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Five Columbia University students, all between the age of 20 and 22, have been charged with felony drug sales including LSD, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, and Adderall, which is used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The arrest arose out of a five month undercover sting known as “Operation Ivy League” by the NYPD and prosecutors. The students were arrested on December 7, 2010 after making sales to undercover officers of approximately $11,000 since July of this year. Two of the students claimed that they needed the money because their father would not pay his tuition.

All five students were apparently videotaped making sales, and when police searched the students’ rooms, they allegedly seized a bottle of LSD, Ecstasy capsules, more than half a pound of marijuana and $2,000 in cash. The students were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court last week before Judge Michael Sonberg and each pleaded not guilty. They were held in custody at Rikers Island pending making bond payments, which ranged from $30,000 to $75,000.

Under the Penal Law of New York State, felony drug sales of a controlled substance carry a potential jail term of a minimum of 1 to a maximum of 7 years on the D felony of Criminal Sale of a controlled substance in the 5th degree. This charge also has a fine of up to $5,000.00.

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Lawrence Taylor, the Hall of Fame ex-linebacker for the New York Giants, may decide to go to trial on the statutory rape charges he is facing. On October 28, 2010, Taylor’s attorney indicated that Taylor refuses to accept a deal in which he would please guilty to the felony charges of third degree rape and third degree criminal sexual act. A guilty plea to the two felonies would require a sentence of 10 years of probation, and Taylor would be placed on the state sex offender registry. Third degree rape is a Class E Felony and has a minimum jail term of 1 year and maximum of 4 years.

The charges stem from a May 6 arrest in which Mr. Taylor is accused of paying $300.00 to an underage girl for sexual intercourse at a Montebello, New York Holiday Inn. Taylor was also charged with the misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child and patronizing a prostitute. Both of these are Class A misdemeanors which could result in a jail term of between 1-3 years. Apparently, the U.S. Attorney’s Office has an interest in the case to go after a Bronx man who is believed to be part of a sex trafficking ring.

Taylor could be sentenced to as much as six months in the county jail if he pled guilty to the felony charges. If he was convicted at trial, the jail term could be served in state prison.

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I read a very interesting article by John Schwartz in the September 14, 2010 edition of the New York Times. In a study by a Brandon Garrett, a Virgina Law School professor, Mr. Garrett found that since 1976, more than 40 innocent defendants have confessed to crimes they did not commit due to intensive questioning by police using their mental impairments, or youth against them. The highlighted story in the article was that of Eddie Lowery, who confessed to a rape that he did not commit and served a ten year sentence before he was paroled in 1991. The police used a tactic known as contamination in which they introduce important facts about the case to the defendant during the interrogation, which could only be known by someone who committed the crime–in order to make the confession seem more reliable.

In Mr. Lowery’s case, the jury heard the fact that the rapist struck the victim in the head with the handle of a silver knife he found in the house, which the prosecution asserted was a detail Lowery never would have known if he was not the right defendant. The police would correct Mr. Lowery when questioning him, such as telling him that he came through the back door when Lowery first informed them that he “kicked in the front door.” According to Mr. Lowery, “they fed me the answers.”

Mr. Lowery was questioned for seven hours, with the police claiming from the beginning that he had committed the rape. He even took and passed a lie detector test, but the police lied to him and stated that he had failed the test.The study showed that of the exonerated defendants, more than half of them were mentally disabled, under the age of 18, or both. None of the defendants had a lawyer present while they were being questioned, almost all were subjected to high pressure interrogations, and many were taken to the crime scene.

Amazingly, eight of the defendants in the study were cleared by DNA evidence prior to trial, but were still convicted. In the case of Jeffry Deskovic, who languished for 16 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit in Poughkeepsie, prosecutors convinced a jury to overlook DNA evidence by getting the jury to focus on Mr. Deskovic’s detailed confession in order to convict him.

Fortunately, Mr. Lowery is now a free man and lives in suburban Kansas City. He received a $7.5 million settlement and apologies from the Riley County, Kansas officials who interrogated him.

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Francisco Rodriguez, the New York Mets’ former All-Star relief pitcher, was charged with third degree assault on August 11, 2010. The charges arise out of an incident in which Rodriguez punched Carlos Pena, his girlfriend’s father, in the Citifield clubhouse. As a result of the incident, Mr. Pena allegedly suffered facial trauma and other injuries.

Rodriguez was arraigned in the Queens Criminal Court on August 12, 2010. Shortly thereafter, it was learned that Rodriguez has a torn ligament in his right thumb and is out for the season. The Mets have placed the pitcher on the disqualified list for the 2010 season and the move allows them the possibility of voiding Rodriguez’s contract altogether. The voiding of Rodriguez’ contract could be accomplished if it is determined that Rodriguez violated the “morals” clause of his contract.

Assault in the third degree is a misdemeanor under section 120.00 of the New York State Penal Law. If Rodriguez is convicted of the charge, he could face a sentence of 1 to 3 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000.

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In November of 2009, Governor David Paterson signed into law a ban of texting while driving. However, the legislation was quickly criticized by highway safety organizations and local New York state law enforcement officials as it made texting while driving a “secondary offense.” Inotherwords, a motorist who violated the law could only be stopped by the police if they were also violating another traffic regulation, such as speeding, following too closely or disregarding a traffic control device.

