Criminal Defense Lawyer in White Plains, NY

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If you’ve been arrested in White Plains or have an open felony case in Westchester County Court, it might feel like everyone is against you. 

Maybe a false accusation turned into an arrest. Perhaps this was all a misunderstanding or a one-time mistake. Or maybe the police violated your rights through an illegal stop and frisk. 

Regardless of what happened, what you are likely looking for is an attorney who will be fully on your side and will leave no stone unturned in providing you with the skilled legal representation you deserve. 

The Law Office of Michael J. McConnell is dedicated to zealously representing people accused of serious criminal offenses in White Plains and throughout Westchester County. Our approach is always thorough, proactive, and focused on putting the client first.

When you hire Michael J. McConnell, you get a local Westchester County criminal defense lawyer who is also a former prosecutor and a proud graduate of Pace Law School here in White Plains. 

You can call 24/7 to request a free and confidential consultation with the Law Office of Michael J. McConnell at (914) 810-0510 if you’ve been arrested in White Plains. We answer on nights, weekends, and holidays. 

You can also message us here or simply book an appointment on our calendar for a free consultation if your case is already in White Plains City Court or Westchester County Court. 

We’re ready to fight for you. All you need to do is call. Let’s fight this case together.

Yes, the Law Office of Michael J. McConnell handles all levels of felonies and misdemeanors. 

For many of the most common charges, Michael J. McConnell has handled them both as a criminal defense attorney and a prosecutor, which is valuable because it allows him to see cases from all angles. 

Our most common felony cases tend to be cases involving gun possession, narcotics offenses, robberies, assaults in the 1st and 2nd degree, grand larceny, and sex crimes. 

For misdemeanors, our focus is typically on charges like Assault in the 3rd Degree, Forcible Touching, and Criminal Obstruction of Breathing, including charges that are related to domestic violence.  

You will be fingerprinted and processed by the White Plains Police Department. You may then be held in custody until you can be brought before a judge for an arraignment (ideally within 24 hours) or released with a Desk Appearance Ticket (“DAT”) that directs you to come back to White Plains City Court on a future date to face criminal charges. 

The address for White Plains City Court is 77 Lexington Avenue, White Plains, NY 10601. The court’s regular business hours are 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday, except for state holidays. 

If you have an upcoming court date in White Plains City Court and need legal representation related to a criminal matter, you can call the Law Office of Michael J. McConnell at (914) 810-0510 for a free consultation. 

An arraignment is the first court appearance after an arrest. The purpose of this appearance is mainly to:

· inform you of the charges and your rights

· determine whether you will be released or kept in custody by the judge setting bail or remanding you

· and to select the next court date

An arraignment is often a very quick appearance that will usually last only a few minutes. The witnesses against you will not be there to testify since that happens later on in the case. 

Also, if there is an alleged victim, the judge might issue a temporary order of protection (“TOP”) prohibiting you from contacting them or going anywhere near them. TOPs are most common in domestic violence cases. 

One of the most common questions family members want to know after their loved one gets arrested in White Plains is whether the judge will release them or keep them in custody by setting bail (you’re in jail until you can pay to get out) or remanding them (held in custody without bail). 

The answer is that it always depends on a number of factors, including the exact charges as well as the person’s prior criminal record and bench warrant history. Here’s why: 

In New York, a judge can only keep someone in custody following their arraignment by bail or remand if they are charged with a “qualifying offense” under CPL § 510.10(4). 

The types of qualifying offenses where bail might be set include things such as violent felonies, certain sex crimes, high-level drug felonies, and even certain misdemeanors under some circumstances. 

Even if a person is charged with a qualifying offense, the judge still has discretion to release them. This is why having a diligent and proactive defense attorney who is knowledgeable about the facts of your case and your background prior to your arraignment can be such an advantage as they might be able to make persuasive arguments to the judge that you can be expected to return to court on your own if released and that you are not a flight risk. 

Of course, if you’re not charged with a qualifying offense, the judge will be required to release you on your own recognizance or with conditions. Most misdemeanors and non-violent felonies require release, especially where someone has no prior criminal record or other open cases. 

In New York, the main purpose of a grand jury is to hear evidence on criminal offenses to determine whether there is enough evidence for the prosecution to move forward, at which point they may return an indictment. 

Under CPL § 190.65, a grand jury may indict a defendant when there is “legally sufficient evidence” that the defendant committed the offense, and that the “competent and admissible evidence” submitted to the grand jury establishes “reasonable cause to believe that such person committed such offense.” 

