Misdemeanor domestic assault charges reduced to a violation in Queens

2017

Lance’s client was arrested for allegedly assaulting an ex-girlfriend while sitting in a car with our client. Our client’s ex was cooperative with the government and wanted to come to court to testify against our client. This could have been a big problem for our client because the testimony along with photos of the injury raised the risk of a conviction at trial. Additionally, our client’s license and type of work that our client did were exceptionally sensitive to outcomes in criminal court. Most client’s employers don’t care and/or won’t know the difference between a low-level violation conviction and a dismissal but our client had the type of career and held a certain license that was different and so we had to get it dismissed to avoid collateral consequences. Our client contacted us for help. After speaking with the prosecutor about discrepancies we noticed in their complainant’s account and our need for a special type of outcome, we negotiated a deal to have our client’s case completely dismissed as long as our client remained arrest free for one year and performed community service.