Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. TRENTON – A 2014 law requiring all New Jersey municipalities to outfit new police patrol cars with dashboard cameras is unconstitutional because it does not provide an adequate funding source, a state board ruled Wednesday. The ruling by the Council on Local Mandates on a challenge brought…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. Pretrial Intervention is, prior to these modifications, a first time offenders alternative disposition program aimed at non-violent non-weapons offense first time offenders that enabled defendants access to a non-jail probationary period up to 36 months. If a defendant successfully completes the probationary period without any new…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark State vs. Aziz (Appellate Division 2016) In this case the defendant, whom the police were looking for due to his cell phone number recently showing up on a cell phone of a dead woman, was brought to the police department for questioning. FACTS: After the police took…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. State v. Aziz. Decided March 31, 2016 In reviewing the denial of a motion to suppress for an alleged violation of Miranda, we use a “searching and critical” standard of review to protect a defendant’s constitutional rights. State v. Maltese, 222 N.J. 525, 543 (2015) (quoting State…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark State vs. Rosario In this case the issue is whether the police’s contact and communications with the defendant was a ‘field inquiry’, a Terry stop, or a custodial interrogation? If difference depends on whether the subject of the inquiry, the defendant here, feels their freedom to leave have been…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark 14-2-9404 State v. Winslow, App. Div. (per curiam) (13 pp.) When reviewing a motion to suppress, we “must uphold the factual findings underlying the trial court’s decision so long as those findings are supported by sufficient credible evidence in the record.” Handy, supra, 206 N.J. at 44 (citation…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. 14-2-9404 State v. Winslow, App. Div. (per curiam) (13 pp.) A long standing standard ‘slow night’ policing tactic includes an officer conducted a “registry check” at the neighborhood low end ‘motels’ or hotels in town looking for anyone with an outstanding warrant for arrest for any reason. In this…
Published by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark 2A:156A-8. Authorization for application for order to intercept communications The Attorney General, county prosecutor or a person designated to act for such an official and to perform his duties in and during his actual absence or disability, may authorize, in writing, an ex parte application to a…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Attorney, Jeffrey Hark State vs. Wright Appellate Division February 29, 2016 (Approved for Publication) The key to this part of the decision is the appellate courts recognition of the psychological warfare tools used by the police to intimidate and cajole arrestees into admitting anything, anything between the time they are…
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Attorney, Jeffrey Hark State vs. Wright Appellate Division February 29, 2016 (Approved for Publication) The next issue in this case is the identification of the defendant by the victim at the scene. In 2011 the NJ Supreme Court handed down it surfing in State vs. Henderson. That decision outlined a…
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New Jersey Survivors Justice Act: Sentencing Reform for Abuse Victims
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark In January 2026, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law a pair of bills known as the Survivors Justice Act (S-4870/A-5968 and S-4871/A-5969). This landmark legislation, championed by Senator Angela V. McKnight, Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, and other lawmakers, amends the state’s criminal code to allow courts…