WEAPONS OFFENSES Category Archives — Page 8 of 8 — New York Criminal Attorney Blog Published by White Plains, New York Criminal Defense Lawyers

NEW YORK FIREARMS AND OTHER WEAPONS CHARGES – PART II – MACHINE GUN

December 1, 2008 | Tilem & Associates

In the introduction of my series of blogs pertaining to firearms, gun possession and other weapons charges, I discussed the need for experienced and competent legal representation. I also explained that Tilem & Campbell’s Senior Partner Peter Tilem was formerly an Assistant District Attorney in Manhattan and worked extensively in the Gun Trafficking Unit.

In this blog I will discuss the legal definition of a “machine gun”. Offenses pertaining to firearms and other dangerous weapons are found in Article 265 of the New York State Penal Law. Section 265.00 of the Penal Law (which is the first section of Article 265) contains the definitions for terms used in Article 265 as well as Article 400 of the Penal Law.

MACHINE GUN – NY PL § 265.00(1)

NEW YORK FIREARMS, GUN POSSESSION AND OTHER WEAPONS OFFENSES – INTRODUCTION

November 27, 2008 | Tilem & Associates

If you have been charged in New York or in Federal Court with any type of gun possession, firearm offense or other offense involving weapons or dangerous instruments, you must have qualified and experienced legal representation. The stakes are high. In New York, simply possessing a loaded, operable, unlicensed firearm outside your home or business carries a mandatory minimum 3 ½ year sentence if convicted. That means if you are convicted, you will do a minimum of 3 ½ years “upstate” prison time.

Tilem & Campbell can provide you the skilled legal representation you need should you be charged with a firearms offense. Not many attorneys can match Senior Partner Peter Tilem’s experience, expertise and inside knowledge of firearm and gun offense prosecutions. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Tilem spent ten years as an Assistant District Attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. For several of those years, Mr. Tilem was with the Firearms Trafficking Unit of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office which was a multi-agency operation combining New York State, New York City and Federal law enforcement agencies such as the FBI and the ATF in multi-jurisdictional illegal gun trafficking investigations and prosecutions. As part of his prosecutorial duties with the firearms trafficking unit, Mr. Tilem traveled the east coast investigating and building cases against those involved with illegal firearms distribution.

Certainly there are other highly qualified defense attorneys. However, if you are charged with a gun, firearm or other weapons offense, ask your attorney or potential attorney if they have ever worked as an Assistant District Attorney investigating and prosecuting multi-jurisdictional and multi-agency gun and firearm trafficking cases firsthand. Their answer will most likely be no. Ask Peter Tilem of Tilem & Campbell if he has first hand experience in investigating and prosecuting these cases and the answer will be absolutely yes.

NEW YORK CRIMINAL DEFENSE FIRM WINS ANOTHER DISMISSAL IN NEW YORK GUN CASE

September 25, 2008 | Peter Howard Tilem

New York Criminal Defense Law Firm, Tilem & Campbell, scored another major victory in a New York gun case when it won a complete dismissal of all charges in a Bronx County case yesterday using a federal defense under the Firearm Owners Protection Act (FOPA). The original charges included Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. The Defendant faced a minimum sentence of 3 and 1/2 years in prison on the Second Degree charge which is a class “C” violent felony.

The case was won using a little known Federal Defense that provides a defense to gun charges in all 50 states for those transporting firearms from one place where they may legally possess that gun to another such place if done so in accordance with federal law.

The victory comes on the heels of a string of major victories in the past three months for Tilem & Campbell which included another dismissal of felony gun charges in a Brooklyn Gun case in June and the sentencing earlier this month to house arrest for a person charged in Federal Court with trafficking in a large number of firearms from Texas to New York. Unfortunately, the firm suffered one loss back in June when a Tilem & Campbell client was convicted by a jury of gun possession.

Brooklyn Felony Gun Case – Tilem & Campbell Scores Big Victory

June 12, 2008 | Tilem & Associates

New York Criminal Attorney’s Tilem & Campbell scored a major victory in Brooklyn Supreme Court yesterday when prosecutors agreed to dismiss all charges in a Kings County felony gun possession case. Peter Tilem, Senior Partner at Tilem & Campbell and former prosecutor in the Firearms Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office handled the case for the client.

The case started back in August 2006 with a felony gun possession arrest in Brooklyn’s 75th Precinct. Police from the 75th Precinct’s elite Anti-Crime Unit claim to have stopped the vehicle the suspect was driving for not wearing a seatbelt directly in front of his apartment building. They further claim that his license was suspended and that he didn’t have identification on him. The police claim the suspect’s wife offered to go up to her apartment to get his identification and that when she didn’t come back down they went upstairs to find out what happened.

Police further claim that when they arrive on the suspect’s floor they smelled the odor of Marijuana (spelled marihuana in the New York State Penal Law) and that when the suspect’s wife opened the door they observed marihuana in plain view. The suspect’s wife then consented to a search of the entire apartment. Police claim to have found a pistol in the apartment.

QUEENS COURT LIMITS APPLICABILITY OF NEW YOK CITY KNIFE LAW

May 22, 2008 | Jasmine Hernandez

New York City Administrative Code 10-133(b) (Unlawful Possession of Knives or Instruments), makes it illegal to possess a knife with a blade of four inches or more in any public place in New York City. Criminal Lawyers and Judges have struggled with this section for years because the reach of the statute is so broad and because of how easy it is to violate this statute.

Firstly, there is no specific “mens rea” or mental culpability required for this offense. Most criminal statutes require a person to act intentionally, knowingly or recklessly. This statute does not even require that the person knowingly possess the knife. Most weapons offenses require that the possession be knowing possession. In addition, as all of us know, knives have many legitimate uses and even the average kitchen knife has a blade length over four inches. To demonstrate the reach of this statute, over twenty years ago a Queens Criminal Court Judge ruled that the statute could be applied to a Sikh priest who had the knife as part of a genuine religious observance.

Last month another Queens Criminal Court Judge ruled that possessing a knife over four inches in a car is not a violation of this New York City Administrative Code section since a person’s car, even though on a public street, is not a “public place.” In the recent Queens case, the knife was seen in the center console of a vehicle that was stopped by the police for a routine traffic infraction. The Court ruled that the center console of a person’s vehicle is not a public place and dismissed the New York City Administrative Code violation.