Recognizing quickly that the new law had no “teeth”, Governor Paterson introduced a modified statute in February of this year to make the texting ban a primary offense, by which the police could more easily enforce the law. To date, the new texting legislation had been stalled, but recently, legislation passed the New York State Assembly, and according to a report by Joseph Spector in the Journal News on July 7, 2010, the law could possibly pass the New York State Senate as early as next week. The minimum fine for a violation of the present law is $150.00.

The original impetus for the statute came about from the tragic deaths of several teen drivers who were driving while texting, including five teen age girls from Monroe County who died in June of 2007. In that accident, police investigators determined through phone records that the driver was in the process of texting when her vehicle struck a tractor trailer. According to the Governors Highway Association, 30 states have banned texting while driving, but only New York, Iowa, Nebraska and Virginia have the violation as a secondary offense.

We will follow developments on the texting legislation and report on any modifications of the law in the near future after the New York State Senate votes on the statute.

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Vincent Neil, the lead singer for heavy metal band Motley Crue, was arrested in Las Vegas on June 27, 2010 on a drunk driving charge. The arrest took place near the Las Vegas Strip after Mr. Neil had left the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel and began driving in his Lamborghini. He spent the night in jail and was released on June 28th are posting bail. This is the second DWI arrest for the singer. Previously, he was arrested on vehicular manslaughter charges. The circumstances of Neil’s arrest were not released by the local police or prosecutor’s office.

In New York, if Mr. Neil were charged with a second DWI within 10 years, he would be facing felony charges, with the possibility of jail time, a certainty of being sentenced to 5 years probation, the requirement to install an ignition interlock system, a minimum of a one year license revocation, and substantial fines, surcharges and Court costs.

Mr. Neil is due back in Las Vegas Justice Court on September 27, 2010. This is another significant distinction with New York Courts, in which there would be no possibility of a almost three month adjournment of the DWI case. In New York Courts, under the doctrine of “suspension pending prosecution”, those charged with DWI are required to appear at an immediate arraignment and turn in their driver’s licenses “pending” the prosecution of their cases.

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Hall of Fame Linebacker Lawrence Taylor was indicted on June 23, 2010 in connection with third degree rape and prostitution charges. On May 6, 2010, Mr. Taylor was arrested by police at the Montebello, New York Holiday Inn based upon charges that he paid a sixteen year old girl three hundred dollars to have sexual relations with him.

The case was originally heard in the Ramapo Town Court, but is now transferred to the Rockland County Court, as local courts such as town courts only have jurisdiction over misdemeanors or violations, not felonies.

Taylor, who has denied all charges, has also been charged with endangering the welfare of a minor and sexual abuse. He is due to return to Court on July 13, 2010.

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Lawrence Taylor, the 51 year old Hall of Fame linebacker for the New York Giants was charged with third degree rape in Ramapo, New York on May 7, 2010. Taylor allegedly had sexual relations with a 16 year old girl at the Montebello, New York Holiday Inn on May 6, 2010. Taylor has alleged through his attorney that he did not have consensual or any sexual relations with the girl.

Taylor is charged with third degree rape under section 130.25 of the New York State Penal Law, which states that a person is guilty of rape in the third degree if he engages in sexual intercourse with another person who is incapable of consent in that they are less than 17 years old. This charge is a Class E felony, which is punishable by a jail term of not more than 4 years. He is also charged with patronizing a prostitute, but under the section which makes it a misdemeanor, rather than a felony, since a felony charge would only result if the girl was under 14 years of age.

Since the news of Mr. Taylor’s arrest, a federal criminal complaint has been filed against Rasheed Davis, the alleged pimp who procured the 16 year old girl, on a sex trafficking charge due to the alleged transport of a minor across state lines for sexual purposes. There have also been claims made by Taylor’s wife that he did not have sexual relations with the girl, and that he was “set up.”

We will monitor developments in this case.

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New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is co-sponsoring a bill to require that teenagers be 18 years of age before they obtain full driving privileges. At present, when a teen turns 17 in New York and completes a driver’s ed class, he or she can obtain a senior license. According to Gillibrand, she is seeking to reduce teenage driver deaths and serious injuries. New York has approximately 230,000 drivers aged 16 or 17, and statistically, these drivers are most likely to die in a fatal motor vehicle crash. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that for 15-20 year olds, there were 3,467 deaths and 281,000 injuries in 2005, and that car crashes were the number one cause of death.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has reported that increasing the teen driver’s age by one year reduces deaths by 13% per 100,000 teenagers. If the bill were to pass, it would have the most dramatic impact in western states such as South Dakota, which permits teens to drive without supervision at 14 1/2, and Idaho and Montana, who allow unsupervised drivers at age 15.

The legislation will be voted on early next year as part of the highway reauthorization bill.

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Beginning in November of 2004, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles (NYSDMV) instituted a fine for motorists who are convicted or plead guilty to New York DWI charges or traffic infractions which result in 6 or more points within an 18 month period. This fine is known as the “Driver’s Responsibility Assessment”, and it certainly adds to the financial bite of DWI or significant New York traffic infractions.

If you are convicted or plead guilty to either a New York drunk driving charge, such as an Aggravated DWI, DWI, DWAI, or DWAID (Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs), the assessment is $750.00, which can be paid all at once or in three annual installments of $250.00. If you are convicted or plead guilty to traffic infractions totaling 6 or more points with 18 months, the assessment is $300.00, which can be paid up front or for three years at $100.00 per year. For each additional point above the 6 points during the 18 month period, the DMV adds on $75.00, or $25 per year.

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