Arraignment in New York Criminal CourtsWritten by Susan Chana Lask, Esq.
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- You have family, friends and a job in state or locally - The charges against you are improper in some way. Your attorney may even get whole case dismissed if District Attorney’s criminal complaint against you is not properly drafted or signed by a proper party. Getting The Complaint Dismissed At Arraignment The District Attorney drafts criminal complaint against you from information received from arresting officer and victim of crime. While you’re being processed through Precinct and Central Booking, arresting officer will fax his paperwork and information regarding your arrest and charges to District Attorney’s office. Someone in District Attorney’s office will then call victim and get more information so they can properly draft complaint. The complaint needs to be signed under oath by arresting officer or victim. If it is not signed by anyone when you appear at your arraignment then it is not "corroborated" and must be dismissed. So check out who signed complaint: if it was a person other than arresting officer or victim then complaint should be dismissed. Lastly, if facts of complaint do not establish each legal element of crime charged, or complaint is poorly drafted then it should be dismissed; however, court usually will give District Attorney a few weeks to file a properly drafted complaint.This article is certainly not all inclusive and is intended only as a brief explanation of legal issue presented. Not all cases are alike and it is strongly recommended that you consult an attorney if you have any questions with respect to any legal matters. Any questions and/or comments with respect to this topic or any other topic, please call or write: www.appellate-brief.com Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask 853 Broadway, Suite 1516 New York, NY 10003 (212) 358-5762 ©2004 Susan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved
Susan Chana Lask is a New York attorney with law offices in New York City. She has over 20 years experience and practices in State, Federal and Appellate Courts nationwide, handling civil, criminal and commercial litigation and appeals. She represents high profile cases and appears on all major television, print and radio news media, earning the title "High-Powered" New York attorney. She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com
| | How to Talk to the Police if Your Suspected of a CrimeWritten by Susan Chana Lask, Esq.
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When you arrive at police precinct , police should have you sign a paper with your legal rights listed on it. They should have you read your rights while they read it to you, and then have you initial each right and sign paper at bottom with time and date. This paper is a good thing for police to prove they followed procedure and it will coordinate time of your arrest closely with time of reading your rights. It is not mandatory that they give you this paper with your rights, because they can by law verbally read you your rights and note in their notebook time they read you your rights. Of course, they could never read you your rights and later say they did. Hiring An Attorney If a detective is hounding you with phone messages and coming by your house leaving cards with your roommate or family, immediately get an attorney. An attorney can determine if police are going to arrest you. If you are going to be arrested then your attorney will advise you what to do (and what to say or not say), explain arrest process, arrange for you to turn yourself in and get you through process quicker. Also, police will know they can’t interrogate you if you’re represented by counsel. A good attorney will fax a letter of representation to precinct and follow you through arrest process by calling proper offices and getting you to arraignment and out quicker. Your attorney should also fax a notice of appearance on your behalf to Arraignment Clerk’s Office minute he or she discovers you’ve been “docketed” by District Attorney’s office (meaning they’ve drafted and filed a Criminal Complaint against you and assigned a docket number to your case so it can be heard by court). If you do not voluntarily turn yourself in then police will remember you made it harder for them to arrest you and they may purposely delay your arrest process and make you sit for three days in jail before you see a judge. They’ll delay filling out your paperwork and sending it to proper offices. They may even lose your paperwork. The last thing you want to do is spend a minute longer being arrested and in jail so here's a valuable tip: don’t turn yourself in or get arrested at night or on a weekend because there are less people working those shifts and courts close certain hours, so process can take three days or sometimes longer. This article is certainly not all inclusive and is intended only as a brief explanation of legal issue presented. Not all cases are alike and it is strongly recommended that you consult an attorney if you have any questions with respect to any legal matters.Any questions and/or comments with respect to this topic or any other topic, please call or write: www.appellate-brief.com Law Offices of Susan Chana Lask 853 Broadway, Suite 1516 New York, NY 10003 (212) 358-5762 ©2004 Susan Chana Lask All Rights Reserved
Susan Chana Lask is a New York attorney with law offices in New York City. She has over 20 years experience and practices in State, Federal and Appellate Courts nationwide, handling civil, criminal and commercial litigation and appeals. She represents high profile cases and appears on all major television, print and radio news media, earning the title "High-Powered" New York attorney. She can be reached at www.appellate-brief.com
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