Legal Question in Criminal Law in New York

Re: i need help

Being a predicate felon,he is facing state jail time[more than 1 year].He may however have defenses to the charges which must be considered. If money is an issue then Legal Aid or a Public Defender is a probable alternative. If however money is not an issue then I would recommend retaining a competent criminal defense attorney. I would be happy to discuss this with you further,please call my office@7188340087 for more information.

Re: i need help

It is possible a privately retained lawyer could get your friend a better deal, but there is no way to guarantee that. Depending on the felony charge the prosecutor wants your friend to plead to there are certain mandatory minimums. Since your friend has prior felony convictions these may very well raise the minimum sentence.

There are certain alternative drug treatment programs that your friend may qualify for depending on his history of narcotics use and prior criminal record. Depending on the strength of the case it is possible your friend may want to go to trial, although a loss at trial could result in significantly more time. The benefit of a privately retained attorney is that they often have more time to focus on a client's case where a court appointed attorney may have a much larger case load and be unable to give their full attention to the client's case. Please feel free to contact my office if we may be of assistance.

Re: i need help

Your friend is a prior felony offender. That means that if he pleads guilty to a felony he must go upstate to prison. Depending on the charge, his mandatory minimum might well be four years. Try to find out as much as you can about what the charges are, what the charge he is pleading guilty to is, what his priors are and when he took those prior pleas, how much time he did last time he plead guilty to a felony, and what county is he being tried in.

If you have that information, you can call us and I will let you know if I think I, or any other lawyer, can do better. Of course, Legal Aid Society lawyers are usually excellent lawyers who are just over burdened with work. I would speak to his lawyer as well and see what he thinks too.