Archive for March 2017
Troopers shoot, kill man at New Jersey Turnpike rest stop in Cranbury
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark CRANBURY, New Jersey (WABC) — A man was shot and killed by state troopers at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike Thursday. The shooting happened at about 2:45 p.m. at the Molly Pitcher Service Area in Cranbury. The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office said troopers…
Read MoreCan My Sentence be Made Harsher After-the-Fact?
(16-04-1150 ) State v. Hester, App. Div. (Decided March 23, 2017) Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. 4 cases were recently consolidated for review by New Jersey Appellate Division. In each of the matters, an issue arose of whether it was a violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause of New Jersey’s…
Read MoreWhat is the Standard for Appellate Review for a Court’s Decision to Detain Me Before Trial?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark The statute explicitly confers upon defendants a right to appeal an order of pretrial detention “pursuant to the Rules of Court” N.J.S.A. 2A:162-18(c) and “shall be heard in an expedited manner.” An appellate court “may find an abuse of discretion when a decision ‘rest[s] on an impermissible…
Read MoreWhat is the Significance of a Megan’s Law Tier Classification for the Purposes of Pretrial Detention?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark The State is obligated to demonstrate the propriety of defendant’s tier classification by clear and convincing evidence. In re Registrant M.F., 169 N.J. 45, 54 (2001). For a Megan’s Law Tier analysis, the precise nature of his original offenses would have been considered. Many aspects of his…
Read MoreWhat is the New Assessment Process for Pretrial Detention?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark The new Bail Reform Act (the “Act”), which has been in effect since January 1, 2017, is now being analyzed by New Jersey Courts. Part of the Act is the new automated risk-assessment process in deciding whether pretrial detention is appropriate. The automated process gathers information about…
Read MoreWhat Does the Prosecutor have to Prove for Pretrial Detention?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark The new system in the Bail Reform Act favors pretrial release and monitoring as the presumptive approach and limits preventive detention to defendants who actually warrant it. Nonetheless, the trial court remains authorized, upon motion of a prosecutor, to order pretrial detention of a particular defendant when…
Read MorePretrial Detention Risk Assessment and Juvenile Records
14-2-2812 State v. C.W., N.J. Super. App. Div. (Sabatino, P.J.A.D.) (50pp) Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark A case was recently decided by New Jersey Appellate Division in which several issues under the new Bail Reform Act (the “Act”) were reviewed for the first time. Factual Circumstances In the case, a nineteen year…
Read MoreWhy did my personal injury case get dismissed by the trial judge?
Rosenbaum v. Highlands Condo Ass’n 31-2-2818 Submitted by New Jersey Personal Injury Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark In this case the plaintiff was injured when he/she left a relative’s condo. There were two driveways in front of the house and a 12 inch abrupt step down from one driveway to the another driveway without any visual indication…
Read MoreCan My Juvenile Record be Used as a Risk-Assessment for Pretrial Detention?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark A defendant’s juvenile record is not considered as part of the new automated risk-assessment as part of the Bail Reform Act (the “Act”). However, Section 20 of the Act broadly authorizes the trial court to consider a defendant’s “past conduct” as one of the many permissible factors…
Read MoreCan My DNA be Taken in Jail While I Await Trial?
14-2-2814 State v. Gathers, N.J. Super. App. Div. (Fisher, P.J.A.D.) (13pp) Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. A case was recently decided by New Jersey Appellate Division in which the Court ruled a buccal (mouth) swab, taken from a defendant while he awaited trial, was unreasonable. In this case, the defendant was charged with second-degree…
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