Often when someone is found guilty of a crime, they give up hope. However, the justice system allows every defendant convicted of a crime to appeal the judge or jury’s verdict. One of the most common appellate issues involves arguing that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to sustain a guilty verdict.<\/p>\n
Sufficiency of the Evidence Claims on Appeal<\/strong><\/p>\n Every defendant\u2014regardless of the charges\u2014is innocent until proven guilty. The burden to prove someone guilty of a crime always rests with the government. The judge or jury must acquit you if the government cannot prove that you committed a crime beyond a reasonable doubt. However, judges and jurors are human and will, on occasion, make mistakes. This is why the Unites States court system allows for appeals.<\/p>\n If a defendant is found guilty of a crime, they can ask a higher court to review the conviction for legal or, in some cases, factual errors. When a defendant challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, they are claiming that the prosecution’s evidence failed to prove them guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Recently, a client of the Brill Legal Group<\/a> had their conviction reversed on appeal on sufficiency grounds.<\/p>\n The Facts of the Case<\/strong><\/p>\n The case involved a man who allegedly told his then-girlfriend that he would blow up her home. He also allegedly implied that the woman’s son would get a bullet in the head; however, he did not threaten to shoot the young man. At a trial in front of a judge, the man was convicted of harassment in the second degree and sentenced accordingly.<\/p>\n After his conviction, the man asked the Brill Legal Group<\/a> to handle his appeal. We agreed with our client’s assessment of the evidence, believing it to be insufficient. After briefing the issue, the Appellate Term of the Supreme Court of the State of New York for the 2nd, 11th & 13th Judicial Districts also agreed.<\/p>\n Simply put, we argued that our client’s conduct was not criminal in nature. Under the relevant section of the New York harassment statute, harassment in the second degree involves communicating “a threat to cause physical harm” to another person when someone “knows or reasonably should know that such communication will cause such person to reasonably fear harm to such person’s physical safety.”<\/p>\n While the trial court viewed our client’s language as an actual threat, we disagreed, characterizing his conduct as an emotional “outburst” that did not rise to the level of criminality. Under previously decided case law, “[w]hile genuine threats of physical harm fall within the scope of the statute, an outburst, without more, does not constitute a violation.”<\/p>\n The court agreed with our interpretation of our client’s conduct, finding that his “speech did not present a clear and present danger of some serious substantive evil.”<\/p>\n As a result of the court’s decision, our client’s case is now over, and he can go about his life without this conviction on his record.<\/p>\n Have You Been Charged With a New York Harassment Crime?<\/strong><\/p>\n If you face New York harassment allegations or another domestic violence offense<\/a>, contact Brill Legal Group<\/a>. Our New York criminal defense attorneys<\/a> represent clients charged with all types of serious crimes, including domestic assault<\/a>, violations of domestic orders of protection<\/a>, harassment, stalking<\/a>, child abuse<\/a> and more. We understand the stress and anxiety that naturally comes with having serious charges hang over your head and do everything we can to minimize your case’s effect on your life. We offer free initial consultations to all prospective clients. To learn more about how we can help you defend your freedom against the allegations you face, call us today at 888-315-9841<\/a>. We have offices conveniently located throughout the New York City area, including Manhattan<\/a>, Suffolk County and Nassau County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A menudo, cuando alguien es declarado culpable de un delito, pierde la esperanza. Sin embargo, el sistema judicial permite a todo acusado declarado culpable de un delito apelar el veredicto del juez o del jurado. Una de las cuestiones de apelaci\u00f3n m\u00e1s comunes implica argumentar que las pruebas presentadas por la fiscal\u00eda eran insuficientes para sostener un veredicto de culpabilidad. Suficiencia...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[568,567],"series":[],"class_list":["post-4477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-criminal-defense","tag-appeals","tag-harassment"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/www.brill-legal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pexels-roberto-vivancos-2190283.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/www.brill-legal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/pexels-roberto-vivancos-2190283.jpg","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":[],"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.brill-legal.com\/es\/feed\/podcast\/justice-one-client-at-a-time","embedCode":"The Brill Legal Group secures another victory in the New York appellate courts<\/a><\/blockquote>