A court may consider other matters that it finds mitigating even if not listed in the statute. State v. Rice, 425 N.J. Super. 375, 381 (App. Div. 2012). In addition to the enumerated mitigating factors, restrictions on the defendant that will not serve to offset the time that she will be incarcerated should be considered […]
Criminal Law – The Sentencing Process (Part 3)
As opposed to the aggravating factors that weigh in favor of a longer and/or more severe sentence, the mitigating factors weigh in favor of a shorter and/or less severe sentence. Aside from arguing the applicability of mitigating factors, the defense should incorporate the authority above to argue against applying the aggravating factors. Mitigating factor (1) […]
Criminal Law – The Sentencing Process (Part 2)
Returning to the required balancing of the aggravating and mitigating factors in formulating a sentence, the State has the burden to prove the existence of any aggravating factors. State v . Merlino, 208 N.J . Super. 24, 261-62 (Law Div. 1984). The burden of proof is by clear and convincing evidence. Aggravating factor (1) is […]
Criminal Law – The Sentencing Process (Part 1)
With regard to the sentencing of defendants who have been convicted of a criminal offense, the sentence is supposed to result from the balancing of aggravating and mitigating factors which are then applied to the sentencing range for the particular offense. The sentencing range depends on the degree of the offense, as determined by the […]
Confessions Used in Criminal Law
A little known fact about cases involving police interrogations that result in “confessions” is that the confession alone is not enough to sustain a conviction. In addition to the confession, the prosecution must introduce some sort of corroboration of the crime. One reason for this corroboration requirement is that our courts and interrogation experts recognize […]
Legal Defense Against Stale Warrants: Part 3
In the face of a lack of binding precedent in New Jersey, a good attorney will analyze precedent from other jurisdictions in an effort to buttress an otherwise novel argument in New Jersey. In United States v. Elliott, 576 F. Supp. 1579, a 1984 federal case from the Southern District of Ohio, the Court refused […]
Legal Defense Against Stale Warrants: Part 2
The seminal case on the issue of “staleness” in New Jersey is State v. Novembrino, 105 N.J. 95, 519 A.2d 820 (N.J., 1987). There, the police sought a search warrant through a sworn statement that was written in the present tense with regard to their evidence, but which provided no dates as reference points. The […]
Legal Defense Against Stale Warrants
A common mis-conception among people charged with crimes is that there is no point in hiring the most capable attorney because they feel that the evidence against them is too strong to overcome. This is especially true of people that gave statements to the police in which they admitted to committing the crime(s) at issue. […]
Thinking about representing yourself in court? Think again.
When involved in a criminal case, you will eventually have to choose between either having an attorney at your side or representing yourself. If you do choose to represent yourself (appear “pro se”), then you will have much more work ahead of you than just arguing your case. For starters, you will have to answer […]
History of The Miranda Rights and Their Importance
On June 13, 1966, the Miranda Rights were established as a result of the arrest and trial of Ernesto Miranda in 1963. Miranda was arrested under the suspicion of sexually assaulting a woman in Phoenix. After the arrest, officers may have coerced a confession out of Miranda while interrogating him. This confession was used as […]
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