What's New

February 10, 2008: Retroactive crack-cocaine amendment implementation approaching.  Starting March 3, 2008, defendants convicted in federal court of crack-related offenses who were sentenced under the notorious "100-1" crack-powder provisions of the United States Sentencing Guidelines will be able to go back to their sentencing judge and ask for a new sentence.  Recent revisions to the Guidelines have shortened crack sentences substantially.  Perhaps more importantly, people who were sentenced in federal court before the decision in United States v. Booker in 2005 can have their cases heard under the new, advisory Guidelines scheme.  For those who did not benefit from a downward departure in their original pre-2005 sentence, this could mean a substantial opportunity to have the court take another look in determining a just, reasonable and constitutional sentence.  If a loved one qualifies for resentencing under the revised Guideline, or you have questions about it, please call our office at (212) 685-0999.

February 7, 2008: Allegedly mob-connected school bus magnate requests permission to file secret lawsuit against journalist Jerry Capeci.  Dominic Gatto, the head of a Atlantic Express, one of the country's largest school bus operators, did not like a column about him posted by Jerry Capeci, the noted New York Mafia expert represented by attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma.  But he did not want to face the pressures of a public lawsuit.  So he sent his attorneys -- Michael Weiner of Manhattan and Anthony Ruffini of Staten Island -- to New York Supreme Court, Richmond County (Staten Island, New York) for an Order to Show Cause asking Judge Anthony I. Giacobbe to let him file the suit secretly.  If Gatto had to file the lawsuit in public like everyone else, Weiner and Ruffini argued -- he would suffer "irreparable harm."

Margulis-Ohnuma pointed out that Gatto seems less interested in suing and more interested in trying to push Capeci around.  Won't work: Judge Giacobbe refused to sign the proposed Order to Show Cause and took Gatto's application under advisement.  "Gatto was seeking unprecedented relief in an effort to bully Capeci," Margulis-Ohnuma said.  "We don't have secret lawsuits in this country."

December 27, 2007: Attorney Margulis-Ohnuma appointed to the SDNY CJA Panel.  We are pleased to announce that, effective January 1, 2008, Principal Attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma was appointed to the Criminal Justice Act panel for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, the nation's leading trial court.  In his capacity as a CJA attorney, Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma will be offering free, court-appointed legal services to indigent defendants charged in multi-defendant cases in the Southern District of New York.  "I am delighted to have the opportunity to help poor people caught up in the federal justice system by serving on the CJA panel in Manhattan," said Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma.  "The SDNY CJA Panel includes some of the best criminal trial lawyers in the world, pursuing the American vision of providing effective counsel to anyone who needs as required by Gideon v. Wainwright. It is humbling to be added to their numbers."

November 15, 2007: More fallout from the "Moll Tapes".  The Kings County District Attorney's office not only dropped the case against R. Lindley DeVecchio, but requested a special prosecutor to look into perjury charges against Linda Schiro.  Leslie Crocker Snyder, a politically ambitious former judge, will head the investigation.  Judge Snyder founded the Manhattan District Attorney's office special sex crimes unit; she also helped write the Rape Shield law which excludes evidence of an alleged victims' sexual past in sex crimes trials.  Snyder was dubbed "dragon lady" in an in-depth Village Voice profile by Margulis-Ohnuma client Tom Robbins when she ran for Manhattan district attorney two years ago.  She will no doubt take a hard look at Schiro -- and depend largely on Robbins' reporting with co-author Jerry Capeci to make her case.  Let's hope she respects the reporters' rights under the Shield Law in her quest for justice.

Meanwhile, Tom Robbins gave a thoughtful blow-by-blow about how the tapes came public -- and what it all means to reporters -- in last week's Village Voice.  Click here to read all about it.  And Jerry Capeci's Ganglandnews.com continues to cover the story -- including the Brooklyn DA's missteps -- with the usual insider's punch.  Must-reads all around.  Click here for the latest from Capeci.