Additionally, the grand jury is by its nature a secret proceeding, which means it is not open to the public and there is no judge present. It is just the prosecutor, the grand jurors, the court reporter, and the witness presently testifying.

Nor is the defendant or their attorney allowed in the grand jury, except for when the defendant chooses to testify. And even then, they can only be present during the time they are actually testifying but not for the rest of the grand jury presentation. 

In most cases, the defendant will not testify in the grand jury. This is because strategically there are only limited situations where it makes sense as the potential reward is often far outweighed by the risk. A defendant considering whether to testify before the grand jury should always be sure to have thorough and clear discussions with their attorney so that they can make a fully informed choice. 

In most cases, the DA will have one or more police officers testify in the grand jury as well as the alleged victim or other witnesses needed to establish “reasonable cause.” The testimony to the grand jury will also generally be fairly brief compared to what you might see at trial. 

So, for example, if you’re accused of Assault in the 2nd Degree for using a weapon during a fight, the DA might call the arresting officer and the alleged victim to testify in front of the grand jury. If their testimony is legally sufficient to provide reasonable cause that you committed Assault 2, they may return a “true bill”—which means you’ve been indicted. 

It is important to understand that since the standard of proof for the grand jury is much lower than what is required at trial (“reasonable cause” as opposed to “beyond a reasonable doubt”), it is fairly easy for the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office to get an indictment in many cases. Thus, an indictment doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be found guilty at trial, but it is a signal that the DA has at least some evidence.

Yes, this is possible, but it will always depend on the unique facts of your case. This is something that a good criminal defense attorney will always look at very carefully, especially in firearms possession and narcotics cases where this issue most often comes up. 

Under both the state and federal constitution, you have a right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. This means that the cops cannot stop you, search you, or place you under arrest on a whim or a hunch. 

Here are some of the general rules that apply to the most common situations where these issues come up: 

• Pedestrian Stops: For the cops to stop you as you’re walking down the street in White Plains, they need at least reasonable suspicion that you have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime. A “stop” in this context generally means you’re detained or that your freedom of movement is significantly impaired by the police. 

• Traffic Stops: For the cops to pull you over, they need either probable cause to believe you committed a traffic infraction, or reasonable suspicion that you have committed, are committing, or are about to commit a crime. 

• Pat Downs or Frisks: Assuming the cops have reasonable suspicion to stop you in the first place, they’ll also need reasonable suspicion that you are armed and presently dangerous in order to frisk you for potential weapons. Just because they have a lawful basis to stop you doesn’t necessarily mean they can frisk. 

• Searches: There are very complex and nuanced rules that relate to searches, but in general:

• Search of Your Home: Cops generally need a valid search warrant. There are very few exceptions (e.g., consent, exigent circumstances, etc.).

• Vehicle Searches: If the cops pull you over, they might be able to search your car without a warrant if they have probable cause to believe it contains contraband or evidence of crime. They might claim they saw guns or drugs “in plain view” in order to justify probable cause. Sometimes they might ask for consent to search as well. These cases can be very fact specific and turn on the smallest of details. 

• Searches of Your Belongings (e.g., backpacks, etc.): This can be yet another very nuanced area, but it is important to know that searches of your belongings—such as a backpack or a purse—don’t always require a search warrant under New York law. A few common examples of searches of belongings that have been found by courts to be an exception to the warrant requirement include things like searches incident to a lawful arrest, those based on consent, and inventory searches back at the precinct. 

After identifying possible legal challenges to the stop, frisk, search, or arrest, a criminal defense attorney will file a motion to suppress evidence at the appropriate time. This is a written argument filed with the court that cites to applicable legal precedent asking the judge to preclude the DA from admitting certain evidence at trial because it was recovered unlawfully by the cops.

After the DA responds to the motion, the judge will determine whether the motion to suppress should be granted, denied, or if a hearing should be ordered to take testimony from the officers to resolve factual disputes regarding what happened. 

At a suppression hearing, the DA will call the relevant law enforcement witnesses to testify about what happened. The defense attorney will then question them as well, which is a great opportunity to highlight inconsistencies or simply show that their testimony is unworthy of belief. At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge will decide if the evidence was lawfully obtained or not. 

If the judge concludes the evidence was unlawfully obtained, the motion to suppress will be granted, which means the DA will not be allowed to use that evidence at trial. If the DA doesn’t have a case without that evidence, the case could be dismissed. 

For example, if the DA is precluded from introducing the bags of crack cocaine at trial in a felony drug possession case because the police illegally stopped and searched the defendant’s car, there may no longer be sufficient evidence to prove the case (i.e., no drugs = no case). 

