(NYC) Caught a misdemeanor

What procedures should I take towards making a complaint about the officers?

I regret not studying into the law harder and probably could have made better choices with my confrontations. I'm going to see a lawyer soon and hope he can be my saving grace to securing my future...

I am scared to the point that I'm refusing to go outside or do any activities after school until after my court date. I can't risk having another confrontation. I don't want to spend my days on Rikers Island instead of pursuing my education.
 
tom19176 said:
I must say that I for one think the OP is telling the truth. He has reached out to me, and I hope to point him in the right direction on how to handle this. I will inform him of his possible options, and let him decide with the help of his parents, but he is very scared and not a troll....
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Agreed. Shame on me for judging the young man before all of the facts were made known. I should have known better. It was the "law student" part that threw me off. As I said, times have changed remarkably in the past 35 years. I graduated from an excellent, very progressively-minded high school and we did not have legal studies as part of the standard curriculum or even as an elective, for that matter.
 
First off, nobody can really help you other than a lawyer in NY. Not a lawyer in another state. Not even a cop (no offense to Tom) - well, he can help, a lot maybe, but not in the same way as a lawyer. From what I've seen on my visits to NYC, I have no trouble believing the story (again, no offense Tom, just personal observation of a limited sample size).

Secondly, you're going to want a lawyer. If you're an adult at 16 in NY, then I'm guessing you'd also be able to get indigent defense, but I'm not an NY lawyer, so I'm doing nothing more than guessing.

Just about every criminal defense lawyer will do a first consult for free. None I've known have ever had any problem with people utilizing this to get a little free help. It's part of the job and it's pretty decent public relations.

The lawyer will know better, but my suggestion is not to make a complaint until AFTER your charge is dealt with.
 
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Did you meet with the lawyer? I agree that the lawyer is a must, but many times there are imperfections in the paper works, or statements that can get the case dismissed at arrainment ( his first court date).
 
In the end even if this does go on your permanent record, don't worry because you can still go to a good college and get a good job.

Just be honest and never lie about it on your application forms.

My super-genius cousin stupidly got into a bar fight that left him with a record, but he still got into Harvard, and is now in Harvard medical school.

He told me that the interviewers had asked him about the details surrounding the incident. He just answered honestly that he had a little too much too drink and lost his cool at a belligerent remark, but has never touched a drink since. He's gotten A's and a 38/45 MCAT score and has never gotten into trouble since then and his future is bright.

So don't worry about your future. Talk to your lawyer, sort this thing out and keep your grades up! Study hard, become a lawyer and work pro bono for us!
 
Sonny said:
In the end even if this does go on your permanent record, don't worry because you can still go to a good college and get a good job.

Just be honest and never lie about it on your application forms.

My super-genius cousin stupidly got into a bar fight that left him with a record, but he still got into Harvard, and is now in Harvard medical school.

He told me that the interviewers had asked him about the details surrounding the incident. He just answered honestly that he had a little too much too drink and lost his cool at a belligerent remark, but has never touched a drink since. He's gotten A's and a 38/45 MCAT score and has never gotten into trouble since then and his future is bright.

So don't worry about your future. Talk to your lawyer, sort this thing out and keep your grades up! Study hard, become a lawyer and work pro bono for us!
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For those who don't have the grades, political connections or $$$$ to get into Harvard, all is not lost. Another popular route is to start with a junior college, graduate two years later with Associate's Degree and transfer the credits to a four-year college. Most of the colleges around here do not perform criminal background checks anyway.
If HellGuard99 is questioned about the arrest and/or conviction (if he is, in fact, convicted) by college admissions officers, he can point out that it was simply a NYC misdemeanor charge for carrying a pocket knife that is perfectly legal to carry just about everywhere else in the United States. He should use the terms "pocket knife" and "tool", not "EDC" or "self-defense". The less said, the better.
 
