Criminal Defense Lawyer in New York City — What We Do

A good criminal defense lawyer in New York City will advocate to dismiss the charge, plea-bargain to a lower charge, find alternatives to imprisonment, uncover evidence supporting your defense, and help seal your criminal record. If you are looking for a criminal defense lawyer in New York, call us at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].

Allegations We Handle

A criminal defense lawyer handles a range of cases — violations, misdemeanors, and felonies. These include traffic violations, white-collar crimes, DWI, stalking, harassment, larceny, assault, drug possession and sale, domestic violence, homicide, arson, gun possession, bribery, Medicaid fraud, insurance fraud, and burglary. Criminal charges vary in fact and law, but the methodology of building a defense usually returns to the same principle: was the arrest, search, or stop lawful under the Fourth Amendment?

The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, and many prosecutions fail when the police cut corners. If the arrest was unlawful, evidence flowing from the arrest is inadmissible. If the search was unlawful, the same is true. Your lawyer's first job is to find the constitutional defect.

Finding the Right Lawyer

When you are accused of a state or federal crime, the first step is to find competent counsel. You cannot navigate the criminal process alone — even lawyers who get arrested hire other lawyers. Find someone with experience, who is aggressive, accessible, and who you trust. A big-name firm is not a guarantee of dismissal — you might pay top dollar and end up with the D team. Hire the lawyer, not the letterhead.

Developing a Legal Strategy

Your criminal defense lawyer will give you an honest evaluation: the law that was allegedly violated, the elements the prosecutor must prove, the evidence supporting the allegations, the weaknesses in the prosecutor's case, and the strength of your defenses. We then investigate independently — interviewing witnesses, pulling video, requesting CPL 245 discovery, and preserving exculpatory evidence before it disappears.

If the stop, the arrest, or the search was illegal, we move to suppress under Mapp, Wade, Huntley, or Dunaway. Suppression frequently collapses the prosecution's case. Once weaknesses are identified, we negotiate plea agreements from a position of strength. If the case goes to trial, we protect your interests aggressively in court — objecting, cross-examining, and presenting the defense. If you are convicted, we file appeals and, where eligible, petitions to seal your record under CPL 160.59.

From Arraignment to Disposition

Every criminal case in New York follows the same architecture, whether the charge is a violation or an A-I felony. The differences are in pace and stakes. Arraignment is the first appearance — bail or release is set, the accusatory instrument is filed, and the next court date is scheduled. In NYC Criminal Court (Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Staten Island), misdemeanors and felony complaints are arraigned in the same courtrooms; felonies are then transferred to Supreme Court after indictment.

A felony case begins on a felony complaint — the District Attorney's accusatory instrument. The complaint is not a final charging document. Either the DA presents the case to a grand jury and obtains an indictment, or the defendant waives indictment and consents to a Superior Court Information (SCI) under CPL § 195.10. The shift from felony complaint to indictment is the moment the case crosses from Criminal Court to Supreme Court.

CPL § 180.80 is the early-pressure point. If a defendant is held in custody on a felony complaint and the DA has not obtained an indictment or held a preliminary hearing within six days (excluding weekends and holidays), the defendant is entitled to release. That deadline forces prosecutors to either present quickly or release — and a 180.80 release is often the first leverage point in a felony case.

Discovery Under CPL Article 245

The 2020 discovery overhaul rewrote how cases move. Under CPL § 245.20, the prosecution must disclose nearly all material in its possession — police reports, body-worn camera footage, 911 audio, witness statements, grand-jury minutes, and impeachment material on testifying officers (the "Giglio" list) — on tight statutory timelines. The DA must file a Certificate of Compliance (CoC) and a Statement of Readiness (SoR), and both are vulnerable to challenge.

A defective CoC undoes a SoR, and under CPL § 30.30 the speedy-trial clock keeps running. The Court of Appeals in People v. Bay confirmed that good-faith effort is not enough — the prosecution must actually produce the discoverable material. We litigate CoC and 30.30 issues aggressively, because in many cases the discovery violation is the case.

