New York Criminal Attorney Blog

Understanding the Spectrum of Felonies in New York: A Comprehensive Guide

October 23, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

Introduction:

In the intricate landscape of New York criminal defense, felonies, as opposed to misdemeanors, stand out as serious offenses, and New York classifies them into distinct categories based on their severity. From Class A to Class E felonies, each level represents a different degree of criminal activity, carrying varying degrees of punishment. In this guide, we’ll delve into the different classes of felonies in New York, shedding light on their definitions and the potential consequences they entail.

Class A Felony:

New York Defendant Unsuccessfully Appeals Robbery Conviction, As Court Rules that State Successfully Established His Identity at Trial

October 17, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

In a recent New York criminal case before the Appellate Division, Third Department, a New York defendant appealed his convictions of robbery in the first degree and robbery in the second degree. In his appeal, the defendant argued that the State failed to establish his identity as the person who committed the offense. The higher court, reviewing the trial court’s record, eventually disagreed with the defendant and affirmed his conviction and sentence. The case serves as an important illustration of the difficulties that defendants face when attempting to run a misidentification defense.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the proprietor of a local convenience store closed up shop around 2:30 a.m. one evening. As he was locking the store, two assailants grabbed him, held a knife to his body, and told him to take them into the convenience store. Once there, they ordered him to give them money from the cash register. The assailants both fled with several hundred dollars.

After several weeks of investigating the crime, officers arrested the defendant in this case as one of the two assailants. He was charged with several crimes, two of which were robbery in the first degree and robbery in the second degree. His case went to trial, and a jury found him guilty as charged. The defendant promptly appealed the guilty verdict.

New York Defendant in Reckless Assault Case Challenges Lower Court’s Denial of Motion to Suppress

October 11, 2023 | Tilem & Associates

In a recent assault case in New York before the Appellate Division, Second Department, the defendant asked the court to reconsider a lower court’s denial of his motion to suppress. The defendant was charged with and convicted of reckless assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child. On appeal, he argued that because no one informed him of his Miranda rights, the statement he made to a police officer was inadmissible in court. Reviewing the record, the higher court denied the defendant’s appeal, affirming his conviction as well as the resulting sentence.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant first interacted with police officers in this case when his four-week-old baby was being treated for serious injuries in the hospital. Officers asked the defendant how his baby got the injuries, and they later discovered that the defendant had been shaking the baby, which ultimately caused the injuries.

The State charged the defendant, and he filed a motion to suppress the statements he made to officers in the hospital. According to the defendant, he revealed incriminating information during this conversation, and the statements were inadmissible because no one ever read him his Miranda rights, which are required under the law. The lower court denied the motion to suppress, and the defendant promptly appealed.

New York Defendant Challenges Denial of Motion to Suppress in Case Revolving Around Criminal Possession of Skimmer Device

October 4, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

A recent case Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument case before an appellate court in New York highlights the power that police officers have to search personal vehicles and seize suspicious items upon discovering evidence of criminal activity. In this case, in particular, the State of New York charged the defendant with unlawful possession of a skimmer device, which is a tool that helps people commit credit card fraud. The defendant was eventually found guilty by a jury, and he appealed, arguing that the officers did not have legal grounds to search his vehicle. After considering the defendant’s argument, the higher court denied the appeal and affirmed the lower court’s judgment.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was driving one evening when an officer pulled him over for not using his turn signal. The officer approached the car, and the defendant quickly admitted that he did not possess a driver’s license. The officer smelled marijuana while speaking with the defendant, and he told the defendant to exit the vehicle.

The officer then searched the car and found a skimmer device in the vehicle. The State charged the defendant with several crimes, including unlawful possession of a skimmer device and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. The defendant filed a motion to suppress the incriminating evidence, which was denied by the trial court.

New York Defendant Successfully Lowers Sentence in DWI Case, Arguing Two-Year Sentence Imposed by Lower Court was Excessive

September 27, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

Recently, a defendant in a New York DWI case filed an appeal of the lower court’s decision regarding his sentence for driving while intoxicated and criminal mischief. The lower court had sentenced the defendant to two years in prison, which the defendant argued was excessive. The higher court looked at the record of the case and determined that the sentence was, indeed, excessive. The court therefore granted the defendant’s appeal and re-sentenced him to six weeks’ incarceration.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the defendant was charged with several crimes, including: driving while intoxicated (“DWI”), making an unsafe lane change, leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Under advice from counsel, the defendant entered into a plea deal with the State. As part of that deal, he promised that if he failed to complete a treatment program through drug court, he would face a sentence of up to two years in prison. The defendant then began his treatment program, but he soon tested positive for THC and later withdrew from the program.

New York Defendant Loses Appeal in Drug Case; Court Cites Lack of Standing to Suppress Evidence in its Opinion

September 20, 2023 | Tilem & Associates

Recently, a defendant in New York appealed his convictions for possession of a controlled substance in the first degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. The defendant was charged several years ago, and at trial he was found guilty as charged in January 2017. On appeal, the defendant argued that the lower court should have granted his motion to suppress incriminating evidence. Looking at the trial court’s record, however, the higher court decided to deny the defendant’s appeal.

