2007
December 27, 2007: Attorney Margulis-Ohnuma appointed to the Criminal Justice Act Panel for the Southern District of New York. We are pleased to announce that Principal Attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma has been appointed to the federal CJA panel for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the nation's leading trial court. In his capacity as a CJA attorney, Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma will be offering free, court-appointed legal services to indigent defendants charged in multi-defendant cases in the Southern District of New York. "I am delighted to have the opportunity to help poor people caught up in the federal justice system by serving on the CJA panel in Manhattan," said Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma. "This panel carries on the great tradition of Gideon v. Wainwright at an extraordinarily high level of proficiency. I am honored and humbled to be appointed."
November 15, 2007: More fallout from the "Moll Tapes". The Kings County District Attorney's office not only dropped the case against R. Lindley DeVecchio, but requested a special prosecutor to look into perjury charges against Linda Schiro. A politically ambitious former judge, Leslie Crocker Snyder, will head up the investigation. Judge Snyder founded the Manhattan District Attorney's office special sex crimes unit; she also helped write the Rape Shield law which excludes evidence of an alleged victims' sexual past in sex crimes trials. Snyder was dubbed "dragon lady" in an in-depth Village Voice profile by Margulis-Ohnuma client Tom Robbins when she ran for Manhattan district attorney two years ago. She will no doubt take a hard look at Schiro -- and depend largely on Robbins' reporting with co-author Jerry Capeci to make her case. Let's hope she respects the reporters' rights under the Shield Law in her quest for justice.
Meanwhile, Robbins gave a thoughtful blow-by-blow about how the tapes came public -- and what it all means to journalists -- in the Village Voice last week. Click here for the full story. And Capeci continues to cover the story -- including the Brooklyn DA's missteps -- with his usual insider's punch. Must-reads all around. Click here for the latest from Capeci's ganglandnews.com.
October 31, 2007: Brooklyn district attorney to drop case against fomer FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio after Margulis-Ohnuma client Tom Robbins reveals ten-year old tapes contradicting the main prosecution witness. The Kings County District Attorney's office has been prosecuting ex-FBI agent DeVecchio for allegedly providing information to mob informant Gregory Scarpa that led Scarpa to murder four individuals. The main witness against DeVecchio is Scarpa moll Linda Schiro, who testified this week that Scarpa and DeVecchio discussed information relating to the murders openly in front of her. Problem is, in tape recordings made ten years ago, Schiro told ace reporters Tom Robbins and Jerry Capeci that DeVecchio had nothing to do with three of the four murders. When the defense tried to subpoena Capeci prior to the trial for his notes relating to interviews with Schiro, the famed Gangland columnist -- known as the foremost authority on the New York mafia -- turned to former Daily News colleague Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma for help quashing the subpoena. The court agreed and Capeci's confidentiality arrangement with Schiro was not violated.
But after Schiro testified -- in 180-degree contradiction to her statements to Capeci and Robbins -- Robbins decided he could not remain silent in the face of the risk that an innocent man might go to jail based on a lie. After consulting about the legal consequences with Margulis-Ohnuma, he decided to print the story in the Village Voice. That waived the New York reporter's privilege and Robbins, with Margulis-Ohnuma's assistance, complied with subpoenas for the tapes. Although the district attorney demanded all Robbins' work regarding Schiro, Robbins was required to turn over only the material he wrote about -- i.e. relating to the four murders. That appears, though, to have been enough to persuade the district attorney's office to dismiss the case. Check out Channel 4's thorough coverage here.
October 25, 2007: Former MDC Brooklyn Captain acquitted of civil rights charge, convicted of conspiracy and false statements. After a hard fought trial in the Eastern District of New York, Margulis-Ohnuma client Salvatore LoPresti was convicted of six out of seven charges brought, but acquitted of the key charge of violating another person's civil rights. Full details are available in the New York Times. Click here.
September 5, 2007: Enforcement in cyberspace. Despite the Larry Craig sting operation, the overwhelming direction of enforcement of sex crime is online. More and more federal and local police agencies are joining in, trolling "undercover" in chat rooms, myspace.com and other venues for would-be sex criminals, including prostitutes and their customers. The latest report in the New York Times focuses on craigslist.org, the popular classified advertising site. Apparently, local cops are setting up stings, both answering ads and placing ads for themselves in the adult sections, looking for illegal sex-for-money. Caveat emptor et vendor. Click here for the full article.
April 11, 2007: Margulis-Ohnuma Wins Reversal of Conviction in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In a detailed decision about the propriety of government evidence relating to the state of mind of the accused, the Second Circuit reversed five out of seven counts of conviction against a former attorney who was represented by Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma. The federal appeals court found that the district court made three errors, one of them enough to reverse on the five fraud counts.
