Have you been arrested for a drug related offense in Newark NJ. Depending on the nature of the offense, i.e. the type of drugs involved and the quantity, your case will be heard in either the Superior or Municipal Courts. Typically the municipal court will only have jurisdiction over disorderly…
I recently represented a defendant charged with DWI in the Newark Municipal Court. It was a slightly unusual case that presented what is commonly known as an operation issue. In order for the State to prove that the accused was driving while intoxicated, the element of operation must be established.…
The shelf life of a New Jersey municipal court case defends upon the type of charge (traffic or criminal) and whether the matter is likely to resolve via plea bargain or trial. One of the most important things a defendant can do is to determine the date of his/her first…
In Florida v Powell, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Police need not stick to a script when providing a suspect with Miranda rights. In Powell, the police provided the defendant with his rights under the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution, but did not do so…
I recently posted a fairly popular blog regarding red light camera tickets in Newark New Jersey. Given the research I have done and the representations made to me by the court in Newark NJ municipal Court, I have concluded that the red light camera ticket would not result in the…
In a case captioned State v Best, the NJ Supreme Court held that school administrator my search a student’s automobile if they have reasonable suspicion to believe that the vehicle contains contraband. The usual threshold (constitutional) for searches is probable cause. In addition, warrantless searches of an automobile require a…
In another episode of “Cases you should not Appeal”, the Appellate Division, in State v. Rivera ruled that it is improper to truncate calculations to three decimal places when applying the Chun Tolerance Calculation Worksheet to determine of Alcotest reading are within accepted tolerances. In every Alcotest DWI trial and…
If you have been issued a temporary restraining order in New Jersey, I am sure that you have many questions. I am a NJ and Newark New Jersey criminal defense lawyer who defends those facing Final Restraining Order hearings (FRO), and if contacted early enough, can challenge the issuance of…
If you were arrested and charged with a DWI and Refusal, you may recall, just prior to the alleged refusal, the police officer or trooper reading from a sheet of paper. What he read still may not be clear to you, but after he read it you either declined to…
In a recent Appellate Division decision the Court held that a trial delay of 344 days caused by the repeated unpreparedness of the municipal prosecutor and multiple failures to appear by the State Police violated the defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial, and ordered the charges dismissed. In State…