Facts of the Case

The State of New York charged the defendant in this case when officers found illegal drugs in a jacket that he had recently discarded. By tracing the substances to the defendant, the investigators had enough information to formally charge him with criminal possession, and the defendant’s case later went to trial.

Before trial, the defendant filed a motion to suppress, arguing that the officers had no legal right to search the jacket where they found the drugs. The trial court denied this motion, and the jury therefore heard evidence of the drugs inside the clothing’s pocket. After receiving his guilty verdict and subsequent sentence, the defendant promptly filed an appeal.

New York Court Rules Defendants Entitled to New Trial After Issues During Jury Selection

September 13, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

In a recent case before the Appellate Division, First Department in New York, the court decided another issue regarding jury selection in favor of two defendants who the Court said were entitled to a new trial after a possible error in jury selection prior to the the trial. The defendants were originally found guilty of robbery in the first degree, robbery in the second degree, and gang assault in the first degree after a jury trial. The defendants appealed, arguing that the trial court improperly denied their challenges to jury selection before trial. The higher court granted the defendants’ appeal, siding with the defendants and remanding their case back to the lower court.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, the two defendants in this case were charged several years ago after a violent robbery. The case went to trial, and before trial began, the court began the process of selecting a jury for the trial.
During jury selection, each side is allowed to object to several possible jurors that could end up deciding the case. In this jury selection in particular, the prosecution objected to five possible jurors — all of these possible jurors were nonwhite. When the defense challenged these objections, arguing they could have been based on the potential jury members’ race, the court dismissed the challenge and quickly moved on.
Ultimately, the jury found the defendants guilty, and the defendants appealed.

The Decision

On appeal, the defendants argued that the court should have allowed them to fully challenge the prosecution’s objections during jury selection. According to case law under a case called Batson v. Kentucky, the court is required to allow defendants an opportunity to present a full challenge to the opposing party’s decision to object to a possible jury member. The Baston challenges come into play specifically when one side wants to object to the other side’s jury selection on the grounds of race, ethnicity, or sex.

New York Defendant Unsuccessfully Appeals Criminal Possession of a Weapon Conviction, Despite Argument Regarding Discriminatory Juror Striking

September 6, 2023 | Tilem & Associates

In a recent case between the State of New York and a defendant convicted of criminal possession of a weapon, an appellate court ruled that the defendant did not have grounds to appeal his guilty verdict. Originally, the defendant was charged with criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. His case went to trial, a jury found him guilty, and the defendant promptly appealed. After considering the defendant’s argument that the State unfairly struck a Black individual and a Hispanic individual from the jury, the court denied the defendant’s appeal.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, officers were on patrol one evening when they received word that they should be on the lookout for the defendant in this case, given that there was an active warrant for his arrest and he had possibly been involved in a recent homicide in the city. The officers eventually spotted the defendant and began following him in his car. They radioed to other troopers in the area that the defendant was on the loose in his silver Ford Taurus.

Another officer on patrol spotted the car. He turned on his emergency lights to stop the defendant, at which point he saw the defendant stop the car, get out of the car, pull out a pistol from his pockets, and drop the pistol on the ground. The defendant then began running on foot.

New York Defendant Loses Appeal After Standoff with Police Officers, While Appellate Division Highlights Elements of “Menacing a Police Officer” Crime

August 30, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

In a July 2023 case before the Appellate Division, Third Department in New York, the defendant asked for the court to reconsider his guilty verdict for menacing a police officer pursuant to Penal law 120.18. According to the defendant, there was insufficient evidence to allow a jury to find him guilty, and the court should vacate the conviction as well as the related sentence. The court looked at the facts of the case, weighed the evidence, and eventually disagreed with the defendant, keeping his conviction in place.

Facts of the Case

According to the opinion, two deputy sheriffs went to the defendant’s home because he had failed to pay child support in accordance with his legal obligation. The sheriffs knocked on the defendant’s door to serve him with a warrant for his arrest. The defendant refused to allow the sheriffs to enter, at which point they called for backup and then pounded down the door.

The officers found the defendant standing at the entryway to his home with a rifle. The officers retreated and took cover, and a stand-off ensued that lasted two hours. Eventually, the defendant exited his home, having abandoned the weapon. The officers arrested him.

Uncovering the Hidden Ramifications: Exploring Lesser-Known Consequences of New York State Tax Fraud

August 23, 2023 | Peter Howard Tilem

Tax fraud is a major issue for the state of New York, and it has taken the trial of one of the state’s most famous natives to really shine a light on the issue. Convictions for tax fraud are very rare, given the complexity of such cases. Despite this, New York State – and specifically the South and Eastern circuit districts – features twice in the top five offenders nationally, according to the United States Sentencing Commission.

There are clear reasons for this, of course. New York as a state has a huge amount of revenue derived from service and wire means; it’s often easier to conduct scams in this environment. Deliberate evasion is becoming more common, too, to tackle the deleterious impact of tough economic circumstances. While the big ticket convictions for tax fraud are often welcomed – being seen as justice against abusers of the system – it’s also important to consider the lesser-known reasons for fraud, and its hidden consequences.

Avoiding tax