Queens Criminal Defense Lawyer on Handling Multiple Charges
Walk into a Queens courtroom on arraignment day and you’ll see the same scene play out again and again. A person stands before the judge expecting to face one allegation, only to hear a prosecutor rattle off a cascade of counts: a felony anchoring the case, a stack of misdemeanors, then a few “I’ve never heard of that” administrative offenses for garnish. The charge sheet reads like a grocery list. This is not an accident. When police and prosecutors decide they have a case, they tend to bundle everything even remotely connected to the incident. The strategy pressures defendants to plead, raises sentencing exposure, and complicates the path to trial.
I practice in these rooms. Handling multiple charges isn’t a theoretical exercise for a criminal defense attorney, it’s a chess match played on a ticking clock. Whether you call the role a Queens criminal lawyer, a criminal lawyer in Queens, or a Queens criminal defense lawyer, the work boils down to triage and tactics. You assess the case like an emergency room doctor, you stabilize the client’s risk, and only then do you start building the long game.
How multiple counts really get built
Most people picture one act leading to one charge. Queens prosecutors look at the same event and see several. Take a late-night stop near 108th Street. An officer claims probable cause for a vehicle search after spotting a hand-to-hand exchange. Inside the car, they say they find a small bag of cocaine, a folding knife, and a stack of gift cards linked to other people. The next day’s complaint might allege criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, criminal possession of stolen property, plus a traffic violation. If there was a scuffle during the stop, add resisting arrest and obstruction. If a friend in the backseat mumbled something that sounds like an admission, conspiracy might sneak in.
The law allows it. New York’s Penal Law and Vehicle and Traffic Law carve behavior into many discrete offenses. If acts overlap, the state can plead in the alternative. Some counts will later merge or fall away, but early leverage belongs to the one pointing the finger. That leverage sets the tone for bail, discovery, plea discussions, and public narrative. The more charges on the docket, the higher the theoretical maximum sentence, and the more pressure on the accused to cut a deal.
The first hour matters more than the first month
When I meet someone hit with multiple counts, I do three things before anything else. First, I locate the anchor charge. One count usually drives the bail decision and the sentencing exposure. Second, I map the dependency tree, the way software engineers map modules. Which counts require the same act, the same physical item, the same witness? Which rely on a search? Which live or die on a confession? Third, I check for time bombs: orders of protection that will put the client out of a home, parole or immigration consequences, suspended licenses that will cause a job loss. Strategy without triage is academic.
In Queens, judges want reasons to make measured bail decisions. If you can show that the top count has a soft underbelly, you lower risk. I have stood at arraignment and explained, with a straight back and a firm voice, how the knife in question was a work tool not a gravity knife, how the alleged stolen property had receipts, how trace weight drugs can result from cross-contamination in a sloppy lab. You do not win the case at arraignment. You win the right to fight it properly.
Discovery in a multi-count case is an excavation, not a download
CPL Article 245 changed discovery in New York, but in practice, discovery still arrives in waves. In multiple-charge cases, evidence tends to be tangled. Body-worn camera footage that helps on the drug count might hurt on the resisting charge. Lab reports can clarify quantity but complicate aggregation if the state wants to prove intent to sell. Social media data can demolish a claimed relationship in an order-of-protection violation and simultaneously put the client in a place at a time that helps a trespass case.
You have to dig with care. I keep two timelines: the event timeline, steel-framed and minimalist, and the discovery timeline, ugly and complete. The first shows what happened, second by second, as the state claims. The second shows when each piece of proof appears, is tested, is contradicted, or is undermined. When a Queens criminal defense lawyer parries a multi-count complaint, the strength comes from alignment. If five counts depend on a single stop, you want a discovery trail that makes that stop look shaky. If three counts need a clean chain of custody, you mine every transfer log. Every inconsistency magnifies across counts, and that’s the point.