This is a really awful story and it makes me angry because similar interactions with law enforcement have occurred in my past, souring me to law enforcement forever. I am now a physician and still get sick to my stomach at the site of an officer in uniform. I can't believe they are paid by the public's hard earned dollar and some act with such shameless disrespect and disregard towards the public they serve.

I have confidence that you will go through this legal process and come out on the other end without any permanent damage to your record and reputation, but the same cannot be said of your wallet, because the legal system has been set up to run as a self-serving, money consuming, inefficient bureaucracy. You are not the first person to be harassed and thrown into this legal toilet bowl. Literally thousands are processed by your counties courts each year. Because of the sheer number of cases of people being charged for the first time with "minor offenses" most counties and states have created programs that allow you to avoid the original charge by having you pay a (rather large) fine and serve community service (free labor). I have my suspicions that they operate the system not unlike a private business in which you attempt to generate more income by processing more people each year to ensure growth of the department.

Anyway your criminal lawyer should be able to tell you all the details of the options that are on your table. He will charge a fair or outrageous price too because he is part of this business cycle, but at least he's on your side sort of.

do not take the route of least resistance, go into court without a lawyer and simply plead guilty or no contest to the charge believing that you will simply "own up" and get it over with. Not only will you have to pay financially, but they will simply slap on a conviction to your permanent record and process you easily with the thousands of others who choose to go this route. it really doesn't make a difference to them. If you go the route of a lawyer, it may take a year or more, but you should be able to get the DA to drop the charge for the price of money paid, community service, a lot of anxiety and a lifelong despise for ridiculous laws and self-serving bureaucracies.

You should know that if you are entering law, you will apply to both college and law school, and eventually need to be professionally licensed. at all these steps you will be asked whether or not you have any convictions on your record. While you could explain the ridiculous circumstances regarding your run in with the law, it's best to not even have to do that and to have the arrest expunged from your record after community service. in the end you may realize that it's nothing personal, it's all just about money. This might change your perspective and the direction in which you take your career and for this reason perhaps the whole experience will not be a lost cause. Good luck on your situation-- many have been there before and there will be many following you, and the cycle will continue.
 
generallobster said:
all this for a pocket knife carried on a pocket.
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That was the problem. It was carried ON the pocket rather than DEEP INSIDE the pocket. If the kid (HellGuard99) had any street smarts whatsoever, he would have removed the pocket clip from his CRKT Drifter and carried that knife completely CONCEALED. If he does not know the meaning of the word "concealed", he should check Webster's dictionary or do a Google search. I live in Massachusetts, which is about as anti-weapon, anti-self-defense as a state can be. I have never been arrested on weapons charges. I am almost 50 years old and have EDC'd lockblade folding knives (4" blades) and sometimes other weapons (OC, blackjack, sap) since I was 16. The key to avoiding arrest is to keep a low profile, dress well and practice good concealment. Some people, particularly young males, like to show off the fact that they are carrying. This serves no purpose whatsoever and often leads to LE harassment/arrest.
 
TOM1960 said:
That was the problem. It was carried ON the pocket rather than DEEP INSIDE the pocket. If the kid (HellGuard99) had any street smarts whatsoever, he would have removed the pocket clip from his CRKT Drifter and carried that knife completely CONCEALED. If he does not know the meaning of the word "concealed", he should check Webster's dictionary or do a Google search. I live in Massachusetts, which is about as anti-weapon, anti-self-defense as a state can be. I have never been arrested on weapons charges. I am almost 50 years old and have EDC'd lockblade folding knives (4" blades) and sometimes other weapons (OC, blackjack, sap) since I was 16. The key to avoiding arrest is to keep a low profile, dress well and practice good concealment. Some people, particularly young males, like to show off the fact that they are carrying. This serves no purpose whatsoever and often leads to LE harassment/arrest.
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I don't even know why an adult would choose to live in such a place. I never made any attempt to conceal that I'm carrying a knife, not even in high school, and that was in Maryland. Once I went to the South it became not only acceptable but almost expected of me.
 
