Legal Information Center

Among the constitutional protections afforded to Americans by the bill of rights is the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures. Of course, under the fourth amendment, police officers are not permitted to arrest or search a person without a warrant or probable cause. There are, however, a number of exceptions to this general…

On November 18, 2009, the New York State Legislature announced the passage of Leandra’s Law. Hailed as the toughest DWI law in the nation, the legislation is designed to enhance penalties for those found guilty of drunken driving with a child passenger in the vehicle and require the installation of ignition interlock devices for all…

The New York Criminal Procedure Law sets forth a mechanism by which certain records relating to cases resulting in convictions of violations, such as Disorderly Conduct, PL 240.20, or traffic infractions, such as Unlicensed Driving, VTL 509, are either returned to the person, destroyed, or sealed. CPL 160.55. As always, this entry meant to be…

In the famous case of Brady v. Maryland (373 U.S. 83), the US Supreme Court in 1963 expanded Constitutional due process rights for criminal defendants by requiring prosecutors to disclose exculpatory material to defense counsel. “[T]he suppression by the prosecution of evidence favorable to an accused upon request violates due process where the evidence is…

In a split decision authored by Judge Smith, a divided New York Court of Appeals decided a new case in the Molineux line on October 22, 2009. This was People v. Nasin Arafet, N.Y.L.J., Friday, Oct. 23, 2009, p.45 (New York Court of Appeals 2009). In Arafet, the defendant was charged with stealing the payload…

New York 1 has recently reported that there will be yet another police “crackdown” on people who drive and talk on their cell phones at the same time. Crackdowns like this are becoming increasingly more common in New York, and many people are wondering what will happen to them if they are caught by the…

At the time of this posting, the jury in the already-infamous “Brooke Astor Trial” has been deliberating for over eight days but has yet to reach a unanimous verdict. Thus, at this point, it seems very likely that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is facing a potential nightmare scenario: a mistrial. Indeed, from the prosecutor’s…

A Queens County Criminal Court issued a written opinion last week in a case in which several alleged Latin Kings members raised a First Amendment challenge to New York’s Unlawful Assembly Statute. People v. Sanchez, Cuevas, Hernandez, Quiles, 2009QN014633, N.Y. L.J. Oct. 6, 2009, (Queens Co. Crim. Ct., Koenderman, J., Sept. 29, 2009). That statute…

The Manhattan D.A. announced today via Twitter and its website that it had just indicted 29 people and 4 corporations, including some alleged members of the Lucchese Crime Family, for a number of charges including enterprise corruption, extortion, bribe receiving, narcotics and firearms trafficking, and illegal gambling. http://manhattanda.org/whatsnew/press/2009-10-1.shtmlThis enormous indictment, which was supposedly 2 years…

Justice John G. Ingram of the Kings County Supreme Court issued a written decision in People v. Fakoya, Kings Co. Ind. No., 9418/2008 granting the defendants’ motion to suppress all evidence seized by federal agents during a search of a private apartment. This was a three-defendant Scheme to defraud, Identity theft, and Grand larceny matter,…