November, 2009:
Two men were arrested in a car after police claimed they had seen the driver (Mr. Sprowls’ client) throw a quantity of cocaine out the window and on to a city street. At a pre-trial suppression hearing, Mr. Sprowls successfully argued to the judge that the evidence should be suppressed. Once the evidence was suppressed, the D.A. had no choice but to dismiss all criminal charges. The defendant ended up pleading guilty to a speeding ticket!
October, 2009:
A few months after Mr. Sprowls’ client was arrested during the execution of a search warrant, Mr. Sprowls got the felony charges dismissed. The defendant had been found inside an apartment with prescription pills, marijuana, cocaine, and drug paraphernalia in the room next to where the defendant was standing. Mr. Sprowls used his extensive knowledge of search and seizure law and the facts of the case to convince the D.A. that the case could not be proven against his client and persuaded the prosecutor to dismiss the charges.
August, 2009:
The police arrested two boys and charged them with felony Criminal Mischief, claiming the boys had caused damage in excess of $500.00 to a local municipal park. The boys denied the charges. The end result? Mr. Sprowls got the case dismissed in exchange for the boys’ promise each pay only $100.00. The moral of the story? Never accept the word of the police as truth - they lie and exaggerate just as much as anyone else.
August, 2008:
Two men were arrested and charged with Burglary in the Third Degree, a Class D felony. Mr. Sprowls' client had just finished serving 22 years in state prison and was on parole.
Within five weeks of the defendant's arraignment, Mr. Sprowls got the case dismissed and the defendant is a free man.
March, 2008:
A high school-aged boy and four of his friends were arrested and charged with multiple felonies, including Burglary in the First Degree and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. If convicted of the Burglary Charge as an adult, Mr. Sprowls’ client could have been sentenced to anywhere between 5 and 25 years in state prison. In October, 2008, after extensive investigation and interviews with witnesses, Mr. Sprowls got the case dismissed and his client’s bright future remained intact.
February, 2008:
Five people were arrested in a commercial establishment during the execution of a search warrant. The police recovered about seven ounces of marijuana, thousands of ziplock baggies and a couple of scales. The store was a "weed spot" and had been selling to a steady stream of customers for months.
Mr. Sprowls' client was in the common area of the store when the police entered and no marijuana was found on his person.
Within a month of his arrest, Mr. Sprowls got the case against his client dismissed.
December, 2007:
Two men were arrested in the City of Newburgh and charged with multiple Class D Felonies, including Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Third Degree. Mr. Sprowls' client had a lengthy criminal record going back over thirty years with a prior felony conviction. The D.A. was out for blood and insisted that the two men would go to state prison for these crimes.
Of course, Mr. Sprowls could represent only one of the defendants. After investigating the case and researching the applicable law, Mr. Sprowls advised his client to refuse all plea offers and to remain ready for trial.
The co-defendant was subsequently indicted and his case was transferred to County Court where he is looking at a state prison sentence.
Mr. Sprowls' client is now a free man. Because Mr. Sprowls knew the law and the facts of the case, all of the charges were dismissed and the defendant is home with his family.
October, 2007:
A parolee was arrested and charged with multiple serious felonies stemming from two separate incidents. He was held and charged with Rape in the First Degree, Burglary in the Third Degree, Grand Larceny in the Third Degree and numerous other charges. If he had been convicted of the Rape charge alone, he could have been sentenced to up to 10 - 25 years in state prison and if he were also convicted of the Burglary, he could have received 2 - 7 years consecutive to the sentence on the Rape charge because the incidents were separate and unrelated.
By May, 2008, Mr. Sprowls had gotten both cases dismissed.
April, 2007:
The defendant, an eighteen year old boy, was charged with Robbery in the First Degree. The police alleged that he stole money and jewelry from another boy and that he used a knife to do it. The defendant told Mr. Sprowls that he never stole anything and that he and the victim were just having a fist fight. The D.A. wanted the defendant to plead guilty to a felony but Mr. Sprowls convinced his client to let him investigate the matter before pleading to anything and the boy agreed.
Almost a year elapsed and when Mr. Sprowls showed the D.A. and the Court the results of his investigation, the case was dismissed.
December, 2006:
Mr. Sprowls defended a teenage boy who had been charged with felony criminal mischief and numerous other charges. The District Attorney’s Office refused to negotiate with Mr. Sprowls and the case lingered until the felony charges were reduced to misdemeanors. Even then, the D.A’s office would not listen to the truth. After almost three years of investigation and litigation, Mr. Sprowls obtained for his client an A.C.D. with $97.00 in restitution – a far cry from state prison and the $7,000 in restitution originally demanded by the D.A.
