Assault and Even Murder Charges In Federal and State Courts Can Be Won — If Your Lawyer Puts the Work In
Being charged with assault, murder or attempted murder in New York, Brooklyn, Queens, Connecticut, New Jersey or in federal courts all over the country does not mean your life is over – far from it. Just because the penalties for such crimes can be extreme does not mean that a top criminal lawyer cannot achieve a great result with an acquittal after trial, a dismissal of the charges or a non-custodial plea deal. The best defense attorneys all over the country know that in order to achieve such a result a massive effort needs to be made investigating both the crime and the witnesses. Armed with the fruits of that investigation, a strong cross-examiner can destroy a witness’s story and reveal to the jury biases and motives to lie. As the witness falls apart on the stand so does the case against the defendant.
We have had tremendous documented success in federal assault, conspiracy to murder and murder cases, RICO, as well as in state assault, attempted murder and murder cases. We don’t just get hired on serious cases like this which are often in the media — we win them.
In one recent case, our client was accused of shooting his son-in-law in the head and charged in New York state court with attempted murder. The son-in-law survived the shooting and was prepared to testify against our client. After a thorough investigation which included a taped interview with the alleged victim himself, we convinced the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to drop the attempted murder charge and permit our client to plead guilty to Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon, a much lesser felony, and received a sentence of probation. At no point did our client ever spend a night in prison on this case.
We also represented WPIX-TV New York Newsman Vince DeMentri in his assault trial in Manhattan state court. An intensive investigation of the alleged crime turned up an eyewitness whose story differed greatly from that of the alleged victim. And when the “victim” testified in court he was caught in so many lies that the judge took the rare step of stopping the trial midstream and giving the prosecution the rest of the day to determine whether they even wished to continue the case. They decided to go forward and DeMentri was quickly acquitted of all charges. Without our thorough investigation of the complainant – which included review of public records and the service of a multitude of subpoenas – he would have been able to present false testimony to the jury. Instead, he was caught and the prosecutor’s case unraveled.
Finally, we represented John A. Gotti, the son of the infamous Gambino Family Crime Boss, in a federal RICO trial in Manhattan. Included in the massive RICO indictment against Mr. Gotti were a slew of assault and attempted murder charges relating to the shooting of New York radio host Curtis Sliwa. After a two day, ferocious cross-examination which was described by the witness as “relentless,” Sliwa’s credibility was destroyed and our client was not convicted of any charges relating to the shooting – or any charges at all following the six week trial. Sliwa said afterward that Lichtman during the cross-examination “wouldn’t give me any room to move. There was an intensity in his eyes.” What there was, in fact, was a year of preparation for two days of cross-examination. And there were many other cooperating witnesses in the Gotti case who testified against our client and all of their testimony was blunted; after six weeks of trial Mr. Gotti walked out of court and prison, a free man. In order to win this and other difficult cases, a massive amount of preparation and investigation is required because the difference between an acquittal and freedom — and a conviction and a life destroyed — is oftentimes your attorney.
Contact a Top New York Defense Attorney For Your Assault/Attempted Murder/Murder Case Today
The attorneys at the Law Offices of Jeffrey Lichtman have decades of experience — and results — in handling assault, murder and other charges of violence in federal and state courts in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Westchester and all over the country. Call us at (212) 581-1001 and we will fight to win your case as well.