In other situations, suppression might only weaken the DA’s case but won’t necessarily lead to a dismissal. This tends to be more common in cases involving a victim as opposed to crimes where you’re just charged with possessing drugs or a weapon. 

For example, if you’re accused of stabbing someone but the cops recovered the bloody knife from your home without a valid search warrant, the judge might not allow the DA to put the knife into evidence at trial, but they still might have a potential case if there are witnesses who are going to testify that they saw you commit the stabbing or if it is on video. 

Of course, in that situation the case would be much stronger for the DA if they could use the bloody knife, but the lack of being able to show the weapon to the jury might not stop them from being able to take the case to trial. Whether a jury will actually convict without evidence of the weapon is a totally different question, which might very well hinge on how strong and persuasive the rest of the evidence is. 

The big takeaway is that winning a suppression motion can have a major impact on your case. In some cases, it could be the end of the case. In others, it might be the key to winning at trial.

So if you’re facing criminal charges in White Plains or elsewhere in Westchester County that resulted from an unlawful stop and frisk, a search without a valid warrant, or an illegal traffic stop by the police, the Law Office of Michael J. McConnell is available 24/7 to take your call at (914) 810-0510. 

Prior felony convictions can definitely have a major impact when it comes to sentencing in New York. This is true both as a technical legal matter and as a practical matter.

Under the sentencing laws, if you are considered a second felony offender, second violent felony offender, or a persistent felony offender, you will be sentenced under harsher guidelines than someone without a criminal record—which can include lengthy mandatory minimum prison sentences. 

Let’s illustrate with a common example involving someone charged with Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the 2nd Degree under PL § 265.03 after getting arrested for having a loaded gun on them without a valid NY gun permit. This offense is considered a “Class C Violent Felony,” which makes it subject to the following sentencing ranges under NY law:

• If they have no prior felony convictions, the minimum prison sentence they can get if convicted is 3.5 years and the maximum sentence is 15 years. 

• If they are considered a second felony offender due to a prior non-violent felony conviction, the minimum prison sentence they can get upon conviction is 5 years and the maximum sentence remains 15 years. 

• If they are a second felony offender due to a prior violent felony conviction, their minimum sentence upon conviction jumps to 7 years and the maximum stays at 15 years. 

As you can see by the differences in the minimum authorized sentence, the penalties for prior felony conviction can be harsh. By “minimum,” it means that the judge is required to impost at least that amount of prison time. They still have discretion to go up to the max or anywhere in between. 

Now, it is important to know that not every prior felony conviction counts towards someone being considered a “second felony offender” or “predicate.” Generally, the sentence for the prior felony must have been imposed within 10 years of and prior to the commission of the current felony.

In calculating that 10-year-period, the time the person spent incarcerated effectively stops the clock. So, for example, if someone was sentenced on a prior felony 12 years ago but served 7 years in prison, they would still be well within the 10-year period if they committed another felony today. 

There are a number of other nuanced legal rules that can apply as well, which is why it is so important to have a criminal defense attorney who can clearly and thoroughly explain to you what your potential sentencing ranges are if convicted. Knowing this information is essential for being fully informed about major decisions you’ll need to make, including whether to take a plea deal or go to trial. 

The Law Office of Michael J. McConnell regularly represents individuals with prior felony convictions and is very proud to do so. Everyone deserves a strong legal defense when facing criminal charges regardless of whatever they’ve been convicted of in the past. The stakes can be incredibly high in these cases, which is why we encourage people facing felony charges to reach out for a free consultation as early as possible after an arrest. 

Facing serious criminal charges in White Plains can feel overwhelming. You deserve a criminal defense attorney who is committed to leaving no stone unturned in fighting to protect your freedom and your future. 

Specifically, you deserve an attorney who:

• Regularly communicates with you about your case (strategy, updates, etc.)

• Diligently reviews all the evidence against you

• Thoroughly prepares for each and every court appearance

• Treats you with unconditional respect, compassion, and nonjudgment as you navigate an incredibly stressful time of your life

That is what quality legal representation is supposed to look like, and it’s exactly what the Law Office of Michael J. McConnell is committed to offering each and every single person who hires us.

If you’re ready to take the next step to speak with a local criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, the Law Office of Michael J. McConnell is ready to take your call 24/7 at (914) 810-0510 or you can message us now for a free and confidential consultation about your criminal case in White Plains, NY. 

You deserve a strong defense. Let’s build yours today.

Disclaimer: This page is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Contact a lawyer and speak with them privately if you need legal advice. 

Page last updated on February 25th, 2026.