Case Results
Case Dismissed with an ACD
Assault
Assault 3rd charge reduced to an ACD in Westchester County: Our client was working as a bouncer at a bar in White Plains when he and the bar owner were alleged to have assaulted a taxi driver. After negotiations with the Westchester County DA’s Office, our client was offered a reduction to an ACD, which will result in a dismissal and sealing of his record if he does not get arrested within six months of the date the ACD was granted. (People v. C.S.)
Assault
Case Dismissed
Forcible touching charge in Putnam County: Our client, a high school student and juvenile, was falsely accused of inappropriately touching a classmate at school. The case was scheduled for a family court bench trial, but the alleged victim did not show up on the day of trial, which resulted in the case being dismissed. (Matter of D.K.)
Juvenile Misdemeanor Forcible Touching
Dismissed
Felony DWI in Westchester County: Our client, a NYS employee, was chased by the police in a Westchester County town, and pulled over. He was administered field sobriety tests, then arrested and brought to the police station. At the station he refused the breath test, and was charged with felony DWI due to a prior DWI conviction. After rejecting felony and misdemeanor plea offers by the DA’s office, a pre-trial suppression hearing was held. After the suppression hearing, the judge found that the police officer did not charge our client with a valid traffic infraction which would give the officer probable cause to pull our client over. Since the traffic stop was not valid, all of the evidence that came from it had to be suppressed, and the judge dismissed all charges against our client. The dismissal allowed our client to go back to work, which he was very happy with. (People v. O.M)
Felony DWI
Charges Reduced
Grand Larceny 4th and Possession of Stolen Property 4th charges in Rockland County were reduced to a violation: Our client and a co-defendant were charged with shoplifting over $1,000 worth in merchandise from a high-end retail department store. The store had video of both defendants allegedly trying to exit the store without paying for the merchandise by concealing it in a shopping bag. After several weeks of negotiations with the Rockland County DA’s Office, our client was offered a reduction of the felony charges to one disorderly conduct violation. The reduction was particularly important due to possible immigration consequences that a criminal conviction might cause. (People v. D.R.)
Felony Larceny and Possession of Stolen Property
Acquittal of the DWI After Trial
Client charged with misdemeanor DWI, violation DWAI and traffic infractions in Nassau County found Not Guilty of the DWI after trial: Our client was driving his car to work in the pre-dawn hours of the day, when he was pulled over for not having his headlights on. Our client was then arrested for DWI, and charged with several traffic infractions. The Nassau County DA’s Office was not willing to offer a reduction of the charge and wanted our client to go to jail for nine months, even though the BAC was .09, because he had multiple prior criminal convictions. At trial, we hired an expert in the field of breath testing to testify on our client’s behalf. After effectively cross-examining the breathalyzer technician, and teaching the jury about the problems with the breathalyzer machine, the jury realized that the DA did not prove that our client was intoxicated. After the jury deliberated for two days, they returned a verdict of not guilty on the DWI charge, and instead convicted him of the violation DWAI, thereby limiting his exposure to jail time. With the misdemeanor DWI acquittal, the judge sentenced our client to community service for the violation DWAI. (People v. G.L.)
DWI, DWAI and Traffic Violation Charges
Charges Reduced
Grand Larceny 4th and Possession of a Forged Instrument 2nd charges in Westchester County were reduced to a violation: Our client was involved in a check-cashing scheme, through which she was convinced to cash a check for several thousand dollars, and wire money to a man she had met online. The victim was a Westchester County resident. We were able to arrange for her surrender and low bail to be set so that the charges could be adequately addressed. After several months of negotiations, we were able to convince the Westchester County DA’s Office to reduce the charge to a sealed violation of disorderly conduct. Our client was very pleased with the outcome and the fact that she would not have a criminal record based upon the mistake that she made. (People v. L.M.)
Felony Larceny and Forged Instrument
Case Dismissed
Strangulation and Assault charges in Bronx County: Our client, a woman, was falsely accused to have attacked her female roommate. We fought the charges from the beginning, forcing the DA’s office to reduce the felony charge to a misdemeanor, then we immediately set the case for trial. The DA’s office tried many stalling techniques, always claiming to be ready to proceed with their alleged victim. The “victim” did not show up for trial, which resulted in the case being dismissed.(People v. O.F)
Felony Strangulation and Misdemeanor Assault
Acquittal After Trial
Client charged with multiple counts of Forcible Touching and Sexual Abuse 3rd charges in Nassau County found Not Guilty after trial: Our client was alleged to have inappropriately touched one of his co-workers at a retail store. The alleged victim fabricated the story to save her job after being caught by her supervisor, fooling around with our client in the freight elevator. Through effective cross-examination, we showed the jury that the alleged victim was not credible. After the jury deliberated for two days, they returned a verdict of not guilty, and our client was acquitted of all five charges. (People v. R.C.)
Forcible Touching and Sexual Abuse Charges
Case Dismissed
Possession of a loaded firearm (handgun) in Westchester County: Our client was pulled over by Westchester County Police while driving on the Hutchinson River Parkway. The officer claimed that the stop was made because the windows on our client’s car were tinted too dark. However, Westchester County Police often pull over vehicles driving on parkways when they have out-of-state license plates, and are being driven by minorities. After the stop, the officer forced our client to open his trunk so the officer could search it, even though this was just a traffic stop for tinted windows. Upon searching the trunk, the officer found a loaded handgun (which was lawfully registered in another state), then arrested our client. Michael Litman demanded a suppression hearing after the DA’s office refused to dismiss the charges. A Mapp – Huntley – Dunaway suppression hearing was held, where the judge found that the police officer did an illegal search of our client’s vehicle and suppressed the gun, thereby dismissing all of the charges, including the traffic infractions. (People v. C.R.)