New York Criminal Lawyers Blog

Our New York criminal defense lawyers have handled hundreds of cases involving criminal mischief. The crime of Criminal Mischief in New York is generally defined as damaging the property of another.

Whether a criminal mischief is a misdemeanor or a felony depends on the value of the property which was damaged. Often prosecutors in Westchester and New York City blatantly overcharge cases as felonies, which should be charged as misdemeanors. Our Westchester criminal defense attorneys have demanded felony hearings and won reductions on many of these charges by challenging the value of the item damaged. Obviously the value of a used piece of property is well below the purchase price. Likewise, the New York and Westchester prosecutors will put down the repair costs as the value, which are often inflated.

Our experienced criminal defense lawyers will closely analyze the value and even retain experts to determine the true value of the property damaged. New York criminal defense lawyers must closely analyze the value of the property in criminal mischief cases.

The difference between a murder conviction and a manslaughter conviction can mean a drastic difference in the amount of prison time that a New York criminal defendant receives.

Under New York law, a person is guilty of second-degree murder when, with intent to cause the death of another person, he or she causes the death of that person under Penal Law § 125.25[1]. A person is guilty of second-degree manslaughter when he or she "recklessly causes the death of another person" under New York Penal Law § 125.15[1]). A person acts "intentionally" when his or her conscious objective is to cause death under New York Penal Law § 15.05[1]), and a person acts "recklessly" when he or she "is aware of and consciously disregards a substantial and unjustifiable risk that [death] will occur.

Manslaughter is a lesser included offense of the murder charge. New York criminal defense lawyers must be familiar with these distinctions and what is required to get a lesser included offense jury instruction.

A defendant is entitled to have the jury consider a lesser included offense of a charged count by showing that the offense is a "lesser included offense" of the charged crime and that a reasonable view of the evidence supports a finding that the defendant committed the lesser crime but not the greater