NJ Court Denies PCR Appeal in State v. John Denofa, Upholds Ruling

State of New Jersey v. John Denofa Docket No. A-0281-22 Decided January 6, 2025 Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark In a recent unpublished opinion, the Appellate Court of New Jersey decided defendant’s appeal from a modified order entered on July 19, 2022, which denied his third petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) and a…

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State v. Gayle | Post-Conviction Relief Motion

State v. Gayle Appellate Docket No.: A-1332-18T2 Decided May 1, 2020 And Appellate Docket No. A-0575-14T4 Decided Mar 17, 2017 Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark In a pair of unpublished opinion, the Appellate Division of New Jersey heard argument on the issues of admissibility of a device police used that can track…

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State v. T.B.

Appellate Docket No.: A-2417-18T2 Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. In an unpublished opinion, the Appellate Division of New Jersey heard argument on the issue of an application by a Defendant for post-conviction relief (PCR). In State v. T.B., the Defendant assaulted his girlfriend in her apartment during an argument.  He repeatedly punched…

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PCR Motion and the Need for a hearing with testimony.

I want to file a post conviction relief motion after trial because I do not believe my attorney represented me as well as he should have. No, in this particular case the court does not have to conduct a hearing if the petitioner, the defendant, is not able to make a prima facia showing that it can satisfy…

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State Of New Jersey v Gustavo A Cifuentes | Post-Conviction Relief

State Of New Jersey v. Gustavo A. Cifuentes, a/k/a Adolfo Gustavo and Holguin Sardi Submitted by New Jersey Sex Crime Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark On the night of November 27, 2010, defendant Cifuentes , after consuming four Long Island iced teas and seven beers, went into a women’s apartment and allegedly raped her. The police were…

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My Lawyer Denied My Request to Appeal My Criminal Conviction, Now What?

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. In a recent case decided by New Jersey’s Appellate Division, a jury convicted the defendant of: the lesser-included offense of first-degree aggravated manslaughter, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4(a) first-degree felony-murder, N.J.S.A. 2C:11-3(a)(3) first-degree armed robbery, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1 fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(d) third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution,…

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Statutory Interpretation: Ifs, Ands, Buts, and Shall

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark State v. Carreon, decided August 11, 2014 rests on statutory interpretation. Put simply, statutes should be read based on the plain meaning of all the language used and if there is any ambiguity then the legislative attempt is examined and considered. The defendant in this case sought…

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Had it not been for my lawyer I would be free…or not!

What constitutes ineffective assistance of counsel? Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark This blog considers State v. Palacios, decided July 3, 2014 by the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division and addresses the question of how other evidence is used to fill in the blanks when a defendant claims memory loss of…

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