The defendant was arrested in the Town of Wallkill for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, a Class C Felony. The police alleged that he possessed a large quantity of heroin in his car.
He discussed the facts of the case with Mr. Sprowls, who advised him to enter a plea of not guilty at his arraignment. The D.A. and the Judge thought the defendant was making a remarkably poor decision.
In November, 2007, after the D.A. failed to prosecute the case in a timely fashion, Mr. Sprowls filed a motion to dismiss the case. The Court had no choice but to grant the motion and the case was dismissed.
November, 2006:
A teenage boy was arrested and charged with Criminal Mischief in the Second Degree, a Class D Felony. The police said he demolished someone's car and that the victim actually saw him do it. The boy denied the charges, but the D.A. refused to believe that the victim could be mistaken and held the boy for the action of the grand jury.
After battling for over eighteen months, it became clear that this was a case of mistaken identity and Mr. Sprowls got the case dismissed.
August, 2006:
The defendant, who was on lifetime parole for a serious narcotics-related felony, was arrested going through customs on his way to his honeymoon with his new wife. The D.A. charged him with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a Class B Felony. Because of his record, the D.A. offered the defendant a plea with a sentence of 4 ½ - 9 years. The maximum sentence would have been 12 ½ - 25 years under the old Rockefeller sentencing laws.
Mr. Sprowls investigated the case and filed a motion to dismiss at his arraignment in County Court. Within three weeks of his arraignment, the defendant's case was dismissed.
July, 2006:
The police executed a search warrant and found a large quantity of cocaine and a stolen handgun inside the location. Five people, including Mr. Sprowls' client, were arrested and charged with multiple felonies and misdemeanors. If she had been convicted, Mr. Sprowls' client could have been sentenced to up to 1 to 5 ½ years in state prison.
Instead, Mr. Sprowls got the case against his client dismissed.
May, 2006:
The defendant and four other people were arrested and charged with Criminal Mischief in the Third Degree, a Class D Felony. It was alleged that they had damaged another person's car during the course of a fight.
If the defendant had been convicted of that charge, he could have been sentenced to up to 2 - 7 years in state prison and, even worse, he could have been deported because he was in the country illegally.
Instead of incarceration and deportation, Mr. Sprowls negotiated a plea to a non-criminal offense with a small amount of restitution. More importantly, the defendant was able to remain in the country with his friends and family.
April, 2006:
A man was arrested and charged with Harassment and Resisting Arrest. The charges were based on an incident that allegedly occurred between the defendant and his girlfriend.
But the police made numerous mistakes in procedure and, because Mr. Sprowls knows the law, his motion to dismiss the case was granted.
March, 2006:
Two men were arrested and charged with felony marijuana possession and Assault in the First Degree for allegedly slashing a man who had tried to rob them of their weed. Mr. Sprowls' client was a Jamaican national and, in addition to being deported, he could have gone to state prison for up to 5 - 25 years if he had been convicted.
Instead, Mr. Sprowls got the Assault charge reduced and dismissed and his client pleaded guilty to a low-level marijuana charge. He paid a small fine and went home to his family - no jail time and no deportation.
February, 2006:
The defendant had been arrested in the City of Newburgh and charged with Assault in the First Degree, a Class B Violent Felony. It was alleged that he stabbed another man in the eye with a knife, but the defendant maintained that he acted in self-defense. He had an extensive criminal record which exposed him to the enhanced penalty of Twenty-Five (25) years to Life in prison if he had been convicted.
After Mr. Sprowls conducted a jury trial lasting one week, the defendant was acquitted of all of the charges and he walked out of the courtroom a free man.
June, 2005:
Defendant was arrested for DWI in the parking lot of a waterfront bar in Newburgh in the wee hours of a summer morning. The police claimed that the defendant was attempting to back out of a parking space when he was arrested. The defendant denied operating his car and alleged that the police basically made the story up. The D.A. offered to let the defendant plead guilty to DWAI - a traffic infraction. After consulting with Mr. Sprowls, the defendant declined the D.A.'s offer.
On the day of the suppression hearing, the case was dismissed.
June, 2005:
The defendant was arrested after the police obtained and executed a search warrant at a hotel room in the Town of Wallkill. A large quantity of crack cocaine was recovered, along with a fairly large quantity of U.S. Currency. He was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (a Class B Felony) - possession with the intent to sell crack cocaine - maximum sentence 12 1/2 - 25 years in state prison.
After discussing the case with Mr. Sprowls, the D.A. agreed to reduced the charges to multiple misdemeanors and prosecute the matter in the local court. After litigating a number of issues before the local court judge, Mr. Sprowls was able to obtain a plea bargain to Disorderly Conduct - a violation and not a crime - with a $200 fine for the sentence.
