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

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New Jersey No Early Release Act (NERA) Mandatory For Certain Offenses

Prepared as a public service for the Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr., Esq.

http://www.criminaldefensenj.com

Under New Jersey Law, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-7.2, if a defendant is convicted of certain enumerated offenses, the defendant must serve (mandatory) at least 85% of his or sentence before he or she is eligible for parole.

If you are charged with any of the following offenses you must seek the counsel of an experienced criminal defense attorney, who may or may not be able to avoid the NERA consequences.

The crimes are as follows:  (1) murder; (2) aggravated manslaughter or manslaughter; (3) vehicular homicide; (4) aggravated assault; (5) disarming a law enforcement officer; (6) kidnapping; (7) aggravated sexual assault; (8) subsection (b) of aggravated sexual assault; (9) robbery; carjacking; (10) aggravated arson; (11) burglary (home invasion while occupied); (12) extortion; (13) booby traps in manufacturing of CDS or distribution facility; (14) strict liability for drug induced deaths; (15) terrorism; (16) possessing chemical weapons; (17) racketeering of the first degree.

Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr.

P.O. Box 261

277 North Broad Street

Elizabeth (Union County) New Jersey 07207

(908) 354-7006

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How to Win Your Criminal Case: How to Obtain Your Not Guilty Verdict in New Jersey Superior Court

It is common in New Jersey that when someone is indicted by a grand jury that in the caption of the indictment will be listed some or all of the defendant’s known names or aliases.

It is essential that prior to trial that defense counsel file a motion or request without a motion that any reference to aliases be stricken from the indictment so that a jury will not learn that the defendant may or may not have gone under other names.  It is extremely prejudicial to the defendant when a jury hears that a defendant had nicknames or aliases because it gives the impression to the jury that this person had different names or went by other names for a nefarious purpose.  Although it is not illegal per se to have aliases, some people who do, have these different names to evade the law or to defraud someone.  In all cases you want the jury to decide the case based on the