Suppression hearings are the great equalizer
In a one-count case, a bad search might be a nuisance. In a multi-count case, it can be the fulcrum. I have watched entire charge clusters crumble after a Mapp hearing suppresses evidence grabbed from a trunk with no lawful basis, or a Dunaway finding shuts down statements after an illegal arrest. On paper, suppression is sterile: fourth and fifth amendment doctrine, the New York Constitution’s slightly stronger protections, the CPL’s technical rulebook. In court, suppression is human. Officers forget sequences under cross. Body camera footage contradicts a narrative by a quiet three seconds. A dispatch log shows a stop started before the claimed basis existed. When a judge suppresses the physical evidence, every possession count that flows from it usually falls too.
This is why you resist the urge to race to a plea just to make the stack go away. If the stop was suspect, a hearing can flip the leverage. I once had a client charged with felony drug possession, misdemeanor weapons possession, and tampering. The state was confident. After suppression, the lab evidence vanished from the case, the weapon became a non-issue, and the tampering charge by itself was worth a non-criminal disposition. Same facts, different outcome, because we insisted on the hearing.
The art of severance and consolidation
Prosecutors like to try everything together. It saves time and lets them present a sweeping story. The defense sees risks. Jurors are human. If they hear five accusations, they may treat the smoke as proof of fire. New York law gives judges power to sever counts or defendants to avoid unfair prejudice. The standard isn’t a gimme, but in Queens, I have successfully argued that a set of credit card fraud counts should not be tried with an unrelated vehicle stop that produced a knife and a half-smoked joint. When the only glue is the same defendant, that glue is not enough.
On the flip side, sometimes consolidation helps the defense. If two incidents are close in time and character, trying them together can save a client from consecutive sentences or duplicative narratives that make each case look worse alone. A criminal defense attorney has to decide, early, whether the bigger risk is spillover prejudice or the cumulative effect of serial prosecutions. These calls are part law, part jury psychology, part logistics.
Charge negotiation is not a shopping trip
People think plea bargains are like a supermarket special: buy one, get two dismissed. In reality, multi-charge negotiation is a currency exchange. You trade risk for certainty, but each count has a different exchange rate. A felony possession count with a weak lab report might be worth more to the state as a deterrent symbol than a provable misdemeanor. A misdemeanor assault with resentful witnesses can be worthless at trial but priceless in a plea because the complainant wants closure. If immigration or licensing consequences loom, a top misdemeanor could be worse than a lower felony with a sealed record later.
Here’s how I approach it. I assign each count a trial value, a plea value, and a collateral cost. Trial value is the likelihood of conviction times the realistic sentence range after a trial loss. Plea value is the prosecutor’s appetite, driven by office policy and courtroom culture. Collateral cost is where real life enters: green card risks, CDL suspension, housing eligibility, family court exposure. When a client understands that the “best deal” is not the lowest number but the most livable outcome, smarter choices happen.
One incident, many narratives
With multiple counts, you rarely beat the case by memorizing statutes. You win by telling a coherent, human story that explains how this many charges sprouted from a single confusing episode. Consider a subway platform encounter. The state charges robbery, menacing, petit larceny, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment. If you let that list sit, it sounds like a spree. But if you show video that captures a shove, a briefly brandished umbrella, a dropped phone that someone picks up, and twenty seconds of chaos, you shape a different understanding. The legal labels melt into a common, messy moment. Jurors respond to reality they recognize.
I often ask clients to walk me through their actions with their hands. Reenactment clarifies sequences that words alone blur. You discover facts that tie counts together in ways the state missed, or facts that cleanly separate a holdable item from a possessory offense. Small details matter. Location of pockets, line of sight from a store camera, which hand was occupied. A case that starts with five charges might end with one or none, but only if you can carry a jury from confusion to clarity.
