Appeals Court Overturns Attorney’s Conviction Because Municipal Court Judge Abused her Discretion in Allowing Private Prosecutor to Prosecute Municipal Court Case against Attorney-Defendant.

Prepared as a Public Service by the Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr., a New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney

In the case State v. Howard Myerowitz, the Secaucus Municipal Court allowed the complaining witness to retain a private prosecutor against Mr. Myerowitz for a charge of harassment.

The New Jersey Appellate Division reversed the conviction on the basis that the municipal court erred by allowing the private complaining party to have her private prosecutor to prosecute the municipal court charge.

The appellate panel held that the defendant was denied a fair trial and the proceedings were “procedural defective”, since the municipal court did not follow R. 7:8-7(b), and the seminal case State v. Storm.  The court reiterated that the appointment of a private prosecutor is only permitted when cross-complaints are filed.  As held in Storm, the wide-spread use of private prosecutors in municipal courts would lead to the “erosion of public confidence” in the municipal court system.

Further, the appellate court held that private prosecutors may only be permitted if the cross-complaints would create a conflict of interest for the appointed municipal court prosecutor.  Further, in all private prosecutor applications the attorney seeking appointment must fill out a specific form approved by the Administrative Office of the Courts, which was not done in this case.

If you have been charged with a disorderly person’s offense in Secaucus Municipal Court, or any other municipal court in Union, Essex, Bergen, Monmouth, Ocean, Middlesex, Somerset, Passaic counties, you should seek the experience of an attorney with twenty-five years of criminal defense experience in defending people charged with crimes in New Jersey.

Dated: February 20, 2015

Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr., Esq.

277 North Broad Street

P.O. Box 261

Elizabeth, New Jersey

Telephone No. (908) 354-7006; Cell No. (201) 240-5716

CriminalDefenseNJ.com

Quote of the day: “... for the ones with great difficulty and no clear evidence of success, plot away at the task of awakening in just a few men, a small spark of faith, of hope and of charity.”  Karl Rahner, S.J.

Reed Gusciora the Pooch Advocate

When it comes to the protection of animals this state Assemblyman Reed Gusciora sees no difference between animals and people.  He stated recently, “As a human society, we should not tolerate abuses against animals any more than we would against a person.” 

On a lower level there is some truth that animals should not be abused, but to compare a dog to a person shows a serious defect of his moral philosophy.  This same person who argues in effect that a person is just like a human being with animal personhood, sees no perversion in his moral philosophy when he promotes the killing of unborn babies which he believes has no personhood.  Under Mr. Gusciora philosophy of life the animal cannot be abused without the penalty of prison, but the human baby is worthless, and can be condemned to death at the whim of its mother.

Another example of Mr. Gusciora hypocrisy is his recently sponsored legislation requiring mandatory prison time for anyone convicted of causing or threatening to cause harm to a search-and-rescue or law enforcement dog. From the prospective of a criminal defense attorney this proposed law is filled with problems and poses a myriad of problems of prosecuting and defending such a charge.

This is not the first time that this Assemblyman has proposed a wacky law, in which cowardly state legislatures have jumped on the bandwagon, in the rush to political correctness.

Let’s hope Governor Christie has the courage to veto such a stupid law.  I trust Governor Christie understands and knows the difference between the natural law (the divine personhood of man made in the likeness and imagine of God), as opposed to the ancient heresy of Pantheism (all living orgasms are equal in the divine universe of nature in which God does not exist), which Gusciora embraces as his “new age religious heresy.”

Yes know one wants to see any animal abused, but why do these same advocates for animals have no compassion and have no interest in protecting their fellow human beings (unborn babies). 

Another Law Enforcement Dirty Little Secret; The Trick Question: What Do You Have That Knife For?

Sadly, to many of our young men, and even some adults are falling for the trick question by the New Jersey traffic cop pulling over a motorist and seeing a pocket knife in the motor vehicle. 

By way of background in New Jersey it is not unlawful for anybody to have in their motor vehicle or on their person’s a pocket knife or other types of cutting instruments. For the majority of people the use of a pocket knife is essential in performing essential routine tasks such as anything from cutting fruit to opening that heavy duty shrink wrap plastic surrounding the latest item purchased in a retail store.  However, the law in New Jersey does prohibit the possession of a pocket knife or any other type of cutting instrument for an unlawful purpose.  

The traffic cop pulling you over knows the law, and they know the majority of people do not, and hence, when they are looking to make an arrest they will ask you the trick question, which sadly most people fall for. 

The question the cop will ask with that phony, kind, sympathetic face of a concerned person, although silently salivating for you to fall into the trap, will ask you: “I see you have a knife is that for self-protection?”  Or the more innocuous question, “Why do you have that knife?”  If you answer, “for protection”, 95% of the time you will be placed under arrest for possession of a knife for an unlawful purpose.  Of course, common sense will tell you that self-defense is always a defense in the right circumstances, and the use of a knife to protect yourself under the right circumstances might be a complete defense to having that knife.  But the cop in the small town with nothing to do but harass people will arrest you and charge you with that trick question.  Does this really happen in New Jersey, being a criminal defense attorney for 23-years in New Jersey I see it all the time.  Are these types of arrests really the result of the cop not knowing the law, or sadly just an excuse to lock people up without cause and justification in order to search their motor vehicle?  I do not know the answer to that question, but it happens all the time. 

This is a public service blog for the people.  This legal blog is not meant to give any particular legal advice on any given case or a legal treatise or commentary of every aspect of possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose.  This blog is not written to disparage honest and hardworking law enforcement officers who everyday try to do the right thing, but only those whom seem to use their power, duty and privilege to oppress, abuse and unfairly use their power to hurt the most vulnerable segment of our society with impunity. 

If you are faced with such charges you should consult an experienced criminal defense attorney Vincent J. Sanzone, who has been representing people charged with crimes and disorderly person’s offenses for 23-years.

CriminalDefenseNJ.com

Sanzone Firm

Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr.

P.O. Box 261

277 North Broad Street

Elizabeth, N.J. 07207

(908) 354-7006

YourCivilRights@gmail.com

CriminalDefenseNJ.com

Dated: September 17, 2013