John J. Ciafone

Qgazette Queens, L.I., New York “ON THE LAW” with JOHN J. CIAFONE, Esq. Attorney & Counselor at Law 25-59 Steinway St./Suite 2F, Astoria (718) 278-3900 SERVING THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY 24 HOURS/7 DAYS Question: Answer: My daughter drove her boyfriend to the grocery store. Later that evening, the police came to our house and arrested her saying she was involved in a robbery committed at the store. Apparently, the boyfriend held up the cashier and took cigarettes and money while my daughter was outside waiting for him in the car. She did not know what he did until the police arrested her and charged her with the rob-bery. How can she be charged when she was in the car and not the store and it was her boyfriend who robbed the store? Under the criminal penal law, your daughter, whether she knew of the crime committed, or not will be charged with accomplice and con-spiracy to the underlying robbery charge. Her role in waiting in the vehicle and transporting the criminal perpetrator, will be equal in de-gree as to the boyfriend who committed the heinous crime. The District Attorney will charge her with felony intent of aiding and abetting the boyfriend in committing the crime. Unfortunately, any pleadings of innocence or no knowledge of the crime by your daughter will be given to deaf ears by the prosecution. Even a statement by the boyfriend that she was not apprised of the criminal plot will bear no real defense to your daughter. The real les-son here is to be careful of who you chose to be friends with. If you have any questions; please Call: John J. Ciafone, Esq. <pagedata>7:0.816121042:0.976376235:0.975188494:0.501199484</pagedata>