On August 31, 2017, a three judge Appellate panel decided the case of State v. Joshua Nicholson. The panel included former Monmouth County Criminal Presiding Judge Francis Vernoia. A principle issue in the case was whether taking a picture of a woman up her skirt (“upskirting”), constitutes an invasion of privacy pursuant to N.J.S.A 2C:14-9b. […]
State vs. Bryant
On November 10, 2016, in State v. Charles, Bryant, Jr., a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court was called upon to determine whether the circumstances supported a police officer’s determination to conduct a warrantless protective sweep in the defendant’s home. Officers were dispatched to a report of domestic violence when a woman called 911 to report […]
Warrantless Home Entries: Unreasonable Search & Seizure
The Legette Court continued: Both the Federal and New Jersey State Constitutions guarantee the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Accordingly, a lawful search must be prefaced by a warrant obtained upon probable cause unless the search falls within one of the few well-delineated exceptions to the warrant requirement. If no warrant […]
Warrantless Home Entries: Arrestee vs. Detainee
The Legette Court held that Chrisman and Bruzzese do not support warrantless entries into detainees’ homes; they apply only to cases in which a suspect has been arrested prior to the officer’s entry into the home. Here, because the State failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that the warrantless entry fell within a recognized […]
Warrantless Home Entries: Consent to Search
The Legette Court continued: Legette and the officer entered Legette’s apartment. Legette presented his identification, and the officer began a radio transmission to check for outstanding warrants. Legette, meanwhile, removed his sweatshirt and asked a woman who was present to take it to the bedroom. The officer interrupted the transmission and collected the sweatshirt from […]
Warrantless Home Entries: Finding Ways Into Homes
On January 12, 2017, in the case of State v. James Legette, Justice Fernandez-Vina, J., wrote for a six to one majority of the New Jersey Supreme Court. The Court considered whether, during an investigatory stop, it is permissible for a police officer to follow suspects into their homes and seize evidence. When an officer […]
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. […]
Financial Facilitation: AKA Money Laundering
As mentioned in my blog regarding Ocean County’s law enforcement’s aggressive use of the obscure “anti-drug profiteering” statute, local law enforcement is also using New Jersey’s obscure money laundering statute as means to leverage guilty pleas and property forfeiture. In New Jersey the offense commonly known as “money laundering” is codified under the term “financial […]
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