classify as “domestic violence” those crimes allegedly committed against family members, spouses, and/or current or former romantic partners. Those crimes can include actual violent acts…

There has been a media firestorm about NFL running back Ray Rice’s assault of his wife Janay Rice. While exiting an elevator in Atlantic City, NJ, Ray Rice – a powerfully built football player – punched his wife in the face and appeared to knock her unconscious. He then dragged her along the floor of…

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…

Every year, police officers in New York City make thousands of arrests for “domestic violence,” or violent crimes by one person against a family member or romantic partner. (Click here for recent New York state statistics). There are so many arrests of this sort that prosecutors receive specialized training about these cases and every precinct…

We have previously covered the basics of the recently (2010) enacted set of crimes involving strangulation. As noted, Penal Law section 121.11 states that “A person is guilty of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation when, with intent to impede the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of another person, he or she:…

There are three separate menacing statutes in New York, each specifying a different gravity of offense. Menacing is often paired with Stalking (Penal Law section 120.45) and Aggravated Harrassment (Penal Law section 240.30) charges, but can be charged as a standalone offense. The basic charge is Menacing in the third degree (Penal Law section 120.15)…