Long Island Criminal Defense Lawyer

If you are reading this the day after an arrest, or because your son or daughter was charged over the weekend, the most useful thing to know is that very little has been decided yet. An arrest is an accusation. What happens between now and the resolution of the case depends heavily on decisions made in the first days — and on whether anyone is making them on your behalf.

The Law Offices of Rudolph F.X. Migliore, P.C. defends adults and juveniles facing criminal charges throughout Suffolk and Nassau Counties, from a first misdemeanor to a felony indictment. We are based in Commack. Our phones are answered around the clock, because arrests do not keep business hours, and translators are available when they are needed.

Most cases take their shape in the first days: questioning, arraignment, and the record being written.

The First Days Matter More Than People Expect

Two things tend to happen in the hours after an arrest, and both are worth understanding.

The first is questioning. People talk — to be helpful, to explain, to clear things up. The instinct is understandable and it is almost always costly. You have the right to decline questioning and to have a lawyer present, and exercising that right is not an admission of anything. It is simply the only way to stop the record from being written without you.

The second is arraignment. This is the first court appearance, where the charges are read, counsel is confirmed, and the court decides whether you go home while the case proceeds: released outright, released with conditions, on bail or, for some charges, held in custody. In Suffolk County, arraignments for people held in custody are heard every day of the year, including weekends and holidays, at the Cohalan Court Complex in Central Islip. That is a genuinely useful fact: it means an arrest on a Saturday night does not sit untouched until Monday, and it means there is a reason to reach a lawyer immediately rather than waiting for the week to start.

Misdemeanor or Felony: The Distinction That Shapes Everything

New York sorts criminal charges into violations, misdemeanors and felonies, and the category matters more than the name of the offense.

A misdemeanor is punishable by up to 364 days in county jail, one day short of a year and a line New York draws deliberately. Many resolve without jail, but a misdemeanor conviction is still a criminal conviction, and it can follow you for years on the background checks that employers, landlords and licensing boards run. New York now seals many older convictions automatically after a waiting period, and some cases can be resolved without a conviction at all — but none of that is a given, and the cleanest record is the one that never gets made.

A felony carries the possibility of more than a year in state prison. Felony cases also travel a different road procedurally: they begin with arraignment in District Court, and after an indictment — or a waiver of indictment — the case moves to County Court in Riverhead, which is where felony trials in Suffolk County are heard.

A violation is not a crime in New York, which is why a great deal of defense work is aimed at getting there.

What a Conviction Costs Beyond the Sentence

Most people arrive focused on whether they are going to jail. That is the right first question, but it is rarely the one that shapes the next decade.

A conviction can affect your ability to hold or obtain a professional license — nursing, real estate, security, commercial driving, teaching, the trades. It can affect immigration status, sometimes severely, and sometimes for offenses that sound minor. It can end firearm eligibility. It can surface in every tenant screening and employment check you face. For a young person it can close doors before they are old enough to know which doors mattered.

None of that is a reason to panic. It is a reason to treat the disposition of a case as a decision about your future rather than a way to make an unpleasant morning end sooner. A plea that looks like the fastest way out of the courthouse is sometimes the most expensive thing in the file.

Where Your Case Will Be Heard

Knowing which courthouse you are headed to takes some of the fear out of the process.

In the five western towns of Suffolk County — Babylon, Brookhaven, Huntington, Islip and Smithtown — misdemeanor charges are heard by the Suffolk County District Court, and the criminal term sits at the Cohalan Court Complex, 400 Carleton Avenue in Central Islip. District Court also conducts arraignments for felony charges.

Once a felony is indicted, the case moves to the Suffolk County Court at the Arthur M. Cromarty Court Complex, 210 Center Drive in Riverhead. County Court is where felony trials are held.

In the eastern towns, cases begin in the local town and village justice courts rather than District Court. These are smaller courts with their own schedules and their own way of doing things, and familiarity with them matters.

Nassau County follows the same two-tier structure, with its own District Court handling misdemeanors and arraignments and its County Court handling indicted felonies.

Charges We Defend

• Drunk driving — DWI and DUI, including refusals and repeat charges
• Drug offenses — possession, sale, intent to sell, and manufacturing charges
• Assault, from a bar fight to a felony assault allegation
• Domestic violence charges and orders of protection, which move fast and carry immediate consequences for where you can live and whether you can see your children
• Weapons charges
• Larceny — shoplifting and petit larceny through grand larceny
• Burglary and robbery
• Criminal mischief, trespass, harassment, menacing and stalking
• White collar offenses — fraud, forgery, embezzlement and related charges
• Serious felony charges, including murder, robbery, burglary and arson
• Juvenile charges, which follow their own route depending on age and the exact charge
• Vehicle and Traffic Law misdemeanors — aggravated unlicensed operation, leaving the scene, reckless driving
• Violations of probation, and outstanding warrants

Federal charges are handled together with our co-counsel network, which brings in experience in federal practice alongside our own representation.

How a Defense Is Actually Built

There is no single method, but the work is more concrete than television suggests.

It starts with the accusatory instrument and the discovery the prosecution is obligated to turn over — police paperwork, body camera and dash camera footage, 911 audio, lab results, witness statements. A surprising number of cases turn on what that material does not contain, or on how it contradicts itself.

From there the questions are legal ones. Was the stop lawful? Was the search? Were statements taken after rights were properly given, and were they given at a point where they mattered? Where those questions have real answers, they are raised by motion, and a suppression ruling can reshape or end a case.

Most cases resolve by negotiation, and negotiation is stronger when the file behind it is prepared as though the case were going to trial. Some cases should be tried. Knowing the difference, and saying so plainly rather than telling a client what they want to hear, is most of the job.

No lawyer can promise a particular outcome, and you should be careful with anyone who does. What you should expect is a clear explanation of what you are facing, what the realistic range of outcomes looks like, and what each path would cost you.

Talk to Someone Tonight

Criminal charges do not wait for convenient hours, and neither do we. Our phones are answered around the clock, translators are available, and the first conversation costs nothing.

Call 631-543-3663, or use the contact form below.

Frequently Asked Questions