New York Family Law Blog

Dwight Gooden, 46 and a former Mets and Yankee star, was recently sentenced to five years of probation for driving under the influence while taking his young son to school. He had cocaine and sleeping pills in his system.
Gooden faced three years in prison due to an earlier plea agreement, but a Superior Court judge said the defendant deserved another chance to eradicate his addiction. New York Family Attorneys report that the judge referred to Gooden as a decent guy with a good shot at “finishing the game.” He said that the National Cy Young Award winner of 1985 should think of himself as a fourth-inning pitcher being hammered by the batters of the opposing team. His coaches are considering taking him out of the game. In this analogy, the judge was saying that being removed from the game would result in ruining his legacy, embarrassing and possibly alienating his children, missing a significant portion of their childhood, or even death. And it’s up to Gooden to decide if he wants to play with the attitude of staying in the game.
The prosecutor tried to sway the judge’s decision by citing Gooden’s history. The former MLB player has a slew of failed treatments under his belt. The prosecuting attorney insisted that the former baseball star should have to serve time in prison because he didn’t deserve or qualify for special probation.
The defense argued that Gooden was readier than he even had been to tackle his addiction – for his own sake and for his seven children’s sakes. According to a Family Lawyer in New York, the most convincing argument for a better outcome from this treatment cycle is the knowledge that should Gooden violate his parole, he will be put in prison for 10 years. He’d miss graduations, marriages, grandchildren being born, science fairs, little league championships and much more.
Gooden admitted in interviews in Manhattan and Westchester County after the hearing that his life is on the line. “I just have to take it a day at a time, and sometimes an hour at a time. I can’t look at it like I have to do this for 10 years. I just have to look at it like I have to get through today and then deal with tomorrow when it comes,” he said.

Continue reading "Baseball Star DUI while Young Son in the Vehicle" »

Though it is true that parents are legally responsible for their children’s actions, it is a fact that kids will make their own decisions in the heat of the moment, and not all of those decisions will be well thought out. All kids make mistakes, no matter how well they have been parented. For this reason, our legal system finds it easier to show compassion for first time offenses when a teenager is involved, according to a New York Family Lawyer. 

As a society, we tend to give young people the benefit of the doubt, brushing off first time offenses like possession of alcohol. The New York Family Lawyer reports that in the case of alcohol, leniency may only exacerbate the problem. If children get off the first time, they will often repeat their behavior again later, and when alcohol and automobiles are involved, the combination can be deadly. 

A new proposal is in the works for cities such as Boulder. This new proposition would punish for first time offenses, but would then effectively seal the arrest records so that their offense would not be visible on their permanent record. This would make it easier for them to get a job in the future, and they would still get the effects of a more stringent punishment for their first offense, in hopes that it would deter them from future offenses. 

Underage drinking has the potential to destroy families and lives. It is imperative that we teach our children not to make these mistakes the first time. But if they do make a mistake, if their first offense is followed by punishment rather than a slap on the wrist, it is likely that they won’t choose to repeat it. 

Families in Nassau and Suffolk Counties in crisis need stable support and a strong, knowledgeable hand to guide them.

Continue reading "Sealing records of underage offenders offers the benefit of punishment without the long term career implications" »

A father in Queens has been arrested for violently shaking his eight month old son to death. The father admitted to officials to repeatedly shaking and even punching the baby in the back when he could not get him to stop crying. The baby was on life support for over a week at Schneider Children's Hospital but could not recover from his extensive injuries and passed away. The mother of the child had left their home on errands, and upon returning only twenty minutes later, found the father calling authorities for help, remarks a New York Family Lawyer. The boy's injuries included a lacerated liver, severe eye and brain damage, and rib fractures. The organs of the child were donated once he was removed from the life support system. The father's original charge is endangering the welfare of a child and assault, but he could be elevated to a murder charge upon facing the grand jury. The District Attorney was shocked that a father could inflict this brutal abuse on such a young and innocent child. Authorities in Nassau and Suffolk County treat these cases very seriously as they should.

Two other children in Queens under the age of two have died from the same brutality in the last month, at the hand of their babysitters. The sitters have been charged with second-degree murder. A third child was also critically injured from a shaking incident. A NY Family Attorney states that no child should be shaken for any reason. It only takes three seconds of this violent act to cause death or damage that cannot be repaired.

