The defendant in this case was charged with a criminal violation as regards vehicle and traffic law. The police officer involved in this case was assigned to a DWI checkpoint. In accordance with the procedures that are required, every vehicle was stopped and every driver was asked if he or…
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New York Court Discusses Exclusionary Rule in Drug Possession Case
On April 5, 2000 at around five in the evening, a Johnson City Police Department Officer got a call from a confidential informant who was well known to the officer. He had provided reliable information in the past that had proven valuable in the prosecution of several cases that were…
Defendant Appeals Drug Charges Based on Improper Interrogation by Police
This case involves an appeal from a judgment of a trial court convicting a 44-year old New Yorker upon his plea of guilty of the crime of criminal possession of heroin and cocaine. According to sources, police officers arrested the defendant while seated in an automobile pursuant to a parole…
Defendant Contends He has Transactional Immunity from Grand Jury Questioning in Other Case
A 45-year old man was charged in a single-count indictment with selling six grams of cocaine to a state police undercover officer. The man applied for a writ of prohibition on the ground that the prosecution was barred because he had automatically received transactional immunity by being compelled to testify…
Defendant Files Motion to Dismiss Manslaughter Charge Based on Lack of Evidence
The defendant was charged in this case for manslaughter which also means doing certain acts that led to the death of another person. The court also charged the defendant for drug possession. According to the accounts of police investigation, the defendant was guilty of heroin possession and selling of illegal…
Defendant Appeals Admissibility of Post Conviction Witness Testimony
When courts deal with witnesses and their testimony, sometimes-unexpected things happen. When they do, it is up to the Supreme Court to determine what testimony can cause a reversal of the verdict and demand a new trial. The Supreme Court has the job of determining matters of law. They are…
New York Appellate Court Discusses Conspiracy Law in Drug Case
A New York court heard a case on June 20, 2003 relating to the conspiracy to sell drugs in a housing project. The court dismissed the first count of the indictment charging a conspiracy in the first degree. The state moved to reargue the portion of the court’s June 20,…
Supreme Court Discusses Resentencing Guidelines in Drug Felony Cases
The Supreme Court is often faced with evaluating the requests of offenders who are attempting to reduce their sentences in prison. This is especially true as it relates to indeterminate sentences. Indeterminate sentences are those sentences that have no definite length or end date. The offender is given certain criteria…
Defendant Questions Legal Sufficiency of Evidence at Trial
The defendant was arrested after selling approximately two ounces of cocaine to a confidential police informant in the City of Cortland. He was indicted and found guilty after a jury trial of one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance. County Court sentenced him, as a second violent felony…
Defendant Contends That Current Sentence for Felonious Drug Possession is Erroneous
In 1962, a defendant was sentenced by a New York City Judge as a second felony offender for a crime to which the defendant had not pleaded guilty. The basis of this motion is that the defendant declares that the present sentence, as it now stands, is erroneous, and therefore,…