Criminal Defense Lawyers

Kings County Criminal Lawyers

Kings County Criminal Lawyers

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office has an 89% conviction rate at trial. Read that number again. Out of 113 trials in Supreme Court last year, 101 ended in convictions. That means by the time your case reaches a Brooklyn courtroom, the prosecutors have already decided they’re going to win – and they’re almost always right. This isn’t a system where you show up and argue your side. This is a machine that processes 2.8 million residents worth of criminal cases through what judges themselves have called a “labyrinthian” court structure. If you don’t understand how this machine works, it will crush you.

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. Our goal is to give you real information about how Kings County criminal cases actually work – not the sanitized version you find on other legal websites. We believe you deserve to know exactly what your facing before you make decisions that could affect the rest of your life. Todd Spodek built this firm on a simple principle: informed clients make better decisions, and better decisions lead to better outcomes.

The Kings County District Attorney’s office isn’t some understaffed local operation. It’s the busiest prosecutor’s office in all of New York City, with over 1,200 attorneys, investigators, and professional staff dedicated to one thing – prosecuting cases. They have specialized bureaus for gang crimes, financial fraud, cybercrime, cryptocurrency investigations, gender-based violence, elder exploitation, and environmental crimes. Whatever you’re charged with, there’s probably an entire unit of prosecutors who do nothing but handle cases exactly like yours.

The 89% Reality – What Brooklyn’s Conviction Rate Actually Means

Heres the thing most people dont understand about that 89% conviction rate. It dosent mean prosecutors win 89% of cases. It means they win 89% of the cases they actually take to trial. Thats a crucial distinction. Prosecutors in Brooklyn dont bring cases to trial unless there almost certain they’ll win. The ones they think might be close? Those get plea offers. The ones they know are weak? Those get dismissed or reduced.

So when your sitting in a cell wondering whether to take this thing to trial, understand what your up against. The cases that go to trial are the ones where the DA’s office has looked at all the evidence, run it by there specialized units, and concluded that conviction is basicly guaranteed. There not gambling with there 89% win rate. There protecting it.

This creates a wierd dynamic that nobody talks about. Taking a case to trial in Brooklyn isnt some heroic stand for justice – its often a sign that your attorney hasnt found a way to get you a better outcome through negotiation. The cases that go to trial are frequently the ones where the defendant refused a plea deal that, in retrospect, would of been the smarter move.

Todd Spodek has handled hundreds of Kings County cases, and heres what he tells every client: the goal isnt to “beat” the system. The goal is to get you the best possible outcome given the specific facts of your case. Sometimes that means fighting. Sometimes it means negotiating. But it always means understanding exactly what your facing before you make that choice.

Why Brooklyn’s “Labyrinthian” Court System Works Against You

New York’s court system is so confusing that the state’s own judicial authorities have described it as “overly complicated” and “labyrinthian.” Thats not critics saying that – thats judges admitting the system they work in dosent make sense. And Brooklyn’s system is especially complex because of the volume of cases flowing through it.

Heres something that trips up almost everyone: in New York, “Supreme Court” is not the highest court. Its actually a trial court. The name sounds like it should be the final word on everything, but its just where felony trials happen after indictment. The actual highest court in New York is called the Court of Appeals. If your confused by that, congratulations – your in good company. The naming convention was established centuries ago and nobody bothered to change it.

For criminal cases in Kings County, heres how it actualy works. Almost every case starts in Criminal Court, regardless of whether its a misdemeanor or felony. You get arrested, your brought before a judge within 24 hours for arraignment, and the Criminal Court handles that initial appearance. If its a misdemeanor, your case stays in Criminal Court all the way through resolution. If its a felony, Criminal Court only handles the preliminary stuff – arraignment, bail, maybe a preliminary hearing.

But heres were it gets complicated. Felony cases dont stay in Criminal Court. Once the grand jury indicts you, your case moves to Supreme Court. Different building. Different judges. Different procedures. And that transition is were alot of people get lost.

