A wrinkle in the Penal Law; prosecutions for Manslaughter in the First Degree where the defendant did NOT intend to cause serious physical injury, but death results.
A person is guilty of Manslaughter in the First Degree when, with intent to cause serious physical injury to another person, he causes the death of such person (CJI2d [NY] Penal Law § 125.20[1]). Penal Law § 10(10) defines “serious physical injury” as physical injury which creates a substantial risk of death, or which causes death or serious and protracted disfigurement, protracted impairment of health or protracted loss or impairment of the function of...
read moreArrested for a crime in NYS before age 19, am I a JD, JO,YO or an adult?
Generally those less than 16 years old are not criminally responsible for conduct (PL§ 30.00(1). Except for Juvenile Offenders (JO) all youths under the age of 16 are adjudicated exclusively in Family Court where they are prosecuted as Juvenile Delinquents. Fam Ct Act art 3. There are exceptions to every rule of course, this is NYS. JOs can be charged with committing serious felonies as young as age 13. See, PL § 70.05. First...
read moreDon’t talk to federal agents. Ever.
Regent Law Professor James Duane’s lecture “Don’t Talk To The Police,” outlining why citizens should always exercise their 5th Amendment right to remain silent when questioned by government agents can found here. The proscription in the title or this post is slightly more limited (federal agents) and based not on the Constitution, but on a particular federal statute: 18 USC § 1001. In New York, for example, the police are permitted to lie to you...
read moreWhat does a Mandate and Remand for Re-Sentencing from the Second Circuit really mean?
It happens occasionally. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals issues a Summary Order affirming the judgment of conviction and remanding the matter for re-sentencing only. In the USA v. Dawn White, 13-1041-cr, the Circuit provided the following, REMAND for re-sentencing only, “with directions to the District Court either to make specific findings to support the enhancement under U.S.S.G§2B1.1(b)(11)(C)(I) or to sentence White without regard to that enhancement.” What’s the analysis? First, when there...
read moreExamining the law of police-citizen encounters in New York
As our country considers the nature of civilian/police interaction our bloggers will be taking a look at how New York laws regulate – or are supposed to regulate – that interaction. How may the police interfere with a citizen’s right to be free from unreasonable searches or seizures? What information must the police have before they can lawfully stop, frisk or arrest a citizen? The first post in this series (below) addresses some...
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