Posts Tagged ‘terry stop’
How can you attack the police’s probable cause or ‘Terry stop’ when there is an informant providing information to the police undercover?
As the informant’s information independently confirmed by the officers at the scene??? State of New Jersey v. Jeffrey Thomas Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark On May 14, 2015, Sergeant Ricardo Diaz was assigned to the Trenton Crime Suppression Central Unit. This unit was established to help suppress violent crimes in the most…
Read MoreCan police walk up and search me based on an anonymous tip?
What do the police need to do to verify any anonymous tip or “crimestoppers” call? Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. This case addresses what the police need to confirm any anonymous phone call to a crimestoppers hotline regarding a person committing a crime. In this case a ‘Crime-Stoppers’ call came in about…
Read MoreState v Hicks & Rice – Do You Have to Cooperate when Police Approach You?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark What is the state of the law and can the police come up to you and talk to you. Do you have to cooperate? NO!!! The police can keep you, and ‘not allow you to leave’ only if they have a particularized suspicion that there is criminal…
Read MoreWhat If a Police Officer Pats Me Down for Weapons but Finds Drugs?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. New Jersey’s Appellate Division has recently decided a case regarding a warrantless pat-down of the defendant’s person and seizure of heroin. In the case, a police officer heading home from work in an unmarked vehicle witnessed the defendant driving his car on the shoulder of the road…
Read MoreWhat is a ‘defacto’ arrest? Was I held by the police at the scene too long? What is a Terry Stop?
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark Were the passengers with no criminal history Improperly detained and or arrested? As I stated in the facts above two of the defendants were detained even though their identification checked and they had no outstanding warrants for their arrest. The court observed these two defendants were placed…
Read MoreState vs. Rosario: Is this an arrest or a field inquiry?
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…
Read MoreFormal answer to the “dog sniff” question
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark Until recently, if an officer possessed an articulable reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, an extended traffic stop in order to conduct a canine search was permissible. State v. Elders, 192 N.J. 224, 234-35 (2007) (where officers threatened the use of a canine in order to gain “consent”…
Read MoreIf You’ve Ever Been Pulled Over You Must Read This Blog: Part I
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. On September 24 the N.J. Supreme Court issued an opinion in State v. Witt that may be one of the most important in recent memory for people facing criminal charges arising out of traffic stops. With a dissent, the total length of the written opinion is 95…
Read MoreSniffing Around: Traffic Stops May Not Be Extended for Narcotics Dogs
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. It’s just after midnight on a Tuesday morning in March of 2013. A Nebraska police officer spots a vehicle driving along the shoulder of a highway in violation of traffic law. He pulls the vehicle over, checks the driver’s licenses of the operator and passenger, and issues…
Read MoreProbable Cause for Further Investigation and Information Relayed to Patrol Officers
14-2-1579 State v. Rosario, App. Div. (per curiam) (10 pp.) The appellate division court found that when a loss prevention officer relays information to police and identifies himself as such to the police on the call to police dispatch provided information based on his personal knowledge and observations that led him to report that defendant…
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