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After a Theft Arrest

The Blanch Law Firm has established a well-deserved reputation of excellence in criminal defense, especially in keeping clients who have been arrested out of jail.

Fighting criminal charges means that you may spend months–possibly years–making untiring efforts, time-consuming court appearances, and spending a lot of money, to extricate yourself from the coils of the law. Living through the Criminal Law Process can be a nightmare.

Our attorneys–former prosecutors–are seasoned trial lawyers experienced on both sides of the criminal litigation bar. Experienced, knowledgeable, and thorough, they have achieved outstanding results as criminal defense lawyers in cased including the following:

■Accused of Embezzling $188,000.00 from an employer, our client faced mandatory imprisonment of at least a year in jail. We secured a disposition of no jail time.
■Charged with Enterprise Corruption and Fraud of an amount exceeding $5 million, our client faced a mandatory jail sentence, heavy fines, and asset forfeiture. We got the fine reduced to a minimal civil penalty with no jail time.
■Alleged to have engage in multiple incidents of forcible rape of a minor, our client faced 50 years in jail. We managed to get all charges against our client dismissed before trial, so no jail time was served at all.

Defense After an Arrest

If you are arrested, you may contact a lawyer immediately because you have the right to counsel. You also have the right to remain silent. As soon as you ask for a lawyer, the police must stop all questioning. Even if you are innocent, do not speak to the police (except to give them identifying information) or discuss the circumstances of your arrest until a lawyer is present.

If you are detained but manage to get a lawyer, the police may release you. After counsel arrives at the police station, you may be given a Desk Appearance Ticket (DAT), allowing you to leave the stationhouse with you lawyer on condition that you return to court on the date indicated. For more serious charges, the police may keep you in custody until you are brought before a judge for arraignment, which means the judge will inform you in open court of the charges that were filed against you. However, the law requires that a defendant be brought to court within 48 hours after arrest.

Arraignment and Bail

The decisions you make at arraignment (when the judge formally announces in court charges that were filed against you) will affect every stage of the criminal proceedings.

For example, at arraignment, the judge may decide whether to set bail. This is the stage at which attorneys from The Blanch Law Firm can do a great deal for you. If bail is set, you must post a bond, which means a cash payment that is held by the state to insure your return to court, or you will continue to be held in police custody. Obviously, you are in a better position to defend yourself legally if you are not in jail. However, the prosecution knows that they are in a better position to get you to plead guilty if you remain in custody and will take a plea just to get out of jail. So the prosecutor will argue vigorously that the judge should set bail in an amount you cannot hope to pay and set other conditions on your release that are burdensome.

The Blanch Law Firm can be of the utmost help to you at this stage. If bail is set, you must post a bond, which means a cash payment that is held by the state to insure your return to court, or you will continue to be held by the police. Although the judge may release you with no bail, certain other conditions on your release may be imposed. Our skillful attorneys have demonstrated consistently the ability to modify a judge’s initial position on setting bail. Having served as prosecutors, our attorneys are seasoned trial lawyers on both sides of the criminal litigation bar. Therefore, they know all the “tricks of the trade” and how to produce outcomes more favorable to our clients.

To arrange an initial consultation, don’t hesitate to Contact The Blanch Law Firm by calling 646-797-4820.