The role of prior history without letting it define the present
Queens courts see regulars. Prior arrests, sealed cases, adjournments in contemplation of dismissal, youthful offender adjudications, probation finishes. The state loves to point to patterns, sometimes directly if rules allow, often indirectly through risk assessments. A veteran Queens criminal lawyer has to take the sting out early. Prior contact with the system can cut both ways. It can show someone who learned compliance, shows up to court, completes programs, and has stable ties. Or it can trigger enhancements and stricter bail.
This is not sentimental work. If I think the client’s background will do more harm than good at trial, I plan to keep it out. If I think it will help with a judge, I use it at sentencing to frame progress. Multi-count cases first run through the filter of character: is the person in front of the court someone the system can work with? If you show that answer is yes, you earn discretionary benefits like non-jail offers, treatment courts, or conditional discharges.
Parallel tracks: criminal court, DMV, and immigration
Queens defendants often fight on three fronts at once. A DWI-related case will kick up a DMV refusal hearing. A shoplifting case tied to a student visa can because of admissibility issues trigger immigration scrutiny. A weapon possession count can implicate federal consequences even if the local case ends soft. A criminal lawyer in Queens has to coordinate these tracks. You never want a client to “win” the criminal case and lose a license or status because of a careless stipulation.
That means, for example, timing pleas around DMV calendars so a refusal hearing does not lock in testimony that undercuts suppression. It means choosing dispositions that avoid crimes involving moral turpitude or aggravated felonies for non-citizens whenever possible. It means being picky about statutory subsections. Sometimes the difference between two adjacent subsections is the difference between staying and removal.
Managing the person, not just the paper
Paper moves slowly. Life does not. Multiple charges often produce a web of court dates, programs, and conditions. One missed program attendance and a judge revokes a release and issues a warrant. I treat compliance as seriously as trial prep. A client with three matters pending needs a calendar that works and a phone that is charged. It sounds small. It is not.
I also push for meaningful services early, but with purpose. If a case involves allegations tied to substance use, I craft a treatment plan that improves the person and strengthens the case. If anger management is relevant, we enroll in a program with a track record that judges respect. This is not performative contrition. It is mitigation with receipts. When the day comes to argue for a result that cuts the stack down, proof of change matters.
How prosecutors think when they stack charges
It helps to step into the other shoes. Prosecutors in Queens carry too many files and face too little time. Multi-count charging accomplishes three things: it preserves optional theories, insulates against a bad witness or a technical suppression, and builds a bargaining chip pile. Countering that requires narrowing the playable field. Early letters that cite specific defects, motions that target the keystones, and a discovery record that forces choices all matter.
I’ve had line ADAs tell me privately that they would drop half a complaint if their supervisor signs off, but the office wants to hold posture until after the first hearing. They are not villains; they are managing risk. If you want the stack to shrink, you present a path that lets them keep a win while pruning the junk. You also make it clear which hills you will die on. Pick the right ones.
When trial is the right answer
Not every multi-count case belongs in the arena, but some do. Juries in Queens can be skeptical of overcharging. If the evidence of the anchor count is thin and the rest looks like padding, a trial can be the disinfectant. I once tried a case with seven counts, including two felonies. The state’s theme was disorder. Our theme was overreach. We conceded the lowest misdemeanor, explained it plainly, and fought the rest. The jury split the difference in a way that, while imperfect, spared the client a felony record and any jail time. That was a win in the real world.
Trial means work. It means mock openings in a cramped conference room. It means subpoenaing camera footage the state “couldn’t obtain.” It means jury instructions battles where a single word change on a lesser included count swings the entire verdict sheet. A queens criminal defense lawyer earns their keep here, where judgment and endurance meet.
A few practical rules I live by in stacked cases
Treat the top count like the engine and everything else like cars on a train. If the engine stalls, the train stops. Build your motions and hearings to stall that engine. Never agree to a global plea until you audit collateral consequences, especially immigration, housing, licensing, and family court. Use body-worn cameras as your second memory. Time-stamp everything. Many “resisting” counts rely on narrative gaps that video closes. Ask for severance early if spillover prejudice is real. Judges rarely grant late severance requests that feel tactical rather than principled. Keep your client employed and enrolled. Stability wins bail hearings and mitigates sentencing. Judges notice who shows up from work and who comes in adrift.
