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Supreme Court Discharges Several Counts Against Defendant Due to Duplicity

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On September 17, 1998, The Supreme Court of Kings County, New York was called upon to address a situation involving a domestic violence case that was particularly egregious. Between the dates of December 26, 1996 and March 12, 2000, a man in their jurisdiction committed numerous crimes in violation of different orders of protection. The Grand Jury minutes of the case reveal that there were three separate orders of protection in effect that this subject violated before being arrested.

On September 17th the Supreme Court of Kings County was given a motion by the arrestee in this case to dismiss 14 of the counts that are shown against him on the indictment. He proposes that these counts are duplicitous. That means that they are duplicates or copies of charges that are already made. He proposes that these charges are duplicates because there were multiple acts in violation of multiple court orders and some were just counted more than once. In considering this motion, the court examined the following documents which were entered into evidence: the moving papers, the People’s opposition, the court’s letter dated June 29, 1998, the Grand Jury minutes , and the indictment itself.

The arrestee has been indicted for numerous crimes involving different assaults prohibited by “a” court order of protection. Most of the counts at issue in this motion are accused under one particular order of protection. However, the Grand Jury Minutes show that there were actually three different orders of protection in place.

In examining the arrestee’s motion the court must look at duplicity. In order for a count to be duplicitous, it must have already been covered by another of the charges that the arrestee is charged with. The court found that counts 3, 8, and 0 are duplicitous and they are dismissed. All of the other counts in question were found to be distinct in origin and the request to dismiss them has been denied.

The court cites the concern domestic violence cases and the effect that domestic abuse has on all parties involved. The court recognizes that domestic abuse does not just affect the actor or the victim; in reality, it affects the bystanders, the courts, the schools, medical agencies and government by undermining the sense of security that we as people feel in our homes. Therefore, it is important that these charges, while not being duplicitous, are also charged with the utmost in care to ensure that each order of protection and each incident of abuse are properly dealt with.

In this case, the court examined the wording of each statute to ensure that proper charges were made while they dismissed the three that were duplicitous. Besides duplicitousness, some crimes are continuous in that one continuous action causes multiple offenses to be made. A continuous crime is most appropriately charged once and not multiple times through each protection order.

In short, counts 3, 8, and 9 are dismissed. All other counts stand as written and the motion to dismiss them is denied.

Issues of law are constantly changing. A person who is not specifically trained in the law cannot begin to know what all of their rights are without the assistance of a professional. Here at Steven Bilkis and Associates, we provide New York Order of Protection Attorneys, New York Domestic Violence Lawyers, New York Assault Attorneys, and New York Criminal lawyers. New York Family Lawyers will stand by you and ensure that your rights are protected. New York Personal Injury Attorneys can argue your side and make sure that you and your loved ones are considered. We make sure that you are rightfully awarded compensation for your suffering.

Stephen Bilkis & Associates with its Domestic Violence Lawyers has convenient offices throughout the New York Metropolitan area including Corona, New York. Our Personal Injury Attorneys can provide you with advice to guide you through difficult situations. Without a Domestic Violence Lawyer you could lose precious compensation to help with your medical bills and the trauma to you and your loved ones following such a frightening experience. This is true even if the Attorney for the assailant has not adequately made their case. In addition to Personal Injury Law, Stephen Bilkis and Associates can recommend Criminal Lawyers who will protect your rights if you are ever arrested.

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