Drug Crimes
Drug Court Special Probation – What You Need to Know
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. In the recent case of State v. Bishop and State v. Torres defendants appealed much harsher extended terms of periods of state prison sentences when they violated their special conditions of probation which allow them to enter drug court. After violating the terms of the drug…
Read MoreSmell of Marijuana Still Provides Probable Cause for Search Even In Age of Growing Medical Use
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark State v. Myers, decided by the Appellate Division on September 8, 2015, addresses the question of whether the smell of marijuana can still be used as probable cause for a search given that it is now legal for some citizens to both use and carry the…
Read MoreNo More Than One Extended Term in Multiple Count Sentencing
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Attorney, Jeffrey Hark. N.J.S.A. 2C:44-3 outlines the criteria for an extended term of imprisonment at sentencing. These include: defendant convicted of first, second, or third degree crime + persistent offender + professional criminal (i.e. a [person working with 2+ people in an ongoing criminal enterprise) defendant committed the crime…
Read MoreDismissed Charges Not Indicative of Antisocial Behavior for Purposes of PTI Consideration
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark In State v. Castle, decided July 2, by the Appellate Division, the judge considered whether the Pretrial Intervention Program (PTI) was properly denied by the prosecutor and trial judge. Previous blogs have written extensively about what makes an applicant a good candidate for PTI, and more info…
Read MoreLarge Gap Between Reasonable Suspicion and Probable Cause
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark State v. Lewis, decided by the Appellate Division, on June 25th, is an appeal of a conviction partially based on a motion to suppress evidence that defendant argues was improperly denied by the trial court. The relevant facts are that the defendant was spotted by an…
Read MoreNo Harm No Foul–Harmless Error
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark As mentioned in the last blog concerning State v. Firman, a reversal of a conviction is not an overly common occurrence even when then trial judge has made a mistake. This is because of the concept of harmless error. If at trial, a mistake by the…
Read MoreThe Distinction between What You Saw and What You Think You Saw in Testimony
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark A reversal and remand for new trial is not extremely common. The prejudicial threshold necessary for a judge to reverse a conviction made by the verdict of a jury is high. But that’s just what happened in State v. Firman, decided May 21, 2015, and this…
Read MoreProbable Cause Will Probably Withstand a Motion to Suppress
Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark State v. Malkin, decided November 24, 2014 by the Appellate Davison does not concern an ordinary narcotics transaction. But it does examine classic 4th Amendment search and seizure issues of law that are important for the readers of this blog to understand. The 4th Amendment reads:…
Read MoreInformant vs. Lawfully Located Police Officer in a Common Area of an Apartment Complex
State of New Jersey versus Dawson Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark See previously posted review of New Jersey Versus Dawson: State versus Dawson – Standard of Review for a Motion to Suppress for the Trial Court The Issue reviewed in this Blog from this case is the use of an anonymous call and…
Read MoreState versus Dawson – Standard of Review for a Motion to Suppress for the Trial Court
State of New Jersey versus Dawson – Submitted by New Jersey Drug Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark We begin our analysis mindful of the applicable standard of review with respect to factual findings. In reviewing a grant or denial of a motion to suppress, we are bound to uphold factual findings, supported by sufficient credible evidence in…
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