In State v. Keyes, the Court held that a confidential informant’s tip could serve as the basis for issuing a warrant if there is “substantial evidence in the record to support the informant’s statements.” Although police could not observe the informant enter the home in that case, under the totality of the circumstances, there was […]
Warrants and Specificity of Locations: Part 2
The trial court subsequently issued a warrant to search Boone, his residence, and his car. Police executed the search warrant on September 7, 2012, and found between one-half and five ounces of cocaine and an illegal handgun in Unit 4A. They then arrested defendant. In February 2013, a grand jury charged Boone with seven […]
State’s Drug Court Appeals: Part 6
The 1999 amendment to N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14 undermines the State’s position that N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(f)(2) permits the State to appeal a special probation Drug Court sentence. If N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(f)(2) already authorized the State to appeal special probation Drug Court sentences for defendants otherwise subject to the presumption of incarceration, it was wholly unnecessary to amend N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14 […]
State’s Drug Court Appeals: Part 5
In its imposition of defendant’s Drug Court sentence, the court did not apply the presumption of incarceration under N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(d), nor could it. The court never made findings permitting defendant to overcome the presumption of incarceration, and the court was not required to do so. To the contrary, defendant was sentenced pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14, […]
State’s Drug Court Appeals: Part 4
The aforementioned nine factors are: (1) the person has undergone a professional diagnostic assessment to determine whether and to what extent the person is drug or alcohol dependent and would benefit from treatment; and (2) the person is a drug or alcohol dependent person within the meaning of 2C:35-2 and was drug or alcohol dependent […]
State’s Drug Court Appeals: Part 3
In its adoption of N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14, the Legislature established an exception to the presumption of incarceration for first and second-degree offenders that is independent of any determination required under N.J.S.A. 2C:44-1(d). Although a probationary sentence “is almost never appropriate under the Code’s sentencing provisions” for first and second-degree offenders, a special probation Drug Court sentence […]
State’s Drug Court Appeals: Part 2
The State argues defendant was convicted of second-degree leaving the scene of a fatal accident, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.1, and was therefore subject to the presumption of incarceration. The State reasons that because the court imposed the non-custodial sentence of special probation Drug Court sentence for the second-degree offense, its appeal is expressly authorized. We disagree. The […]
State’s Drug Court Appeals: Part 1
On November 21, 2017, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Camden County Superior Court case of State v. Hyland. The principle issue under N.J.S.A 2C:44-7 was whether the State has the authority to appeal the sentencing of a defendant to special Drug Court probation under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-14. Monmouth County’s own Judge Vernoia delivered the opinion […]
Drug Court Expungements & The Public Interest: Part 3
The bill was amended and merged into a committee substitute with other bills that proposed various amendments to Chapter 52, mainly to reduce the waiting periods for expungements. See Assembly Committee Substitute for Assembly Bill Nos. 206, 471, 1663, 2879, 3060 and 3108, 216th Legislature (Dec. 11, 2014) (Assembly Committee Substitute). With respect to Drug […]
Drug Court Expungements & The Public Interest: Part 2
We add that the public interest showing, based on the statute’s plain language, pertains only to convictions described in N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(c)(3). If the person meets the public interest test regarding an identified third- or fourth-degree conviction, then his or her records do not include a conviction “barred from expungement” under N.J.S.A. 2C:52-2(b) or -2(c). The […]
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