If you are charged with robbery or burglary in Queens, you are facing a felony from the start, which means arraignment at Queens Criminal Court at 125-01 Queens Boulevard, a presentation to the grand jury by the DA's Grand Jury Bureau, and, if an indictment follows, a case in Queens County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, in the Kew Gardens Courthouse and Annex. Robberies and burglaries are carried by the four Felony Trial Bureaus, while repeat violent felony cases can go to the Career Criminal Major Crimes Bureau. Spodek Law Group P.C. owes loyalty to only you, and the attorney on call at 212 300 5196 can begin the moment you reach out.
How robbery is graded under Penal Law article 160.
Robbery in the third degree under Penal Law 160.05 is a class D felony, robbery in the second degree under 160.10 is a class C violent felony, and robbery in the first degree under 160.15 is a class B violent felony. Each step up that ladder changes your exposure considerably, because Penal Law 70.02 sets a determinate range of 3.5 to 15 years for a class C violent felony and 5 to 25 years for a class B violent felony, while Penal Law 70.00 caps a non-violent class D felony at 7 years. We look hard at the aggravating facts the DA relies on to push a case upward, since every one of those facts has to be proved.
Burglary degrees and the facts behind them.
Burglary in the third degree under Penal Law 140.20 is a class D felony, burglary in the second degree under 140.25 is a class C violent felony, and burglary in the first degree under 140.30 is a class B violent felony, with the top degree falling within that same 5 to 25 year determinate range. Because the degree turns on facts the DA must establish, and because a burglary theory usually depends on what the prosecution says you intended, we take apart the timeline, how you came to be on the property and what the evidence really shows about why you were there. Circumstantial proof of intent can often be explained, and we make sure the jury hears that explanation.
Identification evidence in Queens robbery cases.
Many robbery prosecutions depend on an identification made under stress, sometimes days later, through a photo array, a lineup or surveillance footage of uneven quality. We request the identification procedures and all video through discovery under CPL 245.10, compare the description the complainant first gave with the person the police arrested, and challenge suggestive procedures at pretrial hearings. The DA's LEOW Unit discloses prior misconduct of law-enforcement witnesses, which matters when a detective's account of how an identification happened is the only link between you and the crime. Where the proof is thin, we press the People on it before a plea is ever discussed.