Families traumatized by child abuse should contact a New York Family Lawyer. These innocent ones deserve to be protected from such violence. Call a New York Family Lawyer today if your angel has been victimized.

Continue reading "A third child in Queens dies from shaking " »

A young girl was abducted and kept in a hidden compound for 18 years. The man which is alleged to of kidnapped her and fathered two children with her by rape, is in court on Thursday. It’s likely that he will plead guilty which will at least give the girl and the family a small amount of justice says a New York City Family Lawyer.
The girl was kidnapped when she was 11 in 1991 and held, locked up secretly for 18 years. The accused is already a convicted rapist with a long criminal record explains the NYC Family Lawyer. The man was convicted of kidnapping and raping a girl in 1977.
The girl disappeared while she was on her way to school and his caused her family a great deal of distress.
It was thought that the defendant would issue a guilty plea. There was a plea deal which would allow him to stay in jail for the rest of his life if he did plead guilty. However, this did not happen.
There were meetings organized and it was thought to be certain that the man would plead guilty.
However, by surprise the man entered the plea not guilty. The man’s lawyer also alleged that the jury was not properly selected and that they did not act correctly. The hearing saw concerns rose over the selection of the jury.
The Lawyer was asked to submit the concerns in writing. However, it’s not actually clear exactly what the concerns are or how they affect the outcome of the case. It’s important that these two people are held accountable for their actions. It’s also important that a clear message is sent to the community regarding this case.
The pair was thought to plead guilty as it would avoid the girl and her children from needing to testify before the court. The two children fathered by rape are now 13 and 16. The kidnapper is expected to get 431 years to life if found guilty. Judges in New York City and Long Island are harsh when it comes to sentencing in this kind of case.
The girl was reunited with her mother and has requested privacy. She also hasn’t attended any of the hearings and does not want to testify because it would bring the horrible memories flooding back.

Continue reading "Dugard Kidnapping Case Expects Guilty Plea" »

A woman was put in jail after her children were injured after being awarded for good behavior. The mother attempted to award her child who helped her clean the house, a
New York Family Lawyer mentioned.

The 8-year-old and 9-year-old children were taken to the hospital after they fell from the trunk of her car. One of the children is in serious condition. The other child was released from the hospital. Only two of her children fell from the car. It is unknown how many children the woman has.

A police officer said the child has internal injuries. The child is unable to eat or speak.

The woman said she braked quickly to prevent hitting a child on a bicycle causing her children to fall from the car. The police say the child in serious condition has wounds similar to people who was run over with a car. The mother said she did not run her child over.

Even though the woman realized she made a mistake, the judge charged her with two counts of injury to a child. Each charge is a third-degree felony.

The father was at work at the time of the accident. The mother told the court that her children begged to ride on her car’s trunk after helping her. Authorities in The Bronx and Staten Island are particularly hard with these cases.

The woman spent the night in jail because her husband could not afford to post bail. Her bail is $50,000. Child Protective Services has been called in to investigate the safety of the children.

Continue reading "Mother jailed after children fall from top of a car, a New York Family Lawyer explains " »

Police have recently charged a man in a worrying case where he left his child alone with a loaded weapon. The man went out and is alleged to of left his five year old daughter alone in the house with a loaded gun explains a New York Family Lawyer. This left his child in extreme danger of being killed, or injured.
While adults will understand that these weapons are dangerous and should not be touched, Children will not. A 5 year old child would not know that the gun wasn’t a toy which is what makes the case even more dangerous.
The 44 year old man was arrested for operating machinery under the influence. The arrest was made during the early evening of March 19th. The Police report has since been obtained by the NYC Family Lawyer.
The police department visited the home of the accused man at 1:09 am. They found the young five year old girl by herself asleep. The girl had obviously gotten herself ready for bed and gone to sleep, which is something her father should have done. This father simply doesn’t deserve to be a dad. Cases like this are taken very seriously in New York City and Queens.
When asked where her father was, she explained that she didn’t know. It is thought that this is a common occurrence in the household and that this is not unusual. The young girl was looked after by the Police until the parents were finally tracked down.
A search of the premises by police discovered two handguns, both of which were loaded and could of killed or wounded. It’s important that this kind of thing is not allowed to happen again. Five year old children should never be left home alone anyway, even if there aren’t any loaded weapons in the house.
Parents should have a good understanding of how to look after children with their best interests in mind. In this case, the father’s instincts were lacking. It’s fortunate that nothing worse happened whilst this child was left home alone. The police department could of quite easily made a much more gruesome and distressing discovery if things were different.