The Kings County Supreme Court – Criminal Term is at 320 Jay Street. The Criminal Court is somewhere else entirely. Ive seen cases were defendants showed up at the wrong courthouse because nobody explained the difference. Ive seen cases were paperwork got lost during the transfer between courts. The system dosent care that its confusing. It expects you to figure it out.

The First 24 Hours That Determine Everything

When your arrested in Brooklyn, the clock starts immediatly. Under New York law, you have to be brought before a judge for arraignment within 24 hours of arrest. Sounds like a protection for you, right? It is – but heres the uncomfortable truth. By the time there arresting you, the investigation that built the case against you is usually already complete.

Think about what that means. The police didnt arrest you on a whim. They arrested you because they beleive they have enough evidence to make the charges stick. Your arraignment isnt the beginning of your case – its the public announcement that the case against you already exists. The witnesses have already been interviewed. The physical evidence has already been collected. The prosecutors have already reviewed enough to approve the arrest.

The biggest mistake people make in the first 24 hours is thinking they can talk there way out of it. They sit in that holding cell convinced that if they just explain what really happened, the whole thing will go away. It wont. Every word you say becomes evidence. Not clarification. Not your side of the story. Evidence that will be used against you.

At Spodek Law Group, we tell every client the same thing: the moment you know your being investigated – let alone arrested – you need legal representation. Not because your guilty. Because the system is designed to build cases, and anything you say becomes building material.

What Happens When You Talk to Brooklyn Police

OK so lets be absolutly clear about something. Police officers are trained investigators. There job is to gather evidence. When they ask you questions, there not trying to understand your perspective – there trying to get you to say something they can use. And heres the part that shocks people: police are legaly allowed to lie to you during questioning.

They can tell you they have evidence they dont have. They can tell you a co-defendant already confessed when nobody said anything. They can tell you that cooperating will help your case when they have no authority to make that promise. And every word you say in response – even the parts were your trying to defend yourself – gets written down in a report that will be used against you.

Ive seen cases were innocent people convicted themselves. Not because they were guilty, but because they tried to explain away suspicious circumstances and ended up creating inconsistencies that prosecutors hammered at trial. “You said you were at home at 8pm, but the security camera shows you at the gas station at 8:15 – why did you lie?” The person wasnt lying. They just misremembered. But now there testimony looks like deception.

Heres the thing about statements to police: they cant be taken back. Once you say something, its part of the record. You cant unsay it. You cant clarify it later in a way that erases the original statement. Your defense attorney might be able to explain the context, but the original words are permanantly part of your case.

This is why the Fifth Amendment exists. Not to protect guilty people – to protect everyone from the reality that talking to police, even when your completly innocent, can destroy your case.

The Grand Jury Process Nobody Explains

If your charged with a felony in Kings County, your case will go to a grand jury. Most people have heard of grand juries but have no idea how they actualy work. Heres the reality: grand juries are the prosecutor’s show, and your not invited.

A grand jury is a group of citizens who review evidence and decide whether theres enough to formally charge you with a felony. Sounds fair, right? Heres the catch. The prosecutor decides what evidence to present. The prosecutor decides which witnesses testify. The prosecutor explains the law. You dont get to be there. Your attorney dosent get to be there. Nobody presents your side of the story.

Theres an old saying among criminal defense lawyers: a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich. Its dark humor, but its basicly true. Grand juries hear only what prosecutors want them to hear, and they almost always return indictments. The indictment rate in most jurisdictions is above 95%.

So what does this mean for your case? It means the grand jury isnt really a check on prosecutorial power – its more like a formality. Once the DA’s office decides to pursue felony charges, getting past the grand jury is rarely a significant hurdle for them. The real fight happens later, in Supreme Court, where you actualy get to present your defense.

This is why pre-indictment representation matters so much. The time to influence your case is before the grand jury meets, not after. An experienced Kings County defense attorney can sometimes present information to prosecutors that changes there calculus – evidence they didnt know about, witnesses they havent interviewed, legal issues that complicate there case. Once the indictment comes down, your options narrow considerably.

