News and Updates
Admission into the Pre-Trial Intervention Program without Pleading Guilty As a Condition
The Pre-Trial Intervention Program (“PTI”) is a prosecutor program that allows the prosecutor in certain cases to divert the charged defendant to a period of one year of probation, after which all the charges are dismissed.
Why Casey Anthony Was Found Not Guilty of Murdering Her Daughter
The reason why Casey Anthony was found not guilty of the murder of her daughter Caylee had absolutely nothing to do with the skill or lack of skill or experience of her defense attorney.
Mistaken Identification and Rush To Judgment
On December 26, 1862 the Dakota Indian named We-Chank-Washta-don-pee, or also known as “Chaska”, was sentenced to death by a military court of justice.
False Confessions and Police Misconduct.
It is astounding and sometimes hard for people to imagine or understand why someone would confess to a crime in which he or she did not commit.
The Necessity of the Immediate Investigation of the Alleged Crime Scene by Criminal Defense Lawyer before any Surveillance Video is Destroyed.
In many of my previous blogs I have written about the early investigation of the alleged crime scene. This immediate investigation is even more important in recent years with the proliferation of surveillance videos, both official and private surveillance cameras.
Prior to Trial Defense Must Force Prosecutor to State if it Intends to Introduce Evidence of Uncharged Criminal Conduct, & Disclose to Defense any Evidence to Support Alleged Criminal Conduct
All to often at the time of trial the prosecutor will attempt to introduce what is commonly known in New Jersey criminal practice as “other crime evidence”, or Rule 404(b) evidence against the defendant.
Newark’s Mayor Cory Booker and His Continued Cover-up of the Newark Police Department and His Lack of Integrity as Mayor.
Since becoming Newark’s mayor, Cory Booker has done nothing to address the continued abuse and corruption prevalent in the Newark Police Department.
U.S. Supreme Court affirms lower Courts Ruling that Prison Conditions in the California Penal System amounts to Cruel and Unusual Punishment in Violation of the 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
On May 24, 2011, in a five to four split decision the United States Supreme Court, in an opinion written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, Brown v. Plata, held that because of the horrendous conditions at many of California’s prisons…
Police Dispatcher Misidentifying Detained Suspect Calls for the Suppression of Evidence from the Wrongly Arrested Suspect
On April 26, 2011 the New Jersey Supreme Court in State v. Handy suppressed narcotics seized from a defendant who was wrongly identified by a police dispatcher has having an open warrant.
When is a Criminal Defense Attorney Considered Incompetent to the Level of Ineffective Assistance of Counsel?
In 1996 Richard Rosario was convicted of murder in Bronx County New York. The only evidence against Rosario was the testimony of two witnesses whom picked his photo out of a book of police photos.
New Tool By Law Enforcement to Avoid Obtaining a Search Warrant and Abrogate the Fourth Amendment in Searching a Home.
On May 16, 2011, the United Supreme Court held in Kentucky v. King, that police officers arriving at a home, and suspecting that evidence is being destroyed can bust down the door and proceed to search the house if they believe that evidence is being destroyed.
Star Ledger Feature Story on the “Teflon Tenant”, Mark Newton
May 15, 2011, the Star Ledger did their Sunday first page cover story on the non-attorney, Mark Newton, of Newark, New Jersey, who pro se, has waged hundreds of court battles against landlords and others over the last 19 years.