Red Hook, NY Criminal Defense Law Firms & Lawyers

The decision as to retain a private attorney or be represented by a public defender is a personal one, which you must make. Like everything else in life there are good/bad private attorneys and good/bad public defenders. The main differences are: (1) you are able to choose your private attorney and fire him if you do not think he is doing a good job defending you (2) with a public defender you have no input into who you get and it is usually extremely difficult to have your public defender replaced with another public defender, if you are not comfortable with him/her (3) due to the case load of most, if not all, public defenders, your appointed attorney may not have the time to explain everything to you that you need to know or answer all your questions (4) a private attorney can give you the "personal" touch you may want and should have the time to explain everything to you and answer all of your questions. There are pros and cons to either choice, but these are the main differences.

I cannot categorically say that the owner cannot, or will not, be "penalized" (do you mean charged with a crime?) if a resident has drugs. Obviously, it depends upon the specific circumstances of this situation. Two people can surely be charged with possession of the same narcotics. On the other hand, if the drugs were your resident's, then you should not cave in to any plea bargain, or even accept Drug Diversion (PC 1000), just because you are eligible. Make the District Attorney prove it!

From the facts you provided, it seems that it will be difficult to prove that your brother committed the crime beyond a reasonable doubt, which is what the District Attorney will have to prove if they take the case to trial.  However, because this is a factual determination, it means that the case will still have to be heard in a trial, unless the District Attorney drops the charges before that point.