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powernoodle said:
You are in good company. King George did not like it when John Adams exercised his personal liberty either. Well done.

I cannot tolerate an oppressive central bureaucracy that controls the citizenry through fear and intimidation.
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I agree. Justifying this kind of crap is the first and necessary step towards oppression.
 
Sorry I haven't been replying due to computer issues. I lost my passwords and stuff, but I have met with my lawyer and he said I have a good chance of sealing the case since it is my first offense and if needed, they can look at my school transcript for my grades to see the kind of student that I am. I might be able to get off with one day of community service.
 
It's bs that NY's definition of a gravity knife extends to a folder that can be thrown open with a great deal of force. I can't believe the DT put his gun in your bag either. They probably laughed over it later too. There's no expungement in NYS, so you'll get the sealed record, but it's still BS and I feel for you.

When I was a little older than you (18), I got stopped on 145th in Harlem at 1 am because I had a prominent bulge in my bubble jacket (a digital camera). I had a Jaguar butterfly knife in my strong side pocket. The cop felt it and asked me if it was a gravity knife. I said no and he let me go home. He thought I had a gun, so he didn't really care about the knife.

Sounds like your lawyer is going to help you cop out--if you carry in future, keep it in your pocket as suggested. Being a small Asian guy, you're unlikely to be randomly stopped and searched. The clip's what got you in trouble, and saying it was for protection didn't help either. The less said to New York's Finest the better. There are some great cops on the NYPD too: sounds like you just got really unlucky and ran into a couple who felt like giving you a hard time.
 
Going on two months or so now, any news on the subject? Hope the case was dismissed or charge(s) dropped for you.
 
ok, first off, it would be nice to see an update, but may not be possible.

Second, I keep seeing threads like this on this and another forum; please stop confusing New York state and New York City...New York City is the ones having the issues, not anywhere else in New York State. I know this because I live in New York STATE. Thank You.
 
stealthchaser13, I agree that NYC is the one enforcing the law this way, BUT they are enforceing the STATE law when it comes to gravity knives, and they have created alot of case law saying this is the correct way to describe a gravity knife. A few months back I was at the Broadway Mall in Nassau County, and watched a teen get arrested for a gravity knife right in front of me. There were two plain cloths officers and one flicked the knife open and stated to the other it was a gravity knife and put the cuffs on. My son had a few friends almost arrested the same way. The issue here is anyplace in NYS this law can be enforced this way. There are many former NYC officers in Nsssau, Suffolk and Westchester County all of whom were trained for their first few years that these were good arrest. There is a growing gang problems upstate NY that will lead to different levels of enforcment soon. It is best to obey the STATE law everywhere in the state, or at anytime at the whim of an officer who sees your pocket clip or knife outline in your pocket ask if he can see your knife.....
 
The best way to break up the outline of a folding knife in the pocket is with an inexpensive bi-fold wallet. If the wallet is held upside down, the folder inserted pivot-down into the wallet and then the wallet placed in the pocket, the outline would be broken up and no tell-tale "printing" would occur. This would work with even large, bulky folders such as the Buck 110. Pivot-down position between the folds of the wallet allows for a quick deployment of the blade.
 
Welcome to being born, you have no rights. Some of what you posted seems suspect but honestly cops do that crap all the time, the words decent human being AREN'T in their vocabulary. The problem isn't what you did its how old you are, they start treating you A LITTLE better each year.
 
I was going to ask you about the perm record part. I would get it sealed or expunged completely. Other than that, if you can prove hopefully by video that they put a firearm in your bag they will be in absolute hot water. And could result in dropping your charges completely. I am not a lawyer, nor pretend to be. might want to check out www.policeabuse.com they will open some eyes, but may not be relevant to your case at all. the videos are sometimes all to common, and extreme like yours. They offer free help.
 
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