Domestic violence charged over a broken cellphone in Brooklyn dismissed

2019

Lance’s client, a civil servant, was arrested for breaking his girlfriend’s cellphone causing it to break. He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief for the allegedly intentional property damage. Facing up to a year and severe employment problems, he contacted us for help. We reviewed the charges and asked the prosecutor for further disclosures about their version of the facts. Sometimes, there is a rush to judgement that can cause the district attorney to react too harshly. Here, the prosecutor was pushing for a criminal record and serious penalties despite our client’s clean record. The prosecutor never offered a reasonable deal until we fought it to the point where the prosecutor had a legal problem with their case. As a result, we negotiated a deal after months of litigation to have the charges completely dismissed.