Speedy Trial — CPL § 30.30

CPL § 30.30 gives the prosecution a fixed number of days to declare ready, measured by the top charge:

• Felonies — 6 months (approximately 184 days)
• A-misdemeanors — 90 days
• B-misdemeanors — 60 days
• Violations — 30 days

Time is charged or excluded depending on the reason for adjournment. Tight 30.30 record-keeping — minute by minute — is the difference between dismissal and conviction in countless cases.

Suppression Motions

The constitutional litigation in a criminal case is fought through a series of named hearings:

• Mapp — suppression of physical evidence seized in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
• Dunaway — suppression of evidence as the fruit of an unlawful stop, arrest, or detention.
• Huntley — suppression of statements taken in violation of Miranda or otherwise involuntary.
• Wade — suppression of identification testimony based on suggestive lineup, showup, or photo array procedures.
• Sandoval — pre-trial ruling limiting cross-examination of the defendant on prior convictions and bad acts if he testifies.
• Ventimiglia/Molineux — pre-trial ruling on the admissibility of uncharged crimes and prior bad acts in the prosecution's case-in-chief.

A successful Mapp or Dunaway hearing can end the case before trial. A favorable Sandoval ruling can determine whether the defendant takes the stand.

Plea Bargaining and the Trial Decision

Most criminal cases resolve by plea. A plea negotiation should be informed by suppression rulings, the strength of the DA's witnesses, the discovery record, and the client's exposure under PL Article 70 sentencing. The Sandoval ruling matters at the plea stage too — if the defendant cannot realistically testify because of prior convictions, the trial calculus changes, and that calculus is built into the plea offer.

If trial is necessary, the work is jury selection, opening statement, cross-examination of the People's witnesses, presentation of the defense case (if any), and summation. Voir dire in a New York criminal case is one of the few opportunities to talk directly to jurors about presumption of innocence, the burden of proof, and the reasonable-doubt standard.

Bail, Release, and Securing Orders

Bail in New York is governed by CPL Article 510 as rewritten by the 2019 and 2020 bail reforms. The default for most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies is release on recognizance or release with non-monetary conditions. Cash bail and bond are available on "qualifying offenses" enumerated in CPL § 510.10(4) — mostly violent felonies, certain weapons offenses, witness intimidation, sex offenses, and serious domestic-violence matters. The court must impose the "least restrictive" condition reasonably necessary to assure return to court.

Bail decisions can be revisited on a CPL § 510.20 application, a CPL § 530.60 modification, or on changed circumstances. We treat bail as litigation, not a one-shot event — clients held at arraignment can often be released as the case develops.

Federal Cases in the SDNY and EDNY

Many serious New York cases — narcotics conspiracies, firearms trafficking, healthcare and securities fraud, RICO, and immigration offenses — are charged federally in the Southern or Eastern District of New York. Federal procedure is different from state: the U.S. Attorney's Office presents to a federal grand jury under Fed. R. Crim. P. 6, detention is litigated under 18 U.S.C. § 3142 (the Bail Reform Act), discovery is governed by Rule 16, Brady, Giglio, and the Jencks Act (18 U.S.C. § 3500), and sentencing is driven by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) factors. Where the case has a federal shadow, the strategy in state court must account for it.

Sentencing and Predicate-Felony Exposure

Sentences in New York are governed by PL Article 70. Felony sentences are indeterminate (e.g., 2-to-6) for non-violent felonies and determinate (e.g., a fixed number of years plus post-release supervision) for violent felonies under PL § 70.02. Misdemeanor sentences are definite under PL § 70.15 — up to one year on an A-misd, ninety days on a B-misd.

If the defendant has a prior felony conviction, the DA files a predicate-felony statement under CPL § 400.21 (second felony) or CPL § 400.20 (persistent). A predicate filing dramatically raises minimums — a second violent felony offender on a C violent felony faces a mandatory 7-year minimum. Predicate filings are challenged for constitutional infirmity of the prior plea, age of the prior, and procedural defects in the prior conviction.

Remember the Presumption

You are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The burden is on the prosecutor to prove guilt beyond reasonable doubt — not on you to prove innocence.

If you are looking for a criminal defense lawyer, we at the Law Offices of Albert Goodwin are here for you. We represent clients in New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester counties. Call us at 212-233-1233 or email [email protected].