This is a District Attorney originated diversion program where defendants aged 18-25 with no felony conviction history can apply to participate in a restorative justice modeled process for a period of 18-24 months.  If successful, the participant graduates and then appears in court where the felony charge(s) are completely dismissed.

The program requires the participant to enter into an agreement with the DA’s Community Accountability Board where they agree to the restorative justice approach, whereby they view their offense from the victim’s perspective, agree to try to correct the damage they caused to the victim by letter of apology, restitution, community service and accomplishing other goals set in the FYD agreement. These additional goals could include no criminal activity, possible employment or further education, opening a bank account, obtaining a driver’s license, or other participant specific items.

Participants would have to appear quarterly at the Community Accountability Boards offices for meetings with Board members and/or mentors and advisors the Board has provided.

The FYD process includes multiple areas of support for participants and has been successful in the timely redirection of many invested participants to successful futures as crime free members of the community.

An appeal is a post-conviction process for challenging a defendant’s conviction, sentence or other court order following the resolution of the case by trial or plea. Any client can appeal a conviction, whether convicted in a local court or the Supreme Court in Albany County.

Our office is located within the jurisdiction of the Appellate Division, Third Department. We are assigned matters following the application of an Appellant in the Appellate Division, Third Department for Poor Person Status and Assignment of Counsel in a Criminal Appeal. We review case files, research and draft appellate briefs for oral argument before the Appellate Division and our representation continues on through the Court of Appeals.

The most common arguments we see on appeal are that the plea was not knowing, voluntarily, and intelligent and that our clients' constitutional rights were violated by an unlawful search and/or seizure. Following a trial conviction, we generally also challenge the weight and sufficiency of the evidence produced against our clients in order to secure their convictions. If we do not obtain a favorable result in the Appellate Division, we will generally follow-up by drafting an application for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals in order to ensure that our clients receive all possible judicial review.

Our office also provides counsel for people subject to SORA (sex offender registration) both at the initial hearing and on appeal. We work diligently to obtain all favorable information and resources and to preserve legal issues for appellate litigation.

Appellate litigation is often very detailed and time-consuming; each step of an appeal can take several months. An appellant should expect for the process to take up to one or two years for a final resolution.

Raise the Age (RTA) is legislation that aims to consider that youths, specifically between 13 and 17, charged with felony criminal charges need to be assessed differently than adults charged with the same offense. More specifically, this legislation asks Courts to consider a youth's age, developmental status, the charge, and the circumstances surrounding the charge in determining if this matter should be handled as if the youth were an adult.

The type of criminal offenses that are considered for this are felony criminal charges, including violent and non-violent offenses. Youth who are charged with these offenses are not left alone, but are afforded an attorney from the Public Defender's Office to represent and advocate for their interests. Although these felony criminal charges would be heard in Albany County Court, initially, these matters are heard in Albany County Youth Part, which is held in Albany Family Court. These matters are heard by specific Judges who are trained in how to handle these unique kinds of cases.

Depending on the type of felony charge and the age of the individual, the matter will be scheduled for motions or a hearing to determine if the case will remain in criminal part or be removed to family court. If it is removed to family court, a juvenile delinquency petition could be filed, and the youth would be assigned an attorney, someone who is trained in handling these types of cases. If the matter remains as criminal charges, the attorney from the Public Defender's office will zealously represent the youth in getting the best outcome for them.