Continue reading "Dad Left Child Alone with Loaded Weapon" »

Families who are looking to adopt a child from Nepal, or who are in the process of doing so, have been put on hold as adoption proceedings have been made more difficult in recent months because of fears of child trafficking, said a New York Family Lawyer. 

Dozens of families that have spent thousands of dollars in adoption fees and overseas travel in attempt to open their homes to abandoned children have been stopped short of finalizing the proceedings because officials in Nepal are concerned that some of the children being adopted out were not really abandoned, but stolen, which has devastated those who are anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new son or daughter. 

The New York Family Lawyer cited cases where adoptive families were given a choice by Nepalese officials to either stay in India until investigations into the birth parents of the child had been resolved, which happens very slowly, or to go back to the US and wait until such proof has been established. In a country where poverty and disease is rampant and children are left to die because no one can care for them, it seems as if adoption by a US family would be in the best interest of the child. 

Even so, describes the New York City Family Lawyer, Americans cannot typically afford to suspend their livelihoods and put everything on hold to remain in Nepal for an undetermined amount of time. Leaving the children that they crossed the globe to rescue and to love proves to be one of the most difficult things an adoptive parent can do, but often there is no choice since things move so slowly. 



Continue reading "Child trafficking concerns halt adoption proceedings in Nepal, reports New York Family Lawyer
" »


Remember the good old days when skipping a day of school was not punishable by fines and jail time? Most of us have taken an unscheduled day off of school at one time or another as children, having begged our parents, with sleepy eyes, to just let us stay in bed, suggests a New York Family Lawyer. According to school officials and lawmakers, those days are no longer acceptable. 

Truancy is a big problem in public schools, reports a New York Family Lawyer. A truant child is one who has three or more unexcused absences in a school year. Those just because days are to blame. Authorities are sending a big message that it is not okay for children to miss school just because they don't feel like going.

Although this is not your normal Child Neglect, in New York City and Queens this kind of parental action or lack thereof comes very close.
Now a new law has been enacted that will fine parents of habitually truant children up to $2000 if they do not attempt to see that their children are at their desk each and every day. 

Granted, there are parents who simply do not care whether their kids get an education or not, and these parents are the focus of these heightened penalties. And while a $2000 fine might seem excessive, failing to pay that fine and get your kids up and on the bus could land parents in jail, according to this new law. 

Obviously this bill is targeted towards parents of children whose truancy has become excessive and will not affect a family who decides to take a road trip one day rather than sit in a stuffy classroom or work cubicle, establishes the New York Family Lawyer. Even so, it might make parents think twice when considering the pleas of sleepy children that a day off from school is exactly what they need.

Continue reading "Authorities crack down on truancy by sending non-compliant parents to jail" »

Daytona Beach police told of a 16-year-old mother who was arrested after taking her baby from a foster home agency that worked with abused and neglected children to give them new homes.
The girl and her baby had been taken to Community Partnership for Children in Daytona Beach, Florida. She was brought in by a caseworker from Jacksonville.
Once the girl understood she and her child were going to be separated, she sent texts to two of her friends, asking them to come pick her up, investigators told NYC Family Lawyers. According to police, she took her baby and ran to the car.
It wasn’t much later until another case worker managed to contact the mother and the baby was returned to the agency.
The girl’s identity has not been released, due to her age, but her age did not stop her from being arrested on a charge of interference with child custody. Her friends were not arrested, however, since they did not know what their friend planned to do. Further details are unavailable at this time.
Everyone has rights, especially when it comes to family, but it is important how we choose to exercise those rights. Taking the law into one’s own hands is never a good idea. The right thing to do is to work within the law and make the law work for you. This is just what NYC Family Lawyers excel at doing.
Legal cases involving children are always difficult. Of course, everyone wants what is best for the children, who are not capable of deciding for themselves what’s best. Everyone in a certain case may have a different idea of what’s best for the children involved, however. It can be a big mess. Someone like a NYC Family Lawyer can help clear away the clutter, allowing a clear choice of options and actions, so you and anyone else in the case know what you can and can’t do and what the eventual outcomes are likely to be.

