State of New Jersey v. Zia Shaikh Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division July 9, 2019
Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark.
Defendant Zia Shaikh was convicted for careless driving and for using a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle in Bayonne on March 12, 2017. Defendant also pleaded guilty to a parking ticket in a separate matter. On defendant’s appeal, the Law Division issued an order on April 20, 2018, affirming defendant’s “conviction for illegal cell phone use, vacating his conviction for careless driving and denying his appeal of the parking ticket, stating defendant’s guilty plea for the parking summons could not be withdrawn.” Defendant appeals the Law Division Judge’s decision for these issues : THE TRIAL COURT IS IN VIOLATION OF FAIR DECISIONAL PROCESS AND IMPARTIAL DECISION MAKING. NO PROOF OR EVIDENCE OF ANY ALLEGED VIOLATIONS. NO CASE, CRIME OR CAUSE OF ACTION. NO CORPUS DELECTI. LACK OF JURISDICTION. THE COMPLAINT IS UNFIT FOR ADJUDICATION. 3 A-4209-17T1. NO EVIDENCE OF PRESENCE WITHIN PLAINTIFF AND THAT LAWS APPLY TOME. COURTS JURISDICTION NOT ENLARGED BY POLICE AUTHORITY.
The Appellate Court has doubts based off defendant’s arguments but are constrained to vacate defendant’s convictions and remand for further processing. Now the municipal court appeals to the Law Division. The Law Division had no record of any proceedings in the Law Division other then the order the Law Division judge issued. The Law Division judge never placed on the record its findings of fact and conclusions of law. The record is devoid of any findings. The appellate court remanded the case to the Law Division judge for findings of fact and conclusions of law on the record made in the municipal court.
