Attorney Mahmoud Rabah’s client walked out of jail during an Attempted Murder Trial. Mr. Rabah’s client spent nearly 2 years in jail after being arrested for a stabbing in Corona, Queens. The defendant was accused of having stabbed a 17 year old boy in the back six times with a kitchen knife. The assault was caught on video. The defendant was charged with Attempted Murder in the Second Degree. The offer before going to trial was in the double digits.
After picking a jury and right before the main witness was about take the witness stand, the prosecutor reversed course and backed off of his hard-line stance. It turned out his witness was not fully cooperative and a Material Witness Order was required to compel him to take the witness stand. Such an order is essentially an arrest warrant that allows the prosecutor to bring his witness to court by force. Clearly, the prosecutor’s case was not as strong as he originally portrayed it. After aggressively negotiating, Mr. Rabah secured a new offer that allowed his client to walk out of jail with significantly reduced charges.
This case is an example of how sometimes the best way to resolve a difficult matter is to push it to its limit. It is only then that a prosecutor will be forced to acknowledge the weaknesses in their case.