New York City Desk Appearance Ticket Defense Attorney
We Fight DAT Cases in All New York City Courts
A New York City
Desk Appearance Ticket is an official notice given to you by the NYPD directing you to appear
in New York City Criminal Court in connection with a crime you are bring
charged with. The Desk Appearance Ticket is designed to provide you with
certain minimal information required by CPL section 150.10, however, it
is not the same thing as a complaint so it won't give you very much
information about what, exactly, you are alleged to have done wrong.
In New York City, receiving a Desk Appearance Ticket from the NYPD requires
that you appear in criminal court on the date specified on the ticket
for arraignment (or "return date" on the Desk Appearance Ticket).
An arraignment is, generally, the beginning of your criminal case. The
purpose of the arraignment is to give the prosecutor an opportunity to
officially file criminal charges in a criminal complaint, the court a
chance to consider setting bail, and your attorney a chance to argue on
your behalf. Depending on what your attorney does or does not do, your
case could be adjourned or continued to another court date or you may
decide to enter a guilty plea to one or all of the charges contained on
the complaint. Generally, it is wise to speak with your attorney as soon
as you can before the arraignment to decide the best course of action.
If you and your attorney fail to appear in court at the arraignment, this
can lead to a warrant being issued for your arrest. This warrant could
reflect the nature of the charges for which the desk appearance ticket
was originally issued, and could lead to incarceration while you are transported
to the court that issued the warrant . A warrant is very serious because
it could lead to more incarceration than what you may have received in
the underlying case. Can you get your desk appearance ticket date changed?
Yes, this is possible but will depend on the facts and circumstances of
your case. This is because the criminal court generally makes changing
this date difficult or impossible. We can often help clients who have
a conflict on their court date with a solution custom tailored to the
nature of the conflict.
Contact us to discuss this if it is an issue for you.
Desk Appearance Tickets are commonly issued by the NYPD because it saves
the City money by avoiding incarceration costs while you wait to see a
judge. Almost any New York City misdemeanor can be charged by way of a
Desk Appearance Ticket. Occasionally, felony charges can be filed when
you appear in court for your Desk Appearance Ticket. This is because final
charging decisions are left up to the prosecutor, not the NYPD. For example,
if you were arrested in New York City for misdemeanor drug possession
and given a Desk Appearance Ticket, you could be charged with felony drug
possession when you appear in court if the weight of the drugs technically
makes it a felony. Worse, the risk of bail would increase because of the
felony charges.
New York City Desk Appearance Tickets are handled at 100 Centre Street
or 314 West 54th Street in Manhattan, 120 Schermerhorn Street or 88 Visitation
Place in Brooklyn, and 125-01 Queens Blvd. in Kew Gardens for Queens cases.
These criminal courthouses are designed to process a wide range of criminal
charges so desk appearance ticket arraignments are often mixed in with
jail arraignments and other matters.
Lance Fletcher, a former Manhattan prosecutor and experienced New York
City Criminal Defense Attorney, can fight to get your desk appearance
ticket charges dismissed. If you were arrested and given a Desk Appearance Ticket,
contact us today (212) 619-3900 for a case evaluation. Your rights are often
time sensitive so the sooner you contact us, the sooner we can help.