New York State – The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC

No More NYC Marijuana Arrests, Are Marijuana Charges going up?

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2014 14:08:42 +0000

As I read today’s headlines on www.vosizneias.com about there being no more NYC Marijuana Arrests, I ask myself, will the Marijuana charge go up? Many police officers do not want to book offenders for carrying small amounts of Marijuana, and therefore New York City maintains a modest charge rate of only 50,000 Marijuana charges a year. However now that officers will not be obligated under NYC policy to arrest and book such offenders, I suspect that Marijuana pink tickets will be on the rise.

As Mayor Bill De Blasio points out, the fines for Marijuana possession start out at $100. This new tidal wave of possession charges will boost the Mayer’s robust finance plan stemming from “Vision Zero”, which cuts the speed limit on NYC streets to 25 MPH.

While Marijuana possession charges are not technically criminal violations, the arrests do show up on the criminal arrest records and are visible to employers can complicate immigration proceedings.

The post No More NYC Marijuana Arrests, Are Marijuana Charges going up? appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.

What is Aggravated Unlicensed Operation?

admin — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 15:21:07 +0000

Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a motor vehicle or AUO (NYS VTL 511-1a) is the crime of driving a motor vehicle even after you were order by a Court that you may not drive, also known as Driving with a suspended license. No matter which Court ordered you not to drive, if that Court has jurisdiction is New York State, you can be arrested, charged and convicted of a misdemeanor if you are caught operating a motor vehicle. If you are not sure if your license is suspended or if you were charged with driving on a suspended license, call an attorney immediately.

A common application of this law is when a motorist fails to respond to, or fails to pay a traffic ticket. The Court which has jurisdiction over that traffic ticket is empowered to order the NYS DMV to suspend the motorist’s driver’s license for failing to pay or failing to respond to their traffic ticket. Notably, as long as you do not drive a motor vehicle you can not be arrested. However if you do drive a car and are stopped you can be arrested for violating a Court order.

Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a motor vehicle or AUO (NYS VTL 511-1a) is the crime of driving a motor vehicle even after you were order by a Court that you may not drive, also known as Driving with a suspended license.

What happens if you fail to respond to a traffic in a state other than New York? Usually what happens is that the NYS DMV will respect the suspension order originating in this other state and suspend your driver’s license here in New York. If you don’t have a NYS driver’s license and you are suspended in another state, it stands to reason that NYS will not issue a suspension against you, and you will be merely unlicensed in NY, not suspended in NY, being that this Court outside of NY does not have the power to suspend your driver’s license in NY.

If you are arrested or charged with Aggravated Unlicensed Operation, or Driving on a suspended license call a New York State attorney to protect you from serious criminal convictions.

The post What is Aggravated Unlicensed Operation? appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.

New York State to Investigate Complaints against Prosecutors

admin — Mon, 12 May 2014 15:21:07 +0000

Some New York legislators are calling for a New York State commission to investigate complaints against prosecutors, including District Attorneys and Special Prosecutors, similar to the panel that oversees the state’s judges. While many traffic violations are prosecuted by the police office who issued them, a large number of traffic tickets are represented by the Assistant District Attorney in the County where the ticket was issued, up until the Trial.

District attorneys are elected in each of the state’s 62 counties, and they are in charge are appointing assistants as there is no way one person is going to file all the cases in each county! Prosecutors have more discretion than any public officials in determining who, how and where to prosecute. They basically decide which laws to enforce and which ones not to enforce. When misconduct occurs, it’s usually discovered years later with the state paying a lot of money.

Complaints against Prosecutors almost always go unnoticed as Prosecutors are nearly immune to prosecution themselves for wrong doing which arises in the course of their service, and also, who is going to investigate them?

District attorneys are elected in each of the state’s 62 counties, and they are in charge are appointing assistants as there is no way one person is going to file all the cases in each county!

Assemblyman Nick Perry, a Brooklyn Democrat, says there’s an atmosphere of pressure on prosecutors to produce convictions, which can result in malfeasance even when it’s unintended.

Both have sponsored legislation to establish the commission. The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the bill last week. We will be watching to see the effects of these committees on traffic ticket proceedings, and local traffic ticket prosecutors.

The post New York State to Investigate Complaints against Prosecutors appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.

Texting and DWI legislation in New York Retroactive?

admin — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 13:35:58 +0000

Governor Cuomo’s proposal as it pertains to Texting and DWI (see the link to his press release below) will double the license suspension, from 6 months to one year, for anyone under 21 convicted of texting while driving. By contrast, a first time Driving while Intoxicated conviction “only” garners a 6 month revocation. While the Governor only mentions Texing while driving, most all of the New York State Traffic Law makes talking on a cell phone while driving the same as texing while driving. Both talking on a cell phone and texting while driving carry 5 points.

Another aggressive legislative initiative proposes a five year driver’s license revocation for anyone convicted of driving drunk twice within a three year period and to permanently revoke the license of those convicted of drunk driving three times in their lives.The main concern with this proposed legislation is whether it will Retroactive or not.

Last year, in 2013, the State of New York enacted regulations that imposed stricter drunk driving suspension thresholds and tougher penalties retroactively in cases which were already closed. This caused a wide spread of licenses revocations against people who have had DWI convictions up to 25 years ago and who were promised at the time of the sentence (and even judges who needed to sentence!) or motorists which plead guilty to or that they were convicted DWI that they would not face such long reaching penalties. As you can clearly see, this is a perversion of justice. I am therefor concerned about Cuomo’s announcement of his continuing to improve upon our legal system and new Texting and DWI penalties.

For the official press release from Governor Cuomo see http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/01082014-agenda-outline-for-2014

The post Texting and DWI legislation in New York Retroactive? appeared first on The Law Offices of Zev Goldstein, PLLC.