The reversible error was the improper admission of lay opinion testimony -- unsupported testimony by a cooperator as to what the cooperator thought the defendant meant when he said certain words. The second error -- and the court did not reach the question of whether it was reversible, since the opinion testimony required reversal -- was testimony about what others knew used to prove what the defendant knew. The final error was an erroneous "conscious avoidance" instruction given with respect to an obstruction-of-justice count without proper foundation. To get the full story, read the opinion, which can be found here.
March 13, 2007: Second Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Against Doe Class. In a ground-breaking decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Judge Denny Chin holding that the State of New York is free to legislate more onerous provisions for people convicted of sex crimes prior to 1996, when the Sex Offender Registration Act became effective. The decision in Doe v. Pataki can be found here. As a general matter, it appears that people adjudicated Level Two sex offenders will be required to register for life and be subjected to internet community notification, despite the State's agreement to settle the Doe v. Pataki litigation. To find out how the decision applies to you, please call our office at (212) 685-0999.
March 3, 2007: New York's lawmakers appear to have reached agreement after many delays on a civil confinement bill. While the details have yet to play out, this measure and similar ones around the country aim to use civil procedures rather than criminal ones to indefinitely commit individuals thought to be dangerous. I can think of few principles that pose a greater danger to our society than this idea that we can do away with criminal procedures to deprive someone of his or her freedom for an undetermined length of time. New York's law appears to have the protection of a jury trial built into it -- a dubious proposition where the underlying allegations may be so inflammatory that it would be impossible to find a fair jury and most opponents to the commitment would waive the jury anyway. Here is an article in Newsday about the measure. Here is a follow-up from the New York Times.
February 28, 2007: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has adopted a set of policies relating to the punishment of sex offenses. The NACDL opposes mandatory minimum sentences, mandatory registration schemes, the death penalty and other excessively punitive measures for sex offenses. To read this thoughtful document in full, click here.
February 6, 2007: Attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Wins Gun Trial. A Brooklyn, New York jury acquitted defendant Jerome Williams of one count of gun possession and one count of menacing after a hard-fought three-week trial conducted by Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma. The jury deadlocked on one additional count. The case was especially interesting because Mr. Williams was shot from behind in the course of being arrested. "Victories in criminal trials are unusual, but here the jury saw that the incident could not have possibly happened the way the police said it did," said Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma. "Both I and Jerome are grateful for the hard work of the medical expert, Dr. Richard Sullivan, and the investigator, Michael Pizzi. Jerome's family pulled together to obtain a just result against terrible odds. My heart goes out to them."
November 15, 2007: More fallout from the "Moll Tapes". The Kings County District Attorney's office not only dropped the case against R. Lindley DeVecchio, but requested a special prosecutor to look into perjury charges against Linda Schiro. A politically ambitious former judge, Leslie Crocker Snyder, will head up the investigation. Judge Snyder founded the Manhattan District Attorney's office special sex crimes unit; she also helped write the Rape Shield law which excludes evidence of an alleged victims' sexual past in sex crimes trials. Snyder was dubbed "dragon lady" in an in-depth Village Voice profile by Margulis-Ohnuma client Tom Robbins when she ran for Manhattan district attorney two years ago. She will no doubt take a hard look at Schiro -- and depend largely on Robbins' reporting with co-author Jerry Capeci to make her case. Let's hope she respects the reporters' rights under the Shield Law in her quest for justice.
Meanwhile, Robbins gave a thoughtful blow-by-blow about how the tapes came public -- and what it all means to journalists -- in the Village Voice last week. Click here for the full story. And Capeci continues to cover the story -- including the Brooklyn DA's missteps -- with his usual insider's punch. Must-reads all around. Click here for the latest from Capeci's ganglandnews.com.
October 31, 2007: Brooklyn district attorney to drop case against fomer FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio after Margulis-Ohnuma client Tom Robbins reveals ten-year old tapes contradicting the main prosecution witness. The Kings County District Attorney's office has been prosecuting ex-FBI agent DeVecchio for allegedly providing information to mob informant Gregory Scarpa that led Scarpa to murder four individuals. The main witness against DeVecchio is Scarpa moll Linda Schiro, who testified this week that Scarpa and DeVecchio discussed information relating to the murders openly in front of her. Problem is, in tape recordings made ten years ago, Schiro told ace reporters Tom Robbins and Jerry Capeci that DeVecchio had nothing to do with three of the four murders. When the defense tried to subpoena Capeci prior to the trial for his notes relating to interviews with Schiro, the famed Gangland columnist -- known as the foremost authority on the New York mafia -- turned to former Daily News colleague Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma for help quashing the subpoena. The court agreed and Capeci's confidentiality arrangement with Schiro was not violated.
