New York Criminal Lawyers Blog

In general prosecutors have an obligation to disclose to New York criminal defense attorneys, information which tends to establish the defendants' innocence or undermine the State's case. Unfortunately the New York Court of Appeals in People v. Fuentes restricted the right of New York criminal defense lawyers right to obtain material which undermines the case against their clients.

This ruling will undoubtedly encourage Prosecutors to withold information that undermines the case against criminal defendants and completely undermining the intergrity of criminal trials. In this blogger's opinion, the New York Courts are misconstruing the federal caselaw.

Judge Jones, the dissent in Fuentes was correct. In general Appellate Courts essentially forgive a failure to disclose unless a document is " Material". Material means there must be "a reasonable possibility" that its disclosure would have affected the outcome of the trial. In Fuentas, the defendant was charged with rape and the defendant claimed that the sexual activity was consentual. A record which was withheld from the defense, i.e., a record of a psychiatric consultation which contained information concerning the condition of the victim during her examination following the incident. The victim expressed feelings of depression, suicide, family problems, mistreatment by her mother, withdrawal and substance abuse. Clearly, these raised issues as to the complaining witness' credibility and the fact that she had recently used drugs was relevant, but the Court to protect a conviction at all costs held that it wasn't material. The Court made this decision even though New York criminal Courts have routinely held that non-disclosure of psychiatric problems justifies a reversal.

Michael Joseph is a New York criminal defense lawyer with offices in Manhattan and White Plains.

New York criminal defense attorneys who represent clients with drug and gun cases often encounter issues concerning the validity of search warrants and the scope of the permitted search.

The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits warrantless entries by police unless the entry is authorized by a recognized exception to the warrant requirement. The New York and Federal Courts have required that a warrant must particularly describe the property and place to be searched. The Courts have recognized that if a warrant doesn't describe with particularity the place to be searched, it is void.

A warrant authorizing a search of an apartment house will usually be invalid if it fails to describe the particular apartment to be searched with sufficient definiteness to preclude a search of other units located in the building and occupied by innocent persons. In New York City boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn and the urban Westchester communities of White Plains, Yonkers and New Rochelle, a large amount of the population lives in apartment houses and these issues become common ones. The description must be sufficiently detailed that the officer can with reasonable effort ascertain and identify the place intended.

Recently, Courts have recognized that where the warrant is vague or ambiguous as to what it authorizes, the officers must suspend their search. Police Officers violate the Fourth Amendment when they rely on outside information to resolve an ambiguity in the warrant or simply guess.

Therefore New York criminal defense attorneys must continue to be diligent in analyzing the scope of warrants on behalf of our clients.

New York City criminal defense attorneys who handle gun charges must be aware of the New York City Gun offender registration law. New York City's Gun Offender Registration Act (often called GORA) imposes registration and reporting requirements on people who have been convicted in the New York City Criminal Courts of a "gun offense. The law is found at Administrative Code of City of NY § 10-601. GORA defines a gun offender as a person who is convicted of a gun offense. A gun offense is a conviction of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree or criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree.

Under GORA, a gun offender shall register with the department at the time sentence is imposed on a form prescribed by the department. The gun offender is required to appear within forty-eight hours of his release, if they received a sentence of imprisonment. If the sentence does not include imprisonment, registration is required within 48 hours of when the sentence is imposed. New York City criminal defense attorneys need to make their clients aware of these regulations.

Gun offenders who receive probation must be especially careful. Failure to register is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to one thousand dollars or imprisonment up to one year or both. The law also specifically states that it is not an excuse that the gun offencer did not receive any form to register. Therefore those that receive probation, could be violated for just failing to register, which is in and of itself a crime.