Why Most Brooklyn Cases Never Go to Trial

Given everything weve discussed – the 89% conviction rate, the complexity of the court system, the grand jury process that almost always indicts – it shouldnt surprise you that most criminal cases in Brooklyn never go to trial. The vast majority are resolved through plea agreements.

And heres the uncomfortable truth that nobody wants to admit: thats not necessarily a bad thing.

Taking a case to trial is a gamble. If you win, you walk away. If you lose – which happens 89% of the time in Brooklyn – you face the full sentencing exposure for your charges. Plea agreements, by contrast, let you negotiate. You might plead to a lesser charge. You might get a sentencing recommendation. You might avoid certain consequences like mandatory minimums.

The question isnt whether plea deals are “giving up.” The question is whether the risk of trial is worth it given the specific facts of your case. Sometimes it absolutly is – when the evidence is weak, when there are strong constitutional issues, when the potential payoff of acquittal justifies the risk. But sometimes accepting a negotiated outcome is the smartest strategic decision you can make.

What you should never do is make this decision without understanding the actual odds. Too many people reject plea offers because they “want there day in court” without realizing what that day in court actualy looks like against Brooklyn prosecutors. And too many people accept plea offers out of fear without exploring whether there case had genuine weaknesses the prosecution was trying to avoid.

Spodek Law Group approaches every case with the same methodology: evaluate the evidence, identify the weaknesses on both sides, understand the realistic outcomes, and then make an informed decision. We dont push clients toward trials to make ourselves look good. We dont push clients toward pleas because its easier. We push clients toward whatever outcome actualy serves there best interests.

What Spodek Law Group Does Differently

The Kings County criminal justice system processes thousands of cases every year. To the system, your case is a file number. To the prosecutors, your one of hundreds of defendants they’ll handle this month. To the judges, your part of a docket thats always too full.

At Spodek Law Group, your not a file number. Your a person whose entire life might depend on how this case gets handled. That perspective changes everything about how we approach representation.

We start by actualy listening. Not just to the charges – to your whole situation. What were the circumstances? What evidence exists? What witnesses are involved? What are your goals beyond this case? Are there immigration consequences? Professional licensing issues? Family considerations? The “best outcome” looks different for different people, and we cant fight for the right outcome if we dont understand what right means for you.

Then we investigate. We dont take the police report at face value. We dont assume the prosecution’s evidence is as strong as they claim. We dig into the facts, interview witnesses, review physical evidence, and build our own understanding of what actualy happened.

Then – and only then – do we develop strategy. Sometimes that strategy involves aggressive pre-trial motions to suppress evidence. Sometimes it involves negotiation toward a favorable plea. Sometimes it means preparing for trial. But every strategic decision flows from understanding, not assumption.

Todd Spodek has been defending clients in Brooklyn courts for years. Hes handled cases ranging from misdemeanors to serious felonies. Hes negotiated with Kings County prosecutors and tried cases before Kings County judges. That experience matters – not because it guarantees outcomes, but because it means we understand exactly what were dealing with.

The Call You Need to Make

If your reading this because you or someone you love is facing criminal charges in Kings County, heres what you need to understand: time matters. The decisions you make in the first days and weeks of your case will shape everything that follows. Talking to police without an attorney can create evidence that haunts you through trial. Missing court dates can result in warrants and additional charges. Failing to understand the court system can mean showing up in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You cant afford to navigate this system alone. The prosecutors have 1,200 professionals working against you. They have specialized units dedicated to cases like yours. They have an 89% conviction rate at trial. The only way to level the playing field is to have someone in your corner who knows how this system works and how to work within it.

Call Spodek Law Group at 212-300-5196. The consultation is free. The information is real. And the sooner you call, the more options you’ll have. Dont wait until the grand jury indicts. Dont wait until your standing in Supreme Court wondering what happens next. Call now.