When facing an additional DUI charge after your first offense, the penalties increase dramatically and in many cases include a jail sentence. Depending on the circumstance, however, there is something known as “Laurick relief” that could be granted by the court in...
Traffic Stops
Officer Jurisdictions for Traffic Stops
Normally, police officers do not make traffic stops outside of their designated municipality unless the active pursuit began in the officer’s jurisdiction. For instance, you would not expect a Brick Township police officer to conduct a traffic stop in Toms River and...
Your Rights During a Motor Vehicle Stop
If you are stopped by an officer in Ocean or Monmouth County and he/she asks if they can search your vehicle, do you know your rights? Do you know what happens next if you say no? Do you know if the officer has a right at any point to search your vehicle without...
What to Do and What Not To Do When Pulled Over in Ocean or Monmouth County
It happens to the best of us. You’re driving along, you seem to get lost in your thoughts and before you know it, you see bright flashing lights behind you, sometimes accompanied by the loud BLOOP-BLOOP – a police officer is pulling you over. You immediately...
DUI Checkpoints (Part 2)
The closest the New Jersey Appellate Division or Supreme Court came to addressing the legality of DUI checkpoints was in the 2005 case of State v. Badessa, 185 N.J. 303. The issue before the Court was whether evidence gathered by the police after an unconstitutional...
DUI Checkpoints (Part 1)
The case that remains controlling law in New Jersey regarding the legality of DUI checkpoints is the 1990 United State Supreme Court case of Michigan Department of State Police v. Sitz, 496 U.S. 444. There, a divided U.S. Supreme Court held that the State of...