If the defendant does not cooperate with the pat down given the officer’s fear of their own safety, and the positive dog sniff, are the police allowed to conduct a strip search without a search warrant?

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Attorney, Jeffrey Hark. I was recently arrested after a motor vehicle stop. The police threatened to bring a dog to the scene while they were searching the car. They smelled “burn “marijuana “and/or raw marijuana? The police also had confidential informant information that this defendant may have or always had…

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Can the police search my car before they get a warrant?

Can the police pull me over for no reason and get a search warrant to search my car, belongings bag, and other items after the fact? Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. The New Jersey Supreme Court Ruled: “Search warrants are prospective in nature — they authorize the taking of action. A later-obtained…

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State v. Akeem Boone (A-3-16) (077757)Search Warrant issues

Why is a search warrant so important? What do the police need to put in a search warrant to get into my house?  How can the police search my house?  What do the police need to tell a judge to get a search warrant?  My house was searched and i don’t have the search warrant?…

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My house was searched and I don’t have the search warrant?

Why is a search warrant so important? What do the police need to put in a search warrant to get into my house?  How can the police search my house?  What do the police need to tell a judge to get a search warrant? Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. The key to…

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Anonymous Tips and Warrant-less Search | New Jersey Criminal Law

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Defense Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark 14-2-3345 State v. Hunter, N.J. Super. App. Div. (per curiam) (10 pp.) Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized during a motor vehicle stop. Police received an anonymous call stating that a man was waiving a handgun in front of bystanders while…

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What If a Police Officer Pats Me Down for Weapons but Finds Drugs?

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. New Jersey’s Appellate Division has recently decided a case regarding a warrantless pat-down of the defendant’s person and seizure of heroin. In the case, a police officer heading home from work in an unmarked vehicle witnessed the defendant driving his car on the shoulder of the road…

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Can the Police Search My Rental Car’s Center Console?

Submitted by New Jersey Criminal Lawyer, Jeffrey Hark. State v Hamlett A-4399-14T2 In this case the defendant plead guilty to three different indictments for three different criminal cases pending against him. On appeal he raised an argument that the police were not allowed to search his rental car and specifically the center console of the…

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