Megan’s Law registrants must remain offense-free for 15 years following their conviction for the offense underlying their registration requirement.  The New Jersey Supreme Court recently gave some important guidance concerning what qualifies as a conviction for Megan’s Law purposes. When he was fifteen years old in 1999, J.A. was adjudicated delinquent of aggravated sexual assault […] The post A Juvenile Adjudication is Not a Conviction for Purposes of Megan’s Law Removal appeared first on New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney Blog ..read more

Most New Jersey drivers think that there is only way way for the State to prove that someone was driving while intoxicated/driving under the influence.  There are actually several ways for the State to establish its case, and drivers should be aware of each of them.  What follows is a very brief description of the […] The post Multiple Ways for the State to Prove DWI – Drivers Beware appeared first on New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney Blog ..read more

Earlier this year, our Supreme Court Ruled on a defendant’s ability to challenge the search and seizure of abandoned property.  In State v. Gartrell, an individual at Penn Station in Newark reported to New Jersey Transit police officers that the defendant had punched him.  The officers then spoke to the defendant, who had a rolling suitcase near him.  While the officers checked for outstanding warrants, the defendant engaged in several telephone conversations with someone he called “Spoon” or “bro”.  The warrant check revealed an active warrant, and the officers told the de ..read more

Recent surveys show that substantial numbers of Americans have a negative view of the United States Supreme Court.  This is important because so much of the Court’s vitality stems from the extent to which people view it as a credible institution. A report from the Pew Research Center that was issued in July, 2023, noted that as of that time, fewer than half of Americans (44%) viewed the Court favorably, while the majority of Americans (54%), viewed it unfavorably.  Interestingly, as of April, 2023, about half of Americans had a favorable view of the Court.  Thus, the Court’s fav ..read more

The Confrontation Clause requires that a criminal defendant must have the opportunity to confront and cross-examine the witnesses against them at trial.  In State v. Harrell, decided earlier this year, the issue before the Court was whether admitting a child’s entire videorecorded statement at trial violates a defendant’s confrontation clause rights if the child testifies at trial that they can only recall one incident of sexual assault described in the statement. In March, 2016, when the child was eight years old, she disclosed to a detective during a videorecorded interview that the def ..read more

The United States Supreme Court recently issued an ethics code that is to guide the conduct of its justices.  There have been calls for the Court to issue such a set of ethics rules for some time, but recent revelations about the questionable ethical conduct of some of the justices apparently forced the Court to act.  Some of these problems included the fact that Justice Thomas’ wife worked to overturn the 2020 election just prior to the January 6 Capitol riot, and he continued to participate in cases relating to the riot and the election.  He also failed to disclose luxury trav ..read more

Street Cop Training, a private company owned by a formed Middlesex County law enforcement officer, conducted a week-long seminar in Atlantic City in 2021.  The seminar was attended by about 1,000 officers from around the country, with about 240 of them from New Jersey.  Most of the New Jersey officers paid their attendance fee with taxpayer money.  In fact, approximately $75,000 in taxpayer funds were spent so as to allow the New Jersey officers to attend the conference. The New Jersey state comptroller’s office recently issued a report saying that the seminar glorified violence ..read more

Our Supreme Court recently considered whether the mere odor of marijuana coming from a vehicle during a traffic stop allows a search of the engine compartment and trunk.  In State v. Cohen, decided earlier this year, law enforcement had information from a confidential informant that the driver was bringing guns from another State into New Jersey for sale.  A “be-on-the-lookout”, or BOLO went out, and a trooper spotted the car on the New Jersey Turnpike and pulled it over for ostensible traffic violations.  When the trooper stopped the vehicle, he detected a strong odor of raw ma ..read more

Many defendants have either limited or no ability to speak English.  Thus, the court will supply interpreters in those cases where defendants require such services so that they can understand and participate in the proceedings.  Before COVID, live interpreter services were typically provided in court during any proceeding where they were required.  During the pandemic, many proceedings, including those where interpreters were used, were conducted virtually because in-person court appearances were suspended for health reasons.  Although live appearances have been largely rei ..read more

Many people who are subject to Megan’s Law and Community Supervision for Life (CSL) or Parole Supervision for Life (PSL) regularly contact our firm to ask about relief from the requirements and obligations of these overly burdensome laws.  We file motions in all 21 New Jersey counties for clients seeking to have their registration and supervision obligations terminated, and our success record speaks for itself. As we have discussed in other blog posts, the requirements for relief from these obligations are, generally speaking, fairly straight forward.  As to Megan’s, the registrant c ..read more