CDH Law Welcomes New Associate Attorney Nicolas Hurtado

Syracuse, New York – CDH Law is proud to announce the arrival of Nicolas Hurtado as our newest Associate Attorney.  Nicolas brings a wealth of litigation experience to CDH Law. Hailing from Bogota, Colombia, where he has been practicing criminal defense, compliance, and helping victims of domestic violence for eight years, Nicolas has been involved in numerous high-profile cases. He defended a former congressman charged as a co-conspirator of one of Colombia’s ex-presidents, he argued before the Supreme Court, and he was a defense attorney in a case the press called the biggest corruption case in Colombia, to name only a few.

Nicolas was also a Professor of Law at one of Bogota’s best universities, where he taught Criminal Procedure and Evidence.  Just this month, Nicolas was honored by inclusion on Legal 500’s shortlist for the Rising Star of the Year in Compliance award, an award reserved for the highest achievers in this practice area. While Nicolas’ immense experience allows him to represent any client, as a native Spanish speaker, Nicolas is particularly suited to serve the growing upstate New York Hispanic and Latino population.

We are confident that Nicolas’ extensive background and dedication will greatly enhance our commitment to providing exceptional legal services to our clients.

About CDH Law

CDH Law is an experienced law firm based in Central New York that is dedicated to a variety of practice areas, including criminal defense, family law, estate planning, and personal injury.

The Case of Anthony Broadwater’s Exoneration

“Anthony Broadwater was exonerated in the 1981 rape of Ms. Sebold, now a best-selling author. When his lawyers saw the trial transcript, they could only wonder what took so long.”

Read more in The New York Times.

” “I kept fighting for the court to do the right thing,” Anthony Broadwater says, sitting in his lawyer’s office Wednesday, a box of tissues set before him. His life has been marked by prolonged stretches of misery. Broadwater spent more than 16 years in prison after being falsely convicted of author Alice Sebold’s rape, the subject of her memoir “Lucky.” After his release in 1999, the same year the book was published, Broadwater became a registered violent sex offender, a purgatory that diminished his income, movement, and quality of life, but not his hope that he would be exonerated.”

Read more in The Washington Post.

Two weeks into criminal justice reform, and prosecutors say they’re struggling to keep up

We’re two weeks into the new criminal justice reform here in New York state. Since the beginning of the year, we’ve seen push-back and support for bail reform and the new discovery law. It’s a controversial new law prompting the release of hundreds of suspects across the state. It’s also sparking outrage from district attorneys, sheriffs, and local police departments. Judges here in New York no longer have discretion, something New Jersey’s law allows to let the judge consider a suspect’s threat to the community. Read Full Article

DA finds way to keep driver accused of fatal Parkway hit-and-run jailed despite bail reform

Syracuse, NY — A judge didn’t want to do it. A prosecutor protested it. But New York’s new bail reform required the release of Michael Ziemba, 49, a driver with a history of dangerous intoxication who’s accused of fleeing the scene of a fatal crash in October on Onondaga Lake Parkway. That’s because leaving the scene of a fatal crash is not considered a violent felony, so a judge is forced to release the defendant pending trial under the new bail reform law. Read Full Article

Judge: No choice but to release fatal Onondaga Lake Parkway hit-and-run driver under new law

Syracuse, NY — An Onondaga County Court Judge said Thursday he had no choice under the state’s new bail reform law but to release from jail a driver accused of an Onondaga Lake Parkway fatal hit-and-run who authorities say tried to hide his tracks. Michael Ziemba, 49, is eligible for release on his own recognizance under the bail reform law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020, Judge Thomas J. Miller said. “Whether I agree with it or not,” the judge ruled, Ziemba is required to be released from jail on Jan. 1. Read Full Article

Salina man’s bloody murder covered up by grandma’s chili; is drug buddy guilty?

Syracuse, NY — It may be one of the more unusual murder scenes in recent Central New York history: someone covered up the stabbing and beating death of Jacob Giarrusso by pouring his grandmother’s home-cooked chili across the crime scene. Giarrusso, 25, of Salina, was found dead three days later, stuffed in his own car trunk, after being bludgeoned and stabbed seven times, a knife stolen from his grandmother’s kitchen breaking off in his back, police said. His buddy and co-worker, Jacob Stanton, 26, is facing trial this week in Giarrusso’s November 2017 murder. Giarrusso’s body was found in his abandoned car at the Brookwood on the Green apartment complex, off Morgan Road. Read Full Article

Convicted wife-killer wants case overturned

Attorneys for a South New Berlin man serving a 25-year sentence for the 2012 murder of his wife argued last week in Chenango County Court that his conviction should be thrown out. Ganesh “Remy” Ramsaran, now 44, is in custody at Great Meadows Correctional Facility, a maximum-security prison in Washington County. He exhausted his ability to directly appeal his case two years ago, according to Michael Ferrarese, acting Chenango County District Attorney. Ramsaran’s lawyers, Melissa K. Swartz of Greene & Brenneck and J. David Hammond of CDH Law, both in Syracuse, filed a motion in February to set aside his 2014 conviction on the basis that Ramsaran received “ineffective assistance of counsel.” Read Full Article

Lawyer Googled Homicide Defense Advice Instead Of Hiring Experts

NORWICH – Convicted murderer Ganesh R. Ramsaran appeared in Chenango County Court Friday with his lawyers urging the judge to grant them a hearing to discuss the work of defense counsel during the 2014 murder trial. They hope the case can get a new trial. Ramsaran was convicted of murdering his wife and was sentenced to 25 years to life after a jury convicted him on Sept. 23, 2014. Monday the defense asked for the court to hear concerns about the trial and attorneys pointed to several issues in the case they thought deserved further explanation in court. They offered a scathing assessment of Ramsaran’s trial attorney, Gil Garcia, calling his defense incompetent and possibly exploitative. Read Full Article

Watertown man found not guilty of rape; counsels react

WATERTOWN — A judge deliberated for less than 30 minutes Friday before he issued a not guilty verdict for a man accused of raping a girl younger than 8 years old. Sheldon B. Dukes, who was charged with felony first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and predatory sexual assault against a child, walked out of the courtroom in tears Friday afternoon. Judge Kim H. Martusewicz, who presided over Mr. Dukes’s two-day bench trial in Jefferson County Court, ruled the prosecution did not meet its burden of proof. The not guilty verdict this week comes after a jury couldn’t decide if Dukes was innocent or guilty at a trial in March. Read Full Article

Jury can’t reach verdict in child sex abuse trial

WATERTOWN — A jury could not reach a verdict Friday in Jefferson County Court on a case involving a Watertown man accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl. Prosecution against Sheldon B. Dukes, who was charged with felony first-degree course of sexual conduct against a child and predatory sexual assault against a child, will continue despite the jury not reaching a conclusion after a day of deliberations. Chief Assistant District Attorney Patricia L. Dziuba said the case will have to be retried and a new jury selected. Mr. Dukes has been accused of engaging in sexual activities with a girl who was less than 10 years old from June 2011 to July 2013. Read Full Article