LAWRENCE D MORT ATTORNEY AT LAW New York City

Office: 321 Broadway Third Floor, New York, NY 10007 Home Page NEW YORK CITY

TELEPHONE 212-962-3638 please email at lawrence.mort70@gmail.com.

Child Custody + Family
DWI+White Collar Criminal
Youngstown Area History
Linked In
Costs of Electronic Discovery Discussion
Blog on erosion of business civil liberties
Successful DWI Fatality Defense

Happy to see my case of Peo v Pena 50 NY 2d 400 (cert denied) cited three times by Justice Eugene Nardelli of the Appellate Division of Supreme Court, First Department in reducing a Robbery One + Burglary Two conviction to Rob 3 + Burg 3 because of lack of proof of dangerous instrument: "A defendant's statement that he has a weapon or a threat that he will kill or harm his alleged victim is insufficient, without more, to sustain a conviction for an offense requiring proof that the defendant used or threatened to use a dangerous instrument." People v Peralta, 3 AD 3d 353, 770 NYS 2d 339 (First Dept 2004). Pena was also recently cited by both the majority and dissent at Court of Appeals , cite coming, 111 NY 3d_____. I would still question the rationale of Pena if litigating a similar case, ie, that finding a knife in a back pocket of an alleged perp a few minutes after he threatens to shoot someone while holding a hand in a paper bag and taking their property, constitutes Robbery One. *** Carmody+Wait 2d at Section 172.30 [Criminal Procedure] notes that geographical jurisdiction in a criminal matter may be established by a proponderance of the evidence. My case of Peo. v Moore 46 NY 2d 1 is cited as a basis for this rule. Peo v Moore also cited in NY Digest 4th Ed [West] under criminal law Sections 108(1), 300, 335 and 737(2): the jury decides where the crime was committed. A narcotics conspiracy was dismissed on basis Moore and Peo v Fea, Peo v Cespedes Colon Mercado and Tirado, 9 Misc 3d 705, 799 NYS 2d 703 [6/6/05]{Justice William A. Wetzel writing}: "the right to trial by jury in Art I Section 2 incorporates the common law as it stood at the time of independence, and includes the tright to be tried by a jury of the "vicinage," the county where the alleged criminal conduct was committed." See also Justice Ginsburg: USA v Cabrales, 524 US 1,where US Supreme Court upheld dismissal of moneylaundering charges when only the money came from charging jurisdiction. See also Peo V John Zaccaro 2d where Queens indictment dismissed for geographical reasons [extorting Cablevision]. NY Criminal Procedure by Christopher J. Morse, Carolina Academic Press, Durham NC (2001) which reprints Moore, supra, totally in support of the Heading: Exemption from Prosecution Chapter 3, Section 3.1 Article 20 Geographical Jurisdiction. Fea, Supra, also printed in full.*** A clever person turns great troubles into little ones and little ones into none at all. Chinese Proverb. In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins---not through strength but through perseverance. Thomas Sutcliffe Mort. The Seven Laws of Spiritual Success by Selwyn Hughes. Never never never never give up. Winston Churchill. Never quit. It is the easiest cop-out in the world. Set a goal and don't quit until you attain it. When you do attain it, set another goal, and don't quit until you reach it. Never quit. Bear Bryant{Coach of my favorite NFL passer Broadway Joe Namath, NY Jets}

Email: lawrence.mort70@gmail.com