October 31, 2007: Brooklyn district attorney to drop case against former FBI agent Lindley DeVecchio after Margulis-Ohnuma client Tom Robbins reveals ten-year old tapes contradicting the main prosecution witness.  The Kings County District Attorney's office has been prosecuting ex-FBI agent DeVecchio for allegedly providing information to mob informant Gregory Scarpa that led Scarpa to murder four individuals.  The main witness against DeVecchio is Scarpa moll Linda Schiro, who testified this week that Scarpa and DeVecchio discussed information relating to the murders openly in front of her.  Problem is, in tape recordings made ten years ago, Schiro told ace reporters Tom Robbins and Jerry Capeci that DeVecchio had nothing to do with three of the four murders.  When the defense tried to subpoena Capeci prior to the trial for his notes relating to interviews with Schiro, the famed Gangland columnist -- known as the foremost authority on the New York mafia -- turned to former Daily News colleague Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma for help quashing the subpoena.  The court agreed and Capeci's confidentiality arrangement with Schiro was not violated.

But after Schiro testified -- in 180-degree contradiction to her statements to Capeci and Robbins -- Robbins decided he could not remain silent in the face of the risk that an innocent man might go to jail based on a lie.  After consulting about the legal consequences with Margulis-Ohnuma, he decided to print the story in the Village Voice.  That waived the New York reporter's privilege and Robbins, with Margulis-Ohnuma's assistance, complied with subpoenas for the tapes.  Although the district attorney demanded all Robbins' work regarding Schiro, Robbins was required to turn over only the material he wrote about -- i.e. relating to the four murders.  That appears, though, to have been enough to persuade the district attorney's office to dismiss the case.  Check out Channel 4's thorough coverage here.

October 25, 2007: Former MDC Brooklyn Captain acquitted of civil rights charge, convicted of conspiracy and false statements.  After a hard fought trial in the Eastern District of New York, Margulis-Ohnuma client Salvatore LoPresti was convicted of six out of seven charges brought, but acquitted of the key charge of violating another person's civil rights.  Full details are available in the New York Times.  Click here.

April 11, 2007: Margulis-Ohnuma Wins Reversal of Conviction in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.   In a detailed decision about the propriety of government evidence relating to the state of mind of the accused, the Second Circuit reversed five out of seven counts of conviction against a former attorney who was represented by Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma.  The federal appeals court found that the district court made three errors, one of them enough to reverse on the five fraud counts.

The reversible error was the improper admission of lay opinion testimony -- unsupported testimony by a cooperator as to what the cooperator thought the defendant meant when he said certain words.  The second error -- and the court did not reach the question of whether it was reversible, since the opinion testimony required reversal -- was testimony about what others knew used to prove what the defendant knew.  The final error was an erroneous "conscious avoidance" instruction given with respect to an obstruction-of-justice count without proper foundation.  To get the full story, read the opinion, which can be found here.

February 6, 2007: Attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma Wins Gun Trial.  A Brooklyn, New York jury acquitted defendant Jerome Williams of one count of gun possession and one count of menacing after a hard-fought three-week trial conducted by Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma.  The jury deadlocked on one additional count.  The case was especially interesting because Mr. Williams was shot from behind in the course of being arrested.  "Victories in criminal trials are unusual, but here the jury saw that the incident could not have possibly happened the way the police said it did," said Mr. Margulis-Ohnuma.  "Both I and Jerome are grateful for the hard work of the medical expert, Dr. Richard Sullivan, and the investigator, Michael Pizzi.  Jerome's family pulled together to obtain a just result against terrible odds.  My heart goes out to them."

July 14, 2006: Attorney Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma wins SORA appeal for wrongly-classified sex offender.  In a precedent-setting case in the Second Department, an appellate court lowered the risk level of Margulis-Ohnuma's client from Level Three to Level Two, which would expunge him from the registry altogether if pending litigation is resolved in favor of the Doe class.  A unanimous appellate panel found that the Supreme Court failed to give sufficient weight to the fact that Margulis-Ohnuma's client had become rehabilitated over 17 years of "exemplary" living.  The case was featured in the local press.  The decision of the Supreme Court, Appellate DIvision for the Second Department can be found here.