Criminal Defense

[00:00:05.480] I have over 20 years of experience representing people [00:00:07.800] who are accused of crimes in Westchester. Whether you've been falsely arrested [00:00:14.000] and charged or whether you did something and you're looking just to get out of it [00:00:18.400] without causing collateral damage to your life, we have the experience [00:00:21.280] to get you through the process with a good result. [00:00:24.000] If you were accused of charge of criminal activity, the first step is [00:00:26.840] don't say anything to the police. More often than not, [00:00:30.120] no matter what you say, it's going to get twisted and manipulated [00:00:32.720] into something you didn't say. They're not on your side, [00:00:35.440] and you need to call a lawyer right away. [00:00:37.120] An early investigation is really important. [00:00:40.720] The police have already gotten statements. They've already gotten whatever [00:00:44.120] evidence implicating you, and it's very easy for them to overlook [00:00:47.640] or ignore evidence showing that you weren't involved [00:00:50.840] or you weren't culpable or you're not guilty. [00:00:54.000] You really want to start building your defense from the get go. [00:00:57.160] If you're arrested in Westchester, especially for something you didn't do, [00:01:00.080] you want the laws of Michael Joseph. Why? Because most criminal defense lawyers [00:01:04.760] are focused on making the other side prove their case or just denying it. [00:01:09.000] We're way more affirmative and aggressive. We go out and look for evidence. [00:01:13.000] We get experts, we get facial recognition experts [00:01:15.760] when there's video evidence involved, we go the extra step [00:01:18.800] to challenge the case. We don't just sit back [00:01:20.800] and try to defend the case. We attack the case. [00:01:24.960] In Westchester, particularly for misdemeanors, [00:01:28.440] they all start and end in the local criminal courts. [00:01:31.800] You really want somebody who has been before the judge [00:01:34.640] and knows the local prosecutors and has dealt with them before. [00:01:37.760] In terms of felonies, you want an attorney who has experience [00:01:40.640] in Westchester because Westchester is a little nuanced. [00:01:44.080] In the city, everything goes through the county court, [00:01:47.440] in one courthouse. In Westchester, if you're charged [00:01:49.600] with a felony, it starts in the local court, [00:01:51.840] but then gets transferred to the Westchester County Court. [00:01:54.800] A lot of people from the city just aren't familiar with the process.