Category: Criminal

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Punitive Damages for DWI Causing Injury

Personal Injury Actions Involving DWI’s May Lead to Punitive Damages Individuals who are injured by a person driving while intoxicated may be entitled to punitive damages in addition to the compensatory damages that awarded.  The New York Appellate Division, Second Department ruled in Chiara v. Dernago, 12 A.D.3d 999; 11 N.Y.S. App. Div. Lexis 4367; […]


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Pedestrian Knockdown

A pedestrian knockdown is one type of personal injury case that is growing in number on Long Island.  A pedestrian knockdown is when an individual is struck by a motor vehicle and suffers injuries.  A pedestrian knockdown does not necessarily imply criminal conduct such as that in a hit and run, texting while driving or DWI […]


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Long Island DWI Crash

  Long Island DWI Crash A motor vehicle accident in Kings Park seriously injured a passenger and resulted in a DWI charge for the driver.  The passenger was taken to the hospital by helicopter.  The driver’s arraignment will take place in Central Islip’s First District Court today.  DWI’s remain a very serious problem on Long […]


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DWI on Long Island

(Image from nytimes.com) DWI Issues and Long Island DWI – Driving While Intoxicated aka Drinking and Driving. Drinking and Driving is a problem that has plagued Long Island.  Nassau County and Suffolk County have a major problem with drunk drivers on their roads.  There was an informative article in the New York Times on July 24, […]


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Spoilation of Evidence

Spoliation of Evidence In September of this year, the Second Department reached a decision in Lentini v. Weschler, 2014 NY Slip Op 06062, with regards to the “Spoilation of Evidence.”  Spoilation refers to the destruction or repair of critical evidence that will interfere with the ability of a litigant to prosecute or defend a claim.  […]


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Civil Rights Case Eventually Leads to Justice

(photo from nydailynews.com) Civil Rights Violation New York Daily News writer Stephen Rex Brown (October 23, 2014 edition) told the story of Jeff Deskovic and the incredible award he obtained.  It was the largest verdict in U.S. history at $41.6 million.  Mr. Deskovic was convicted of rape in 1991.  In 2006, DNA led to the […]


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Important Distinction in Civil Rights Cases

Civil Rights Question The Court in Burbar v. Inc. Vill. of Garden City,961 F. Supp. 2d 462,2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 117029,2013 WL 4427810(E.D.N.Y.2013) made a very important distinction when deciding the Defendant’s motion to dismiss.  After analyzing the facts of the case, the Court decided that probable cause to make an arrest does not automatically […]


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Wrongful Arrests and Sealed Records

Wrongful Arrests and Sealed Records When an individual is acquitted of criminal charges, the arrest and trial record for that charge is sealed.  The rationale for this rule is that people who are innocent of criminal charges shouldn’t have a criminal record.  After all, arrests, by themselves, mean nothing other than that a person was […]


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Judges show Sympathy for Defendants with Brain Injury

Shorter Sentence with proven Brain Injury Judges giving shorter sentence with proven brain injury There was an interesting article in the New York Times by Benedict Carey.  The article outlined a study that was conducted to figure out whether judges adjusted sentences that would normally be given to those defendants who were proven to have […]


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