Criminal Law

This education includes discussion of recently passed legislation, proposed legislation, important rulings and case law, as well as additional factors and precedents.

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The client was charged with underage gambling, which generally results in a 6 months driver’s license loss. The six former prosecutors in the firm with over 180 years of experience between us have never known of this approach being successful and only know of a couple of obscure decisions about this in the law books over the past few decades (e.g. stealing a piece of bubble gum).

Three courts in Pennsylvania have now decided that, if a party in a civil case posts information on his or her Facebook page that appears to contradict statements in discovery or testimony, then the party's Facebook page falls within the scope of discovery. In the most recent case, Largent v. Reed, a judge ordered a plaintiff in an auto accident case to turn over her Facebook username and password to the defendant, on the ground that her postings brought up questions about the extent of her injuries.

For purposes of this statute, the owner and driver would be jointly and severally liable for the violation. Process in the form of a summons will be issued by a law enforcement officer for this violation. In addition, unlike other red light violations, no motor vehicle penalty points or insurance eligibility points will be assessed for violations enforced by way of a camera at an intersection.

State v. Figueroa, decided April 26, 2007, in which the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed a conviction because the judge told a deadlocked jury that "...I got to be here tomorrow, I got to be here Friday. I got nothing going on Saturday, and Giants are playing away on Sunday, so we will be here as long as it takes you to go through this process." The Court held that these comments had a coercive effect on the sole dissenting juror, who took the majority's position shortly after the comments were made.

State v. Kearns, decided May 15, 2007, in which the Appellate Division held that the lower court was required to impose the NERA (No Early Release Act) 85-percent parole ineligibility period on a defendant whose first sentence was nothing more than probation and inpatient treatment.

State v. Burr, decided May 8, 2007, in which the Appellate Division reversed the defendant's conviction because the lower court judge did not permit expert testimony on the impact of Asperger's disorder to explain his criminal behavior.

Matter of the Civil Commitment of J.P., decided May 9, 2007, where the Appellate Division Court held that a defendant who only plead to the offense of endangering the welfare of a child could be civilly committed at the end of his sentence under the Sexually Violent Predators Act.