NYC Criminal Defense Law Blog

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton is facing felony charges for a suspected narcotics offense over the weekend in Las Vegas. Hilton and her rumored boyfriend, Cy Waits, were pulled over by law enforcement on Friday night after police pulled alongside the vehicle driven by Waits and allegedly smelled a strong odor of marijuana.

Waits, suspected of drunk driving, failed field sobriety tests and was charged with DUI. While the DUI investigation was underway, Hilton asked if she could wait in a more private location because people had begun to gather and take photos. Hilton was escorted by an officer into a nearby hotel. According to the officer, he asked Hilton to set her purse on a counter.

Lawmakers around the country, including those in New York, have been scrambling to ensure that state sex crime laws reflect today's technology. Lawmakers, for example, have been struggling to decide how best to address the practice of 'sexting' among teens. Sexting involves sending nude or semi-nude photos between cell phones. Nude photos could be exchanged between a couple, or sexts could be a form of bullying or harassment and be sent or passed along to many people, possibly ending up on the Internet.

A recent article in The Wall Street Journal examines how different states are dealing with the behavior. When the practice first started being observed by school officials, the offense fit most closely under existing child pornography or child exploitation laws, which most involved felt carried punishments too harsh for the act involved. A teen charged with a serious sex crime could face prison time and sex offender status.

Lindsay Lohan recently served 14 days of a 90-day sentence in jail for repeatedly violating the terms of her DUI probation. After being released from jail, she was taken to an inpatient rehabilitation center in Southern California where she was ordered to stay for three months. On Tuesday, a superior court judge in Los Angeles ordered Lohan's early release from inpatient rehabilitation.

By completing her rehab as an outpatient, Lohan will be able to continue working, but she will have to follow strict rules and continue on supervised probation. At a hearing on Wednesday, the judge laid out the terms of Lohan's early release. Lohan will have to attend counseling sessions several times a week, including psychotherapy and alcohol and drug counseling. Lohan will also have to submit to random drug and alcohol testing at least twice a week and has been ordered to stay in Los Angeles.

Two recent cases of domestic violence in New York have made the news. Both a New York City police officer and her girlfriend have been charged with assault, and an aide to New York Governor David A. Paterson has been charged with assault, menacing, harassment and criminal mischief.

The Paterson aide, David Johnson, has been suspended without pay since February. On Thursday, Johnson appeared in Bronx Criminal Court and was released without entering a plea. He surrendered Thursday on the misdemeanor charges against him related to domestic violence. He was ordered to stay away from his ex-girlfriend, Sherr-una Booker.

The U.S. Catholic Church has once again been accused of covering up a priest's sex crimes perpetrated against children. A lawsuit accusing Father Stephen Kiesle of sexual abuse over three decades was filed by six women and one man on Wednesday in Oakland, California. The plaintiffs also accuse the Catholic Church of knowing of Father Kiesle's sex crimes but failing to do anything to stop him.

The lawsuit is the latest incident in a worldwide clergy sex abuse scandal that has been shaking up the Catholic Church all the way to the Vatican for the last several years. According to an article by the Associated Foreign Press, the scandal erupted in 2002 when the Archbishop of Boston admitted to protecting a priest from prosecution he knew had committed sex crimes against a youth.

It's official: New York Mets relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez tore a ligament in his right thumb during an alleged assault on his father-in-law at Citi Field last week. After returning from a two-day suspension to pitch with considerable physical discomfort last Saturday, his season is now officially over. Doctors for the Mets have recommended surgery, but a date has yet to be set.

The Mets closer was charged with third-degree assault and second-degree harassment after striking his father-in-law in the family lounge at Citi Field last Wednesday. The accusations specifically claim he grabbed 53-year-old Carlos Peña, pulled him from the lounge into a nearby tunnel and proceeded to strike Peña in the face. Peña wasn't seriously injured, but was taken to a nearby hospital with a scrape and some swelling above the eyebrow. Rodriguez, 28, was arrested, charged, and released without bail last week. He is due to appear back in court on September 14th.

Charlie Sheen pleaded guilty last week in connection with a Christmas Day argument with his wife, Brooke Mueller, which escalated to an incident of domestic violence. Sheen pleaded guilty to a charge of misdemeanor third-degree assault for the December 2009 incident that occurred in the resort town of Aspen, Colorado.

Sheen pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor assault charge in exchange for having the more serious charges of felony menacing and criminal mischief dropped. Sheen was sentenced to  30 days in a rehabilitation center and 30 days of probation. In addition, he must take 36 hours of anger management classes. Sheen's attorney said that California's Promises Treatment Center may elect to credit Sheen with time already served since his client has already spent over 90 days in the rehab facility this year.

Investigators looking into domestic violence allegations against Mel Gibson say they are almost ready to present their case to L.A. County prosecutors. According to the Los Angeles Times, investigators announced Monday that they will present their evidence in two weeks, at which time prosecutors will decide whether to file charges against Gibson. The Oscar-winning actor and director was accused of domestic violence and child endangerment by his ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, in connection with an incident early this year.

While investigators did not give details on the evidence they have obtained, it has been reported that they have a cell phone belonging to Grigorieva in their possession and have been reviewing text messages and e-mails. Investigators have hired an expert in extracting and reviewing electronic communication data for the purposes of the investigation.