One hot July evening, a fight began in the hallway of a Bronx housing complex. A single shot rang-out, and a man was seriously injured. Joseph T. was arrested and eventually indicted for attempted murd...er in the man's shooting. He said he was innocent.
The prosecutor offered a plea deal of ten years, and Joseph faced up to 25 years if he were convicted after trial.The prosecutor had five eye-witnesses, all of whom testified that they saw Joseph pull the gun and shoot one time. However, with the help of an investigator, Goldman found a witness who said that Joseph did not have a gun.
Drawing on the witnesses testimony, Goldman argued that the real shooter was a friend of the victim who had argued with Joseph. The friend must have been aiming at Joseph but accidently shot his own friend. The victim, Goldman told the Jury, accused Joseph of doing the shooting in order to protect his friend.
The jury found Joseph not guilty of all charges and Joseph walked out of the courthouse a free man.
Criminal defense
Possession of a Sawed Off Shotgun
N/A
OUTCOME: Acquittal
It was a blizzard and the whole city was brought to a stand-still. Though Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn was normally clogged with cars and people, the streets were virtually empty. Darkness had now settl...ed on the neighborhood.
Tyrone J. was walking down the middle of the street because that was about the only place that he could walk. He was wearing a large down jacket with a fur-lined hood pulled tightly over his head. He paused periodically to get his breath, then continued trudging forward. Suddenly three police cars pulled in front of him. He was arrested and charged with carrying a loaded sawed-off shotgun.
Tyrone was a "mandatory persistent felon," someone who has two prior convictions for violent crimes. As a result, the best plea deal he could get was 6-years-to-life. If convicted after trial, he could get 25-to-life, making it all but certain that he would be an old man before he got out of prison -- if he ever got out.
"I pleaded guilty every time I was arrested. That's because I was guilty. I didn't do this, and I'm not pleading guilty." Tyrone decided to go to trial.
At trial the police testified that they had a radio run of a man with a gun. They claimed the description closely matched Tyrone. They testified that when they ordered Tyrone to stop, he turned and ran. They could see the gun sticking out the bottom of his jacket. One police officer grabbed Tyrone, but he kept running. Two more officers grabbed him, but Tyrone kept running for almost a block before they were finally able to bring him down and arrest him. The gun was recovered in his jacket.
During cross examination, Mr. Goldman brought-out that Tyrone could hardly walk in the deep snow, much less run. Only the bionic man could run through that much snow with three officers on top of him. Also, because of the heavy snow, the darkness and the hood he was wearing, the officers could never have seen Tyrone's face to know whether or not he matched the description in the radio run.
After Mr. Goldman's summation acquitted Tyrone. He could have gone to prison for life. Instead he walked out of the courtroom a free man.
Civil rights
Brutality Case
N/A
OUTCOME: almost $90,000 recovery
Goldman represented a man with a history of mental illness who was incarcerated in a county jail in upstate New York. The jail refused to give the man the medication he needed. Eventually the man began... to decompensate. He stripped-off his clothes and began to scream. The C.O.'s responded by strapping him into a chair and beating him in the face. As a result, the bones beneath both his eyes were broken, his nose was broken, and several of his teeth were knocked-out.
Goldman took over the case after the previous attorney told the client that the settlement offer of $30,000 dollars would never go higher. Goldman got the county to offer almost $90,000 - nearly three times what the previous lawyer was able to get.
