We recently passed the first anniversary of criminal justice reform in New Jersey. As discussed regularly on this blog, these far-reaching changes to criminal practice and procedure in the State affect the handling of all criminal cases in the Superior Court. The primary areas that these changes impact upon are…
We have written before about federal sentencing issues. A recent US Supreme Court decision again focuses our attention on this important topic and, specifically, the central role that the advisory guidelines play in the federal sentencing process, and how sentencing mistakes can – and should – be corrected. By way…
Every participant in a jury trial has a defined role. The judge manages the trial and acts as a judge of the law. S/he will rule on legal issues that arise during pre-trial proceedings, supervise jury selection, rule on issues of law that arise during trial, instruct the jury on…
Clients often attempt to articulate facts substantiating a violation of their constitutional rights. Sometimes, the client’s description of the relevant facts can be used to at least articulate a legal basis for such a violation. More frequently, however, the client’s description bears little, if any, relation to a constitutional violation. …
The recently decided NJ Supreme Court case of State v. Baum stemmed from a prosecution for aggravated manslaughter and death by auto. Baum, the driver, struck and killed two teenage girls who were walking in the bicycle lane of a major roadway in Kinnelon. Baum had battled alcoholism for approximately…
Robert Goodwin recently learned that New Jersey is serious about convicting defendants charged with insurance fraud. He was found guilty at trial of second-degree insurance fraud and sentenced to a prison term of seven years on account of false statements made to an insurance carrier in connection with an insurance…
In 1963, just two weeks after his 17th birthday, Henry Montgomery killed Charles Hunt, a Louisiana deputy sheriff. Montgomery was originally sentenced to die but, on retrial in 1970, received a mandatory sentence of life without parole. Montgomery is now 69 years of age and, by all accounts, became a…
On July 2, 2009, at 11:30 pm, a car pulled up next to a woman who was walking to her home in Jersey City. The passenger got out, approached her, tapped her hip with a gun, and asked for her phone. The woman surrendered her purse which contained her phone…