Category Archives: Criminal Defense
Upstate NY Kids Face Hate Crime Allegations
After two schoolgirls were arrested for assaulting a classmate on a school bus, authorities tacked on hate crime charges. The 10 and 11-year-old girls, who are white, allegedly targeted a black classmate. Over the course of about twenty minutes, the two girls repeatedly hit the third girl, inflicting injuries like a black eye and… Read More »
Queens Robber Accidentally Shoots His Own Accomplice
An attempted daytime robbery ended very, very badly for a 24-year-old accomplice after his partner shot him in the head. 24-year-old Tyrell Simms, and his armed and unnamed accomplice, targeted a 38-year-old man near the corner of Tuskegee Airmen Way and 160th Street. A scuffle ensued and during the melee, the accomplice shot Simms… Read More »
Long Island Firefighter in Jail After Alleged Tryst with Underage Girl
Police arrested 33-year-old Thomas Hinrichs and charged him with multiple sex crimes. According to investigators, Hinrichs met a 16-year-old girl online and had relations with her. The Rocky Point Fire Department said that Hinrichs had only been on the job three months when the meeting came to light and he was suspended. He remains… Read More »
Your Rights During Police Interrogation
To catch the suspect off-balance, investigators often show up at very unusual times. No matter when they summon you to the station house or knock on your door, you have rights during these encounters. The right to remain silent is probably the most important one. The Fifth Amendment is broader than many people think…. Read More »
Police Investigations and “Scientific Evidence”
In terms of real scientific evidence, DNA is very reliable because it was validated in with true medical/science accepted procedures. Most “scientific” evidence presented in court is anything but scientific. Recently, DNA evidence was used to conclude a Polish barber named Aaron Kosminski as the notorious Jack the Ripper, a sexual predator who stalked… Read More »
Governor Cuomo Signs Revenge Porn Law
Publishing private photographs with the intent to harm another person is now illegal in New York. “Our laws have not kept pace with technology and how abusers can use it to harass, intimidate and humiliate intimate partners,” the governor declared in a signing ceremony. “By criminalizing the publication of revenge porn, we are empowering… Read More »
State Investigates Possible Hate Crime Against Hindu Priest in Queens
Despite a lack of evidence, Governor Andrew Cuomo directed authorities to treat a brutal assault near the Shiv Shakti Peeth temple in Bellerose Manor. “I am disgusted by the attack on a Hindu priest in Queens, mere blocks away from the Shiv Shakti Peeth temple. This terrible, inexcusable act of violence is now being… Read More »
NY Lawmakers Decriminalize Marijuana
With the passing of a new decriminalization measure, New York went from having one of the strictest marijuana laws in the country to one of the most lenient ones. Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law which reduces the penalty for possessing less than one ounce of marijuana to a $50 fine. The fine moves… Read More »
Your Right to Privacy and How the Robert Kraft Prostitution Case Protected It
Recently I wrote an Op-ed for LawandCrime.com titled: More People Should Be Outraged By What Police Did to Catch Robert Kraft I am a host on the Law and Crime Network where we covered the Robert Kraft suppression hearing. Since I wrote this piece the court suppressed the video of a “certain type of… Read More »
Discovery in New York Criminal Cases
Justice is Blind not Blindfolded. We are all familiar with the image of Lady Justice holding the scales of justice. Blind Lady Justice is supposed to represent impartiality. Well, there was a movement in New York State to #RemovetheBlindfold as it was not representing impartiality, but just the opposite in the state criminal justice… Read More »