Our head attorney, Mr. Gonzalez, is a higly skilled Criminal Defense attorney. Having handled what was termed the 'biggest drug bust in the history of Westchester County'.

Here is a basic timeline of the booking process all detainees go through in New York City.

The Arrest;

   In almost all criminal cases the process begins with an arrest, in some cases the defendant is simply given a summons to appear in court by the police and not actually taken into custody but this is rare. After the arrest the defendant is taken to the local precinct for the area where they were arrested.

After the arrest;

   Generally most defendants are held at the precinct for several hours before being transferred to central booking for further processing. Central booking acts as a funneling place to get all defendants arrested in each borrough in a single place for faster processing. Once the defendants have been transferred to central booking for holding and processing they are then transfereed once again to the courthouse for the borrough or town in which they were arrested.

Arraignment;

   The first court appearance by the defendant will be at arraignment. This usually takes a minimum of 24 hours in most cases. Most people are not aware of what is happening at arraignments. During an arraignment the defendant appears before a judge and the only question being decided by the judge is usually whether the defendant will be released on their own recognisance (ROR), held with bail, or remanded (meaning no bail). In some rare instances the Defendant may plead guilty at arraignments and end the case there with no need to move forward with the case, or bail.

Importance of private counsel;

   Legal Aid tends to employ good attorneys. That being said, it is very difficult for these attorneys to do as good a job as a private attorney because of the fact that Legal Aid handles hundreds of cases at any given time and can not dedicate very much time to each case no matter how important they may be. It is to your benefit to hire a provate attorney especially in more serious cases, usually the outcome is much more beneficial for you if you have a private attorney.

DWI;

   There are three levels of DWI all under PL Section 1192. There is 1192(1) which is violation, and not a crime, this is usually the best outcome in most DWI cases. The first arrest for DWI is a misdemeanor, and is usually punishable by a fine or drunk driving program or in some instances probation. If you have a DWI on record within the past ten years and are rearrested on another DWI charge you may face over a year in jail, as this is a felony charge.

Possession;

   Whether the possession charge be on a weapon, drugs, or any other contraband usually the major issue arising in these cases is the search that produced the contraband. A good private attorney will challenge this search and attempt to exclude the evidence from being introduce against you, thereby eliminating the peoples case.

Domestic Violence;

   In all domestic violence cases the complaining witness must make a police report and then also sign a corroborating statement and then appear in court in order to testify. In many instances the complaining witness changes their mind and does not wish to follow through, the DA's office however may still prosecute your case without the assistance of the complaining witness, and without their cooperation. A good private attorney can assist you in ensuringthat such a charge is properly dealt with.

Major Crimes;

   In all Murder, Attempted Murder, Assault, and other major cases it is crucial that you have a private attorney to ensure that your rights are fully protected.

Please contact our office for further information or for answers to any questions which you may have. You can contact our office by clicking HERE or call us at 646-633-4563.