Continue reading "16-Year-Old Mother Arrested After Taking Own Child" »

Authorities continue to search for the missing head of 10-year-old disabled girl, Zahra after a long search revealed her desecrated body, said New York Family Lawyers.
Elise Baker, 42, is accused of abusing, murdering and dismembering the girl’s body, according to NYC Family Lawyer reports. Coroner reports said Zahra died “as a result of undetermined homicidal violence.”
The child’s remains were found spread between two different locations with two different types of tool marks on her bones. The coroner concluded she had died before she was dismembered and that animals had eaten her flesh. There are many cases of abuse which arise in Brooklyn and The Bronx but none as gruesome as this one.
New York Family Lawyers said Elisa Baker had a "history and pattern of physical, verbal and psychological abuse" against the child and that family members accused her of “taking advantage of a position of trust and confidence" in order kill Zahra and then "desecrated her body to hinder detection and prosecution."
Authorities said details of the child’s death "must be kept close to the investigation and not be discussed in order to protect this case."
Zahra, who while struggling with cancer, lost a leg and lost most of her hearing, was reported missing in the fall, but police speculate she had disappeared many weeks earlier.
When she was reported missing, her stepmother allegedly issued a phony $1 million reward for her return.
Not long after the search began, authorities found a prosthetic leg matching the description and serial number of Zahra’s. The child reportedly had a very hard life after being abandoned by her biological mother as a baby, struggling with cancer and ending up with an abusive stepmother in the end.
A neighbor said, “Zahra was abused. She was often bruised and was very quiet.”
Before the child’s body was discovered, Elisa Baker had already been indicted for obstructing justice, a charge related to the ransom note and sits in jail awaiting trial.
A few weeks before authorities found the remains, Elisa Baker wrote in a letter that the child was dead, but showed no remorse. She seemed to feel sorrier for herself, said a New York Family Lawyer, while she made vague accusations about her husband doing something "horrifying" to Zahra after she was dead.
Baker’s attorney called this accusation “a desperate attempt at distraction.”

Continue reading "Stepmother accused of murder and severe abuse" »

A man and his girlfriend made a crucial and deadly mistake when they made the decision to let the man drive her young son home after she was arrested one evening, revealed a New York City Family Lawyer. In Manhattan and Long Island this crime is considered the ultimate in Child Abuse.
After his girlfriend left with police, the drunken man got behind the wheel, and shortly after while driving too fast, he hit a tree, slammed into a cyclone fence and killed the 5-year-old boy who was in the back seat.
When police arrived on the scene the boy was already dead and after some testing, they concluded the man’s blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
The drunken man claimed he had been forced by police to drive the car after his girlfriend was arrested. Both he and the girlfriend maintain that they had begged the officers not to let him drive the boy and not to arrest her.
In addition, the man was driving on a suspended license and stated in court reports that his girlfriend was his designated driver. His attorney argued that the case was one of “entrapment and necessity” and that again the man was forced behind the wheel by police officers and that they had threatened to arrest him if he didn’t follow his direction. .
In a statement the girlfriend said, “I told the police three different times that he was drunk and begged them not to let him drive. They didn’t want to believe me and now my boy is dead.”
A N York Family Lawyer pointed out that court reports indicated inconsistent statements from both clients and that most likely his verdict came in quickly due to the inconsistencies. She said to the jury, “Don’t forget the testimony we have from a security supervisor at the hospital.”
This basically reminded the jury that although the woman claimed she had begged the officers not to let her boyfriend drive, she admitted to the security officer at the hospital that she had done the opposite. She had begged the officers to let the man drive her son home.
The guilty man in the case could not be reached for comment and it is unclear when his sentencing will be announced at this time. The mother, who lost her son to this tragedy, declined to comment on the case and is currently expected to be serving time for other crimes unrelated to this case.

Continue reading "Jury finds man guilty after he killed a young child while driving under the influence of alcohol," »