Uncategorized Archives - Law Office of Michael K. Bachrach

Jury Acquits Assemblyman of Conspiring to Take Bribes

William F. Boyland Jr., a Democratic assemblyman from one of Brooklyn’s most prominent political families, was acquitted on Thursday of conspiring to take $175,000 in bribes in return for using his influence on behalf of a health care organization that runs hospitals in Queens and Brooklyn.

The trial, in Federal District Court in Manhattan, was the second stemming from a broad corruption indictment issued in March that charged eight people, including Mr. Boyland and a powerful state senator, Carl Kruger, Democrat of Brooklyn, as well health care executives, a lobbyist and others.

One defendant, David P. Rosen, the former chief executive of the health care organization, MediSys, was convicted in September of conspiring to bribe Mr. Boyland — as well as Mr. Kruger and a third politician, Anthony S. Seminerio, a Democratic assemblyman from Queens, in return for favorable treatment for MediSys. Mr. Seminerio, who pleaded guilty to fraud in an earlier case, has since died.

As the verdict was announced by the jury forewoman, there was a shriek from a woman seated with Mr. Boyland’s parents and other supporters. Mr. Boyland sat with his hand on his forehead as one of his lawyers, Michael K. Bachrach, patted his shoulder.

After the verdict was delivered, Mr. Boyland said, “I’m looking forward to getting back to serving as assemblyman for the 55th District.”

His father, William F. Boyland Sr., 71, who served two decades in the Assembly and was succeeded by his son, said, “Justice still reigns.” …

November 10, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Brooklyn Legislator Doesn’t Testify at His Bribery Trial

After the government rested, one of Mr. Boyland’s lawyers asked the judge, Jed S. Rakoff of Federal District Court, to acquit their client on grounds that the government had failed to prove the necessary quid pro quo.

“We believe that although they have established that money was paid and that official acts occurred,” the lawyer, Michael K. Bachrach, said, “we do not believe the evidence supports one was for the other.”

November 4, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Victory for the Defense

Devotion to a fair and equitable justice system is a hallmark of Bachrach’s young but already impressive career as a criminal defense attorney. (He has been in solo practice since 2005 and was recently elected president of the New York Criminal Bar Association—the youngest president-elect by some 20 years.) Bachrach is a self-professed idealist—a quality developed through his Quaker schooling and further nurtured at Sarah Lawrence—and a staunch advocate of the right to a fair trial. Though his often notorious clients—who have included alleged mob bosses, madams, and members of international drug cartels—may not always be on the right side of the moral compass, Bachrach feels completely secure in his choice to defend them.

“I know it sounds idealistic, but I really believe in our Bill of Rights,” he explains. “People say to me, ‘You get clients off on technicalities.’ But those ‘technicalities’ are generally rooted in the Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendment of our Constitution. I don’t view them as technicalities, but rather, as Judge Kaplan [the federal judge presiding over the Ghailani case] said, the rock upon which our nation rests.”

Bachrach also puts his trust in the legal system when it comes to the thornier question of whether his clients are actually guilty or innocent—something he says you can never truly know. “Plenty of people confess to crimes that they didn’t actually commit, for various reasons, and some people who claim their innocence are really guilty. I can’t trust myself to judge others in that way. I assume that the system will work in the end,” he explains.

July 28, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Prosecutors Could Still Pursue Strauss-Kahn

[I]t is highly unlikely that Strauss-Kahn would accept [a plea] offer, said defense attorney Michael Bachrach.

“The defense will probably feel emboldened now more than ever, that this is a case that should be tried and should be defended,” Bachrach said.

Strauss-Kahn has vehemently denied the charges from the start

July 2, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Can Strauss-Kahn’s Sexual History Be Used Against Him?

Michael Bachrach, a defense lawyer who represented Al Qaeda conspirator Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, said that ultimately the judge presiding over Strauss-Kahn’s case will apply a balancing test to decide whether evidence of past acts should be admitted.

“The judge will balance the relevance and usefulness of the evidence to establish the current charges, versus the danger of unfairly confusing the jury into thinking that just because a past allegation had occurred that this means the present charges are true,” Bachrach said.

He said that courts generally are concerned that introducing past allegations will confuse or inflame a jury. But a century-old New York case does give prosecutors a potential avenue for admitting such evidence.

May 26, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Kirkland Shooting Prosecutors Were Harvard Roommates

April 19, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Ahmed Ghailani Sentence: The Future of Gauntanamo

Ghailani was subject to what the government calls “enhanced interrogation” by the CIA at a secret prison, and any evidence prosecutors presented that had been obtained during that process risked being declared inadmissible in court.

Indeed, US prosecutors suffered an early setback when Judge Lewis Kaplan barred a key government witness from testifying, ruling he had been named by Ghailani while “under duress”.

Therein lies the problem, critics of civilian trials say. They argue acts of war should not be treated as law enforcement issues.

One of Ghailani’s lawyers, Michael Bachrach, took the opposite view, telling the BBC the trial showed the jury was able to weigh evidence without undue influence from the politics of the case.

“The fact that Mr Ghailani was able to receive a fair trial shows the system worked,” he said.

January 25, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Judge Appears Skeptical of Former Gitmo Prisoner’s Appeal

Bachrach was essentially arguing for an exception to the Supreme Court rule that courts may not reverse inconsistent jury verdicts. He argued — quite creatively — that the one count on which Ghailani was convicted (Conspiracy to Destroy Buildings and Property of the U.S.), included U.S. property anywhere in the world, not just the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Because Ghailani was acquitted of conspiracy to bomb those embassies, he argued, the government was required to put forward some evidence that Ghailani was conspiring to bomb some other U.S. property, for that count to be distinguishable from the others. Otherwise, the count is redundant and impermissible. Because the only conspiracy addressed at trial was the one to bomb the two East African embassies, Bachrach reasoned, there simply was not enough evidence to support the guilty verdict reached on Count 5.

January 20, 2011 terran Comments Off Uncategorized

Ghailani’s Lawyers Detail Terror Defense Strategy

Looking back, Mr. Bachrach said Mr. Ghailani felt vindicated at being acquitted of murder, and was happy “a jury could see through the politics of this case and view him fairly.”

Law Office of Michael K. Bachrach

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Jury Acquits Assemblyman of Conspiring to Take Bribes

Brooklyn Legislator Doesn’t Testify at His Bribery Trial

Victory for the Defense

Prosecutors Could Still Pursue Strauss-Kahn

Can Strauss-Kahn’s Sexual History Be Used Against Him?

Kirkland Shooting Prosecutors Were Harvard Roommates

Ahmed Ghailani Sentence: The Future of Gauntanamo

Judge Appears Skeptical of Former Gitmo Prisoner’s Appeal

Ghailani’s Lawyers Detail Terror Defense Strategy

Ex-Detainee Wants Judge to Dismiss Conviction on Single Count Bombings