Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Am I Doomed? 3 time felon?

I currently have 2 felony charges placed against me.2nd deg robbery & 2nd deg burglary.evidently the warrant is active.Is the 3 strike rule effective in NYS?According to a detective the robbery is a weak case as i didnt take anything.There were 3 other suspects.2 of them are incarcerated for this crime.They are in the early stages of court/with plea offers already available to them.I was not the main culprit in this situation.I honestly was blind sighted when this occured.I was under the assumption that i was to sell drugs to the victims.when the door was answered/all hell broke loose & i had no idea as to what was happening.The 2 in jail are pointing fingers at me to lessen their time--i didnt even know the culprits or the victims.I have a felony conviction for robbery back in 1983.another one in 1997.Am i facing life here?Since being released from prison 7 months ago on a parole violation i have been holding a full time job/no run ins with the law/until this..I wanna do the right thing & turn myself in & hope the DA will listen to me & my account as to what happened--but im scared nobody will listen & i will get life.Any advice will be helpful & appreciated.


Asked on 7/19/04, 11:11 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

Re: Am I Doomed? 3 time felon?

You are in a bad spot as you are facing potentially heavy time on this case plus a parole violation. NY does not have a per se 3 strikes rule but you may be a persistent felony offender which could mean exposure to more time than if you had no priors. You certainly are a predicate felon due to your felony conviction in 1997. It is admirable that you want to turn yourself in but you should not do anything without a criminal defense lawyer at your side because anything you say can and will be used against you. Ideally, you should retain a private lawyer, if you cannot afford one, you should go to your local Legal Aid Office and see if they will represent you. My office handles criminal defense work and you can call us at 212-622-7180.

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Answered on 7/19/04, 11:22 am


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