The Filing of a New Trial Motion Based On Newly Discovered Evidence
Of course not all jury trials result in a not guilty verdict. In fact, depending on the county in which the trial takes place, not guilty verdict as to all counts are rare. In federal court the chances of an acquittal are even more rare. Stating this truth is not meant to dissuade a defendant who decides to exercise his constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Even after a guilty verdict the sentence imposed by the judge at the time of sentencing might even be lower than the plea offer of the prosecutor. This is often the case in counties in which there is an extremely high conviction rate, and the county prosecutors believe that they run the courtrooms with their draconian plea offers. Unfortunately, in some cases they actual do. In those cases there is less downside risk of going to trial and taking your chances in having the jury make the call as to whether the State or Government has proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. In a recent case in Ocean County the defendant actually received four years less than the plea offer by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office after losing at trial.
Another avenue for the defendant is the filing a new trial motion after the verdict based on newly discovered evidence. Although this motion is rarely granted, the defendant and his/or her attorney must be cognizant of discovering, if possible, any new evidence, if presented to the jury during trial, would have likely altered the verdict if known to defense counsel prior to trial.
Today, Attorney Sanzone was granted a new trial motion in the Superior Court of New Jersey, Gloucester County. In that case, defendant’s prior attorney was unaware that an essential witness withheld important evidence from the parties. After reviewing the transcripts for appeal, it became clear that this witness appeared to know more than she had disclosed. After a tape recording of her conversation with the defendant’s wife it was clear that her testimony if known to the jury, and if believed, would have acquitted the defendant since her testimony was convincing evidence that the alleged victim and lied, and had a strong motive to do so in this case.
A new trial motion based on newly discovered evidence as no statutory time limits and can be filed at anytime.
If you are charged with a serious crime you owe it to yourself and family to retain the legal services of an experienced NJ criminal defense lawyer.
Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr., Esq.
YourCivilRights@gmail.com
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