Keeping the Public Informed
Perhaps the most consistent constant with the laws that govern criminal activity is that they're always changing. That's obviously a paradoxical statement, but the point is that legislatures at both the state and federal levels are always looking to pass new laws, make adjustments to existing ones, adjust the penalties associated with many of them and sometimes even repeal criminal laws.
Below are links to articles the Blanch Law Firm has provided in order to keep the public informed, and we encourage you to check back regularly in order to stay abreast of developments both in the legislatures and in the courthouses that could someday affect your rights.
D.A. BROWN: QUEENS VILLAGE RESIDENT CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER IN SHOTGUN SHOOTING OF TWO POLICE OFFICERS FOLLOWING DECAPITATION OF STATUE OUTSIDE CATHOLIC CHURCH; FACES UP TO 25 YEARS TO LIFE IN PRISON
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced today that an alleged gunman has been charged with attempted murder and other charges in a violent and near-lethal shotgun shooting incident early yesterday outside a Catholic Church in Queens Village that left two police officers seriously wounded and a religious statue decapitated.
District Attorney Brown said, "The defendant, while armed with a shotgun, is alleged to have attempted to cause the death of two uniformed New York City police officers -- Police Officers Dominic Romano and David Harris -- by firing repeatedly at them with a shotgun and seriously wounding them after he had allegedly used the weapon to decapitate a statue of Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary. Despite serious and possibly life-threatening wounds, Police Officer Harris returned fire, striking and wounding the defendant who was then apprehended. A passerby who is a nurse acted immediately as a good Samaritan using his shirt as a tourniquet to prevent Police Officer Harris from bleeding to death. Police Officer Romano was struck in the back and head and his life was probably saved by his bullet-resistant vest. This case is another example of the dangers that our police officers face in their continuing efforts to fight crime."
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Kevin Davy, 25, of 217-06 104th Avenue in Queens Village, Queens. The defendant is being held in police custody at Mary Immaculate Hospital to await arraignment in Queens Criminal Court on charges of Attempted Murder in the First Degree; Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree as a Hate Crime and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Fourth Degree. He faces a sentence of up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.
District Attorney Brown said that according to the criminal charges, at 2:17 a.m. yesterday morning outside Saint Joachim and Saint Anne Parish on Hollis Avenue near 217th Lane in Queens Village, the defendant, while armed with a shotgun, tire iron and metal sword, damaged and decapitated a statue of Saint Anne and the Virgin Mary and then fired repeatedly at Police Officers Romano and Harris of the 105th Precinct who were responding to a report of shots fired at that location.
The District Attorney said that it is further alleged that the defendant fired repeatedly at the police officers striking Police Officer Romano in the chest and head and seriously wounding him and striking Police Officer Harris in the right leg and left thumb and seriously wounding him, as well.
District Attorney Brown said that the defendant, who was also wounded in an exchange of gunfire, was immediately apprehended and the weapon, a 12 gauge shotgun along with the sword and tire iron were recovered.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Vance T. Kuhner of the District Attorney's Homicide Investigations Bureau under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter T. Reese, Bureau Chief, and Peter J. McCormack III, Deputy Bureau Chief, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Richard B. Schaeffer, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.
It should be noted that criminal charges are merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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BY NICOLE BODE
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Friday, October 19th 2007, 4:00 AM
COP SHOOTER RULED INSANE
A Queens cop wounded in a shootout with a delusional gunman recounted the harrowing incident Thursday, as his attacker was deemed too mentally unstable to serve jail time.
"He stood over me with a loaded shotgun," Detective David Harris told Queens Supreme Court Justice James Griffin. "I had no choice but to draw my weapon. I didn't know where I was shooting, I just knew where [his] shotgun was pointed - it was in my face."
Davy remained seated throughout the proceedings and did not look at Harris.
The 27-year-old shot the head off a century-old statue at Sts. Joachim and Anne Church, and used a machete to slice off the arms, police said. When Harris and Romano arrived, Davy turned the 12-gauge shotgun on them, police said.
Under the terms of his plea deal, Davy will be committed to a state mental health facility. A court-mandated psychologist determined that Davy was suffering from paranoid delusions and was not criminally responsible for his actions by reason of mental defect, defense lawyers said.
"He was not able to appreciate his conduct was wrong at the time," said Blanch Law Firm defense lawyer.
Davy shot Romano once in the head and eight times in the back at close range, police said. Buckshot pellets penetrated Romano's brain, causing him to have seizures to this day, said prosecutor Michelle Goldstein. Romano has since retired from the NYPD.
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Ryan Blanch maintains his client is innocent of any wrong doing and declines further comment as to his client's involvement in Emperors Club VIP. In related news, "the leader of the prostitution ring which numbered former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer among its clients entered a guilty plea in federal court Thursday.
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned after being linked to a prostitution ring in March.
Mark Brener, 62, of Cliffside Park, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges relating to his involvement in the Emperors Club VIP. He is expected to serve between two and two-and-a-half years in prison.
Brener became a promoter and manager of the ring -- which charged between $1,000 and $5,500 an hour for trysts in New York; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; London, England; and Paris, France -- in December 2004, prosecutors said. Police seized more than $1 million in cash from his apartment at the time of his arrest.
Spitzer resigned in March after it was revealed that he was among the Emperors Club's patrons. Court documents detailed arrangements for a nearly two-and-a-half hour rendezvous between Client-9 and a high-class prostitute identified as "Kristen" at the Mayflower hotel in Washington, D.C., in February. Client-9 was later revealed to be Spitzer.
Spitzer was linked to the ring when IRS and FBI officials noticed suspicious transfers of larger sums of money between several of the governor's personal accounts, sources told CNN. Those sources say red flags were raised when the money ended up in the bank accounts of shell companies linked to the prostitution ring.
Brener's sentencing is set for September 16. Spitzer has not been charged in connection with the ring."
NEW YORK (CNN)
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