Summer Criminal Defense Review, 2017
Tragedy struck the ordinarily quiet town of Greenburgh, with the arrest of several teenagers for a murder which the Greenburgh police say was intentional. A sixteen year old is charged with first-degree manslaughter, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence, all felonies. The police say that the attack was not a random act and two other teenagers are charged with weapons possession and evidence tampering. While a sixteen year old who is charged with a crime is usually entitled to a youthful offender treatment, with a reduced maximum sentence, armed felonies involving violence are a statutory exception, so this young man is facing a heavy incarceration sentence. Our Westchester criminal defense lawyers who practice in Greenburgh know all too well that this young man's life is over, and of course manslaughter is one of those crimes that can never be undone and this cases is a tragedy for all involved. Unfortunately, this is not the only shooting to have occurred in Greenburgh in the last few years. Green burgh was the scene of another shooting following a drug deal that went bad.
New York City's Bronx Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx is the scene of another crazy incident. Shortly after a staff doctor opened fire and began shooting in the hospital, this week, a woman who was unconscious with a brain injury was raped. A hospital nurse checking on the female patient walked icon a man having sex with the incapacitated woman. It appears that the man knew the woman, and even though he and she may have been sexually active, he was nevertheless charged with rape because her brain injury rendered her incapable of consent under the law. Our New York City lawyers who handle sex crimes know that sexual activity with someone who is incapable of consent, is rape. The law in New York protects several classes of victims by rendering them incapable of consenting to sexual activity, such as those under the age of 17, prisoners and those with a mental defect. This means that if one of these individuals in a protected class does consent, it is still rape, which is commonly known as statutory rape, because they are legally unable to consent.
In another unusual incident in Queens over Labor Day weekend, a sixty five year old subway conductor who tried to wake up snoozing man was head butted by the man who was sleeping. Unfortunately for this drowsy straphanger, subway conductors and bus drivers are now part of special class and your New York City Attorneys know that an assault which is ordinarily only a misdemeanor, is a felony when it is committed on a person in a special class such as a bus driver, paramedic, subway operator or police officer. Also, it is a little known fact that sleeping on the subway in and of itself, is a violation for which you can be arrested. The subway conductor was treated for injuries at a Queens hospital and thankfully, it looks like he will be alright.
