July 25, 2012
According to a July 24 article in the New York Daily News, a Williamsburg branch of Chase Bank was robbed twice this week, allegedly by the same person. The robberies took place on Monday and Tuesday afternoon, and in both cases the bandit, who was caught on surveillance cameras, handed a teller a note demanding cash. No weapon was displayed during either of the holdups. We can’t speculate on why, having apparently decided that robbing […] Read On
July 17, 2012
For those of us who deal day in and day out in the criminal justice system, plea bargaining is part of the process. Plea bargains do serve a function in criminal cases, some of them practical, some of them more theoretical. Plea bargaining resolves the great majority of criminal cases. On the federal level, they account for the resolution of 97% of the cases; in state courts around the country, 94% end with a plea […] Read On
July 11, 2012
Health care fraud has become a multi-billion dollar industry in the United States, affecting both private insurance as well as federal programs such as Medicare. In 2011 alone, federal investigators recovered over $4 billion in health insurance fraud money. As a result, we were not completely surprise by a recent press release from the United States Department of Justice reporting that a Brooklyn board-certified colorectal surgeon had been convicted of insurance fraud. The physician, Boris […] Read On
An article in the Daily News reports that Marla Maples ex-publicist, Chuck Jones, was arrested in New York this week for harassment, stalking and other charges related to his apparent obsession with Maples. You may recall that Jones was sentenced to prison some time ago for weapons possession, although the news at that time concentrated on his fascination with Ms. Maples’ shoe collection. The current drama, according to the report we read, alleges that Jones […] Read On
July 9, 2012
New York Giants offensive lineman David Diehl was arrested for driving while intoxicated in Queens on June 2 after his BMW struck two parked cars on 35th Avenue. He reportedly registered a blood alcohol content of 0.18, over twice the legal limit in New York. The arrest came just two days after Diehl met with President Obama as part of the coronation of the Giants as Super Bowl champions. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated […] Read On
June 22, 2012
We’ve pointed out in the past that when it comes to sexual offenses, one of the basic and essential concepts of criminal law – that a defendant is innocent until proven guilty – seems to vanish. Another example of this phenomenon appeared in an article in yesterday’s Daily News. The headline reads “Assistant principal pulled from Brooklyn’s Progress High School for sex remarks to female students applying for summer jobs.” The assistant principal, William Abreu, […] Read On
June 15, 2012
Reports from around the country have alerted all of us to a new phenomenon in the illegal drug market. Although they are referred to as “bath salts,” these substances are not the type of thing your mother or grandmother might have suggested for use in your bath. Although sometimes sold as bath salts, they bear little or no relation to the bath salts defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, that is, “a usually colored crystalline compound […] Read On
June 8, 2012
Almost 100 people were arrested in a prescription drug crackdown in New York City and Long Island on June 6. While at least one article on the subject focused its headline on doctors, only two physicians (along with one nurse) were among those charged. Also charged was the manager of a physician’s office in Staten Island, who allegedly forged prescriptions for his friends. The bulk of those arrested, however, were people who forged or stole […] Read On
May 26, 2012
Criminal lawyers spend a good deal of time challenging evidence obtained by the government during a search of a client’s home, business, car, etc. Most people understand that under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, the prosecution in a criminal trial cannot use evidence that was the result of an unreasonable search and seizure, one without probable cause. In the case of police officers stopping, detaining, questioning and frisking people on […] Read On
May 25, 2012
Self-defense has been getting a lot of bad press lately. The news has been flooded with opinions concerning what are commonly referred to as “Stand Your Ground” laws. The catalyst for this discussion is the case of George Zimmerman, charged in Florida with second degree murder for killing Trayvon Martin this past February. Zimmerman claims self-defense. He says that Martin attacked him on the street, broke his nose, and banged his head against the sidewalk. […] Read On