When you think of the phrase “criminal enterprise,” certain images immediately pop in your head. Vito Corleone, Scarface, Joe Pesci. But NY courts have long expanded the term “criminal enterprise” to include any band of criminals working within “an ascertainable structure.” NY Penal Law §460.10(3) defines criminal enterprise as “a group of persons sharing a […]
Tag: criminal defense
Nassau County passed the first-ever Social Host Law in New York State. The law prohibits anyone over the age of 18 from allowing alcohol consumption by anyone under 21 years of age on premises that they own, rent or otherwise control. Before the law came into effect in 2007, a person would only get arrested […]
Yesterday the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that severely weakened an important right contained in the Constitution. The Sixth Amendment contains The Confrontation Clause: “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right…to be confronted with the witnesses against him.” While much of the Constitution is derived from English law this basic right […]
Awhile ago I wrote an article for “The Attorney” Magazine about the inequities of the arraignment process in Nassau County. The article resulted in the re-construction and re-alignment of the courtroom where arraignments are held with the moving of the District Attorney’s desk from the front of the courtroom at the right hand of the […]
Recently, a former law student of mine called me to ask my opinion for an article he was writing about anonymous juries. I told him that I was against them in general and that I thought in the long run, anonymous juries did more harm than good. He boiled down our half hour conversation to […]
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If It Were Easy, Anyone Could Do It!
Representing a hated or disgraced figure in a high-profile case is no easy task. Not only are you faced with the regular burdens of trying a difficult case -stress, increased workload, etc - but you have the ever hungry media crew and the disapproving looks and comments of those around you to contend with. (“How […]
Lindsay Lohan’s search for a new lawyer led to a Chicago Lawyer named Stuart Goldberg. How she found Mr. Goldberg, I don’t know, as his website seems to indicate he specializes in State and Federal street narcotics cases. But in any event, he was flown to LA to meet with Lohan for six hours to […]