The language you use in court matters
When facing multiple counts, labels shape perception. “Possession” sounds active even when it is constructive. “Tampering” sounds sinister even when it is a reflexive toss into a trash can. I push for precise phrasing. If an object was found under a passenger seat in a car with three people, I don’t say “my client had a weapon,” I say “a folding knife was later recovered from a shared space not under my client’s control.” Jurors hear difference. Judges do too. The state will call it a weapon every time. A criminal defense attorney must restore the right nouns to keep the playing field level.
Emerging issues specific to Queens
A few local realities shape multi-count strategy here. First, surveillance is dense. Between storefront cameras, MTA feeds, and body cams, cases live on video. If you do not chase footage within days, it often disappears, and with it, leverage for suppression or narrative reconstruction. Second, language access matters. Queens is a borough of translators. Miranda warnings, consent to search, and witness statements given through hurried interpretation can crack under scrutiny. I have suppressed “consent” given in a language the signer did not understand. Third, court calendars are busy. Adjournments can stretch discovery across months. You have to press without becoming the file the ADA dreads, or the pressure backfires.
When dismissal is not the only victory
Clients understandably want the charges to vanish. Sometimes they do, often after a suppression win or a key witness collapses. Other times, victory looks different: a reduction from a felony to a non-criminal violation, a plea to a single low-level count with a sealed record after a conditional discharge, a treatment outcome in a problem-solving court, a global plea that closes multiple open cases with no jail and restored stability. Measured success is still success. It lets people keep jobs, apartments, families, and status. A Queens criminal defense lawyer earns trust by explaining these textures without sugarcoating.
What to do if you or someone you love is stacked with charges
If you are reading this because a family member called from central booking and said they are “hit with a bunch of things,” breathe. The case you heard over a crackly phone is not the case that will reach a jury. The stack will change. The right moves now set the arc.
Do not talk about the facts on recorded calls from Rikers or the precinct. Those calls are recorded. Save the story for your lawyer. Gather what proves roots: pay stubs, a lease, school enrollment, proof of caregiving responsibilities. Stability helps with bail and negotiation. Write down witness names and contact information now. People disperse and forget quickly. Preserve any video you control. Save phone footage, request store camera clips as a customer, and note where public cameras might be. Show up to every court date early and dressed like you respect the room. It matters more than it should.
The quiet power of patience
Multi-count cases reward patience supported by motion practice. Prosecutors drop counts slowly. Witnesses soften. Lab results arrive with accident injury lawyer near me footnotes. Patrol guides change. A hot-head email sent on day two of discovery is less valuable than a surgical motion to dismiss based on facial insufficiency for a stray misdemeanor that should never have been charged. Clearing brush around the main path is work. It pays off when you finally walk the judge to the narrow trail you built.
I had a client with nine counts after an apartment search. We chipped away for months. One misdemeanor fell after a simple lab retest. Another after a body cam reveal of a late-entering officer. Two more dropped when a fingerprint report undermined a possession theory. By the time we reached a suppression decision on the entry, only two counts were left alive. The judge suppressed the entry. The case ended. Nothing dramatic, just steady pressure and time.
The bottom line from the trenches
Multiple charges do not multiply truth. They multiply risk. If you are facing a stack in Queens, you need someone who will do unglamorous work with relentless consistency: track every second on video, question every basis for every stop, stare at lab reports until the numbers tell a story, and manage the court’s demands while managing your life. Whether you search for a Queens criminal lawyer, a criminal lawyer in Queens, or simply a criminal defense attorney who knows these hallways and these judges, look for experience with stacking and unstacking. Ask about suppression wins. Ask about severance. Ask how they weigh immigration and licensing fallout when choosing dispositions. Your case is not a spreadsheet. It is a story with a dozen threads. Pull the right ones, and the fabric changes.