Westchester New York Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Bird Nesting – A Recent Trend for Divorcing Couples With Children

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. For divorcing couples, the effects of the divorce on the children is of paramount concern. Recently, a new approach to living situations during divorce has been found to mi...

DWAI by Drugs in New York: What You Need to Know

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In 2018, 12.6 million people drove under the influence of drugs. And in 2016, 43.6% of fatally-injured drivers tested positive for drugs; half of those drivers tested posit...

Decriminalizing Sex Work: Will Prostitution Become Legal?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. It is often referred to as the “oldest profession.” Yet prostitution and patronizing a sex worker are crimes that, in some circumstances, carry heavy criminal penalties. Re...

Family Offense Petitions: How to Request Relief in Family Court

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Not every Order of Protection is issued by a criminal court. Indeed, many are issued in family and matrimonial proceedings. Accordingly, people choose to use the Family Cou...

January is National Stalking Awareness Month

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Each year, an estimated 6 to 7.5 million people in the United States are stalked. Stalking is a serious and dangerous offense that impacts every community. And it is a crim...

NY’s Zero Tolerance Law – When People Under Age 21 Drink & Drive

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In 2016, 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. And young people are considered to be at a higher risk of involvement in such fatal crashes. As such, New Y...

Constructive Possession: Is the Contraband Really Yours?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. You can be charged with a variety of crimes for possessing illegal contraband. Namely, this includes drugs, weapons, and stolen property. But what happens if you are not ph...

Leaving the Scene of a Car Accident – What are the Consequences?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. You’ve been in a car accident. Now what? Under New York law, you are required to exchange information with those involved in the accident. You can also provide that informa...

SARA Residency Restriction Mis-Applied to Prisoners in DOCCS Custody

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Imagine you’ve been told you have a date on which you'll be released from prison. However, that day comes and goes, and you’re still in prison. Why? Because the prison won’...

Is an Equipment Violation Ticket Probable Cause for a DWI Stop?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. As we discussed in our recent blog, a car stop by a police officer is lawful in only a certain number of situations. One is when the copy has probable cause to believe the...

Assault Charges in New York: Misdemeanor or Felony?

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. Assault is one of the most common charges in the criminal legal system in New York. Yet many don’t understand why its charged sometimes as a misdemeanor, and sometimes as a...

RAI for Sex Offense Registration May Change With New Bill

By Jill K. Sanders, Esq. In New York, persons convicted of certain sexual offenses are required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA”). They are assigned a risk level, mostly...