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Suffolk County Criminal Charges
 
Misdemeanor Charges

Most Suffolk County Misdemeanor charges are returnable to the First District Court at 400 Carleton Avenue, Central Islip. Other misdemeanor cases will be sent to the town village and justice courts located throughout Suffolk County. When charged with a crime in Suffolk County, the first court appearance is the arraignment. At the arraignment the court will formally advise the defendant with the charges pending against him or her. The judge will then determine whether to set bail, or to release the defendant on his or her own recognizance. If the case is sent to the First District Court in Central Islip, and the defendant has been held in custody pending arraignment, the defendant will be brought to courtroom D11 on the first floor to be arraigned. The arraignment part is open 7 days a week including holidays. After the arraignment, the case will be sent to either a general trial part or to one of the specialized trial parts at the First District Court. For those defendants that are given an appearance ticket, the arraignment will take place in what is known as the street arraignment part. The street arraignment part is a rotating part and changes judges weekly.

It is advisable for a person charged with a crime to be represented by an attorney at the arraignment. An attorney can attempt to persuade the court to release the individual on his or her own recognizance, or that bail to be set at a much lower amount then the prosecution may be requesting, as well as protect the rights of the defendant. Those who are held on bail will generally be given a sooner in custody conference date. Those who are released on their own recognizance will usually be given a conference date further out than those held in custody. After the arraignment, the case will be sent to one of the trial courtrooms. The court room the case is sent to will depend on the charges. DWI cases will be sent to one of the three DWI parts. Drug law violations will initially be sent to Drug Court. Domestic Violence cases will be sent to one of the domestic violence parts. Violations of probation will generally be sent to the judge that sentenced the defendant to probation. Other specialized include Mental Health Court for those who suffer from mental illness, and a Veterans Court, for veterans who have been charged with a crime. The remaining cases will be sent to the general trial parts. 
 
Felony Charges

Most Suffolk County felony cases are sent to the First District Court at 400 Carleton Ave, Central Islip for arraignment. East end felony cases may be sent to the Southampton Town Court, Riverhead Town Court, Southold Town Court or one of the other east end courts for arraignment depending on where the alleged incident took place. First District Court felony cases will be arraigned in courtroom D11 on the first floor. At the arraignment the court will formerly advise the defendant of what he or she has been charged with and determine whether to set bail, or to release the defendant on his or her own recognizance. Over the years there has been a trend toward setting higher bails in Suffolk County. Consequently it is very important to have an attorney at the arraignment to persuade the court to release a defendant on his or her own recognizance or to set lower bail.

Once the defendant is arraigned at the Suffolk County First District Court, the case will be given a new court date in either court room D11, court room D35, or court room 34, (Drug Court).

Suffolk County Felonies can go a number of different routes. A number of Felony cases will remain in Central Islip and be resolved pre-indictment with some type of agreement between the prosecutor, defense attorney, judge and defendant. Others felony charges will be reduced to misdemeanors (known as knock down), at the request of the prosecutor. A felony knock down is favorable to a defendant as it means the prosecution is no longer pursuing a felony conviction. Some felony cases will be dismissed altogether because the prosecutor failed to elect to either indict or reduce the felony charge within the time limit prescribed by statute. Other felony charges will be presented to the Grand Jury for an indicted and transferred to the County Court in Riverhead.

When a Felony Charge is indicted and transferred to the County Court in Riverhead, it is necessary for the defendant to be re- arraigned on the felony indictment. At this time, the County Court judge will re-determine the bail status. If bail has been set and posted at the lower court, the County Court judge may agree to allow the bail to remain the same, and permit the bail that had been posted in the lower court to be transferred to the County Court. In order to do this it will be necessary for the person who posted the bail, (the person named on the bail receipt) known as the surety, to appear in court and tell the judge that they agree to have the bail transferred to the County Court. At the felony arraignment, the judge will inform the defendant the charges he or she has been indicted on.

It is always best to avoid being indicted on a felony when possible. This is because once a defendant is indicted, certain plea restrictions and sentencing guidelines set in. Some charges require mandatory sentences of incarceration upon conviction.

Once a case is indicted the court is guided by what is known as standard and goals. These are guidelines that New York State has set for the time period to resolve or try a felony case. There are also a number of other time limits that begin to run. If the case is not resolved within a certain amount of time, the court will set the matter for trial, and the case will proceed to trial.

Criminal Cases handled by Gary S. Miller, Esq.

Over the last 30 years Gary S. Miller, Esq. has personally handled thousands of criminal cases including, but not limited to the following charges: 
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