You Have Never Been Arrested Before and You Have to Go to Westchester or Putnam Criminal Court - Now What?
If you have never been arrested before, and you now find yourself with a Court appearance date for one of the local Westchester Courts or one of the local Putnam Courts, then you may well be suffering from some anxiety about what is to come. Perhaps you feel as if you can't talk about it with anyone out of embarrassment or fear. Perhaps you are losing sleep at night concerned about where your future will take you now. These feelings are common among the many good people who have come to me over the years with very similar problems and concerns. As hard as it is to believe, you find yourself in this difficult position. I can help you, just like I have helped many others. The odds are, if history is any guide, that I will be able to navigate you through this.
The two big questions
Most people with no experience in the Criminal Justice System who are arrested are consumed by two big questions. These are the questions that keep them up at night. These questions are, "Am I going to get a criminal record?" and "Am I going to go to jail?"
While I have no more power to predict the future than any other mortal, and while every case is different, I can answer this question. If like most people who have never been arrested before, you have been arrested for a misdemeanor charge (like petit larceny, simple drug possession, many dwi cases, simple assault cases, suspended license cases, and others) the odds are extraordinarily high that we could help you avoid both jail and a criminal record. It's likely a manageable situation and it's likely that great anxiety about being dragged off to jail at Valhalla or being yoked with a criminal conviction is more anxiety than is really called for.
Relax. Think. Breathe.
Of course, the fact that if properly handled, your case is unlikely to drag you down, should not be taken as invitation to ignore it, show up to Court without seeking any legal advice, and then hope for the best either. Even a person with no prior arrests facing only misdemeanor charges requires legal guidance to avoid certain consequences related to employment, immigration status, or school status. The criminal courts offer a range of possible outcomes by settlement that can be carefully crafted to address particular concerns of particular clients. There is some subtlety to this. It is wise to engage the help of an experienced criminal defense lawyer who is familiar with Westchester or Putnam County Criminal Court practices and the players involved in order to work out a resolution of the case that meets your particular needs.
If you have no prior criminal history, you have probably found other criminal defense lawyer websites and have found that many of these websites paint a more desperate picture that offer themselves as your only hope of avoiding a lifetime of regret and possible jail. This is absurd.
We are different. If your case is straightforward, we will tell you that it is straightforward, and you will be able to rely on us to navigate you through the criminal justice system with the calm confidence of experience. If your case turns out to be less straightforward, we will tell you that too, and we will sit down and work out a plan to position you for the best course through the criminal justice system in Westchester or Putnam County.
We are not going to try to pretend to you that navigating you across a small mountain lake on a calm, sunny, summer morning is like being at the helm of a small sailboat in a hurricane in the South Pacific.
We are confident enough to know we can help you with a relatively small case without needing to convince you that it is a big, terrifying case. Call us or text us and we will help you.
James Shalley is one of the Westchester and Putnam Criminal attorneys who can help you through this criminal case.