But after Schiro testified -- in 180-degree contradiction to her statements to Capeci and Robbins -- Robbins decided he could not remain silent in the face of the risk that an innocent man might go to jail based on a lie. After consulting about the legal consequences with Margulis-Ohnuma, he decided to print the story in the Village Voice. That waived the New York reporter's privilege and Robbins, with Margulis-Ohnuma's assistance, complied with subpoenas for the tapes. Although the district attorney demanded all Robbins' work regarding Schiro, Robbins was required to turn over only the material he wrote about -- i.e. relating to the four murders. That appears, though, to have been enough to persuade the district attorney's office to dismiss the case. Check out Channel 4's thorough coverage here.
October 25, 2007: Former MDC Brooklyn Captain acquitted of civil rights charge, convicted of conspiracy and false statements. After a hard fought trial in the Eastern District of New York, Margulis-Ohnuma client Salvatore LoPresti was convicted of six out of seven charges brought, but acquitted of the key charge of violating another person's civil rights. Full details are available in the New York Times. Click here.
September 5, 2007: Enforcement in cyberspace. Despite the Larry Craig sting operation, the overwhelming direction of enforcement of sex crime is online. More and more federal and local police agencies are joining in, trolling "undercover" in chat rooms, myspace.com and other venues for would-be sex criminals, including prostitutes and their customers. The latest report in the New York Times focuses on craigslist.org, the popular classified advertising site. Apparently, local cops are setting up stings, both answering ads and placing ads for themselves in the adult sections, looking for illegal sex-for-money. Caveat emptor et vendor. Click here for the full article.
April 11, 2007: Margulis-Ohnuma Wins Reversal of Conviction in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. In a detailed decision about the propriety of government evidence relating to the state of mind of the accused, the Second Circuit reversed five out of seven counts of conviction against a former attorney who was represented by Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma. The federal appeals court found that the district court made three errors, one of them enough to reverse on the five fraud counts.
The reversible error was the improper admission of lay opinion testimony -- unsupported testimony by a cooperator as to what the cooperator thought the defendant meant when he said certain words. The second error -- and the court did not reach the question of whether it was reversible, since the opinion testimony required reversal -- was testimony about what others knew used to prove what the defendant knew. The final error was an erroneous "conscious avoidance" instruction given with respect to an obstruction-of-justice count without proper foundation. To get the full story, read the opinion, which can be found here.
March 13, 2007: Second Circuit Court of Appeals Rules Against Doe Class. In a ground-breaking decision, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned Judge Denny Chin holding that the State of New York is free to legislate more onerous provisions for people convicted of sex crimes prior to 1996, when the Sex Offender Registration Act became effective. The decision in Doe v. Pataki can be found here. As a general matter, it appears that people adjudicated Level Two sex offenders will be required to register for life and be subjected to internet community notification, despite the State's agreement to settle the Doe v. Pataki litigation. To find out how the decision applies to you, please call our office at (212) 685-0999.
March 3, 2007: New York's lawmakers appear to have reached agreement after many delays on a civil confinement bill. While the details have yet to play out, this measure and similar ones around the country aim to use civil procedures rather than criminal ones to indefinitely commit individuals thought to be dangerous. I can think of few principles that pose a greater danger to our society than this idea that we can do away with criminal procedures to deprive someone of his or her freedom for an undetermined length of time. New York's law appears to have the protection of a jury trial built into it -- a dubious proposition where the underlying allegations may be so inflammatory that it would be impossible to find a fair jury and most opponents to the commitment would waive the jury anyway. Here is an article in Newsday about the measure. Here is a follow-up from the New York Times.
February 28, 2007: The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers has adopted a set of policies relating to the punishment of sex offenses. The NACDL opposes mandatory minimum sentences, mandatory registration schemes, the death penalty and other excessively punitive measures for sex offenses. To read this thoughtful document in full, click here.
February 6, 2007: Attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Wins Gun Trial. A Brooklyn, New York jury acquitted defendant Jerome Williams of one count of gun possession and one count of menacing after a hard-fought three-week trial conducted by Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma. The jury deadlocked on one additional count. The case was especially interesting because Mr. Williams was shot from behind in the course of being arrested. "Victories in criminal trials are unusual, but here the jury saw that the incident could not have possibly happened the way the police said it did," said Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma. "Both I and Jerome are grateful for the hard work of the medical expert, Dr. Richard Sullivan, and the investigator, Michael Pizzi. Jerome's family pulled together to obtain a just result against terrible odds. My heart goes out to them."