Blog Posts in 2010
Posted on Dec 20, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
Until 1986, a common practice of unscrupulous prosecutors prosecuting black defendants was to eliminate potential black jurors by exercising peremptory challenges against them and not allowing them to ...
Continue reading "Batson v. Kentucky: Abolishing racially discriminatory practices by prosecutors in jury trials" »
Posted on Dec 8, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
One of the great protections provided to owners of real estate was enacted in 1677 and was called the "Statute of Frauds." The law was authored by Sir Leoline Jenkins, an English gentleman who ...
Continue reading "New York law joins the twenty-first century" »
Posted on Nov 30, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
When defendant Argentine made the mistake of attempting to cash a forged check in the amount of $1,200.00 in Nassau County one October 5 th some years back, he not only found himself facing felony ...
Continue reading "Cooperating defendants have a right to the fruits of their cooperation" »
Posted on Nov 19, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
A common theme expressed in many of the comments in this blog is that many of the constitutional rights that many regular citizens consider to be excessively lenient treatment of criminal defendants ...
Continue reading "The People v. Aponte Catch 22: Rights of criminal defendants in mental institutions" »
Posted on Nov 11, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
As stated in part I of this article, Article 10 of the New York State Mental Hygiene Law seeks to impose civil management upon certain sexually violent predators through either long-term confinement ...
Continue reading "M.H.L. 10-Lifetime Civil Management of Sexually Violent Predators: Part 3" »
Posted on Nov 1, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
N.Y.S.M.H.L. 10-Lifetime Civil Management of Sexually Violent Predators: Part 2 Obtaining certification to be authorized to provide representations on cases seeking to impose civil management of ...
Continue reading "N.Y.S.M.H.L. 10-Lifetime Civil Management: Part 2" »
Posted on Oct 27, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
I am proud of the fact that I am the first private lawyer in New York City (and perhaps in the entire state as well) that has received a special certification authorizing me to represent detained sex ...
Continue reading "N.Y.S. Mental Hygiene Law Article 10: Lifetime Civil Management of Sexually Violent Predators-Part I" »
Posted on Oct 17, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
Today's criminal defendants have a myriad of rights available to them by virtue of judicial decisions and legislative statutory enactments by the United States Congress and the legislatures of the ...
Continue reading "Should Accused Terrorists Have Regular Criminal Defendant Rights" »
Posted on Oct 5, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
It is a no-brainer that law enforcement officials should apply common sense in enforcing the laws of the state of New York. Sadly, that is not always the case. A classic case in point is the matter of ...
Continue reading "Criminal Rocks" »
Posted on Sep 29, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
A prosecutor who knowingly withheld exculpatory information from the defense lawyers for former United States Senator Ted Stevens commit suicide last week. I suppose this is what may turn out to be a ...
Continue reading "Prosecutorial Misconduct Kills" »
Posted on Sep 22, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
The fine weather that beautiful day in early September was further enhanced by the incredible deal that I had negotiated for Karl Caninebrayne, a young man who seemed to be destined to eventually ...
Continue reading "Failure of the New York Criminal Justice Sytem: A Murderer in the Making" »
Posted on Sep 15, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
The taking of DNA samples from persons convicted of various crimes has been assembled into a database to be used to help solve other crimes. So far, it seems as if the effort has been quite ...
Continue reading "Interesting DNA Database Statistics" »
Posted on Sep 1, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
The old saying goes that you can't fight City Hall. The newer paradigm is that you can't fight DNA evidence. In fact both of these time honored expressions are not true, if you have the right tools ...
Continue reading "You can't fight City Hall or DNA evidence-or can you?" »
Posted on Aug 27, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
An outrageous example of a federal judge violating her legal and moral mandate to serve as an impartial arbitrator is seen in the actions of Chief Judge Linda Reade of the Northern District of .Iowa ...
Continue reading "Motion for a new trial-a case of judicial & prosecutorial misconduct" »
Posted on Aug 16, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
Death is different. The legal principle known as lex talionis is simply and succinctly stated several times in the Bible as follows: "if there shall be a fatality, then [you shall award] a life for a ...
Continue reading "Death is Different" »
Posted on Aug 16, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
Death is different. The legal principle known as lex talionis is simply and succinctly stated several times in the Bible as follows: "if there shall be a fatality, then [you shall award] a life for a ...
Continue reading "Death is Different" »
Posted on Aug 10, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
While this article deals with seeking second legal opinions, I suggest that the principles enunciate here apply equally accurately to other professions. We will focus on when it is a good idea to ...
Continue reading "Second Legal Opinions" »
Posted on Aug 2, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
"You gotta know when to hold em, know when to fold em, know when to walk, know when to run; you never count your money while you're sitting at the table, there will be time enough for counting when ...
Continue reading "The Coat of Many Colors" »
Posted on Jul 23, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
The choice of electing whether to go to trial or enter into a plea negotiation must be made by the client after comprehensive consultation with counsel and careful consideration of all consequences, ...
Continue reading "Murder in the Flower Shop" »
Posted on Jul 15, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
Trial or Plea: How to choose The question of deciding whether to try a case or negotiate the best possible plea is always a matter of great concern for you and your criminal lawyer. Over the next ...
Continue reading "Trial or Plea: How to Choose" »
Posted on Jul 6, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
The issue of who is the appropriate person to make final decisions regarding strategic and tactical matters in a criminal case when there is a difference of opinion between the client and the lawyer ...
Continue reading "Who Decides When an Attorney and Client Disagree?" »
Posted on Jun 20, 2010 By Stephan J. Siegel
We are pleased to announce the launch of our Queens Criminal Defense law blog, with an RSS feed available .
Continue reading "Welcome to our Queens Criminal Defense law blog!" »