Strip Searching Everyone At a Search Warrant Execution
Today in People v Mothersell (2010 NY Slip Op 02677 [NY [4/1/10]) the Court of Appeals struck down the use of a search warrant which permitted the search of “all persons present” to justify ‘visual’ body cavity searches (I think this means the search was limited to visible body cavities) of persons at the scene of the search warrants execution who were not arrested and were searched solely based on the search warrant. It...
read moreDefense Attorneys Are Ineffective When They Fail to Advise Clients of Clear Immigration Consequences of A Plea
As detailed at New York Criminal Law and Procedure the United States Supreme Court in a decision authored by Justice Stevens held that as a matter of federal constitutional law, attorneys have a professional duty to advise their clients of immigration consequences, at least when those consequences are clear. Even when federal law is not so clear, an attorney still has a duty to advise the client that deportation “may” result from a guilty...
read moreNew York’s Persistent Felony Offender Sentencing Law Ruled Unconstitutional
A discussion of an important decision regarding the constitutionality of New York’s persistent felony statute requires focus on persistence. For years, Andrew C. Fine of the Appeals Bureau of the Legal Aid Society of New York had urged that the New York persistent felony statute unconstitutionally deprives a defendant of the right to have each fact which increased the penalty a defendant faced to be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable...
read moreTrial Tips For Drug Cases with Undercover Officers
More tips from an experienced and successful attorney who wishes to be unnamed: In an undercover cop case, it’s helpful to know their procedures. With hand to hand sales, usually the undercover is dropped at or near a location by other members of the team. Sometimes they drive by and make a purchase from the car. They wear electronic recording devices called Kel Kits which are monitored by the back-up team. The undercover walks...
read moreTips on Jury Selection For Defense Attorneys
These suggestions were passed on to me by an excellent, experienced attorney who wishes to remain anonymous: 1. In jury selection you will be engaging in several efforts at once -picking the jurors who are best for your case, educating the jury, developing your challenges for cause, figuring out who these people are, and letting the jury know you are way cooler than the DA. On challenges for cause, when you develop them the...
read moreIdentity Information In DMV Records Not Suppressible As Fruit Of Illegal Stop
In People v Tolentino (2010 NY Slip Op 02643 [NY [3/30/10]) the Court of Appeals held that when a defendant alleges that he was subject to an illegal traffic stop, he is not entitled to suppression of DMV records DMV records obtained through the police stop and inquiry of the driver. The Court held that such records are not subject to the exclusionary rule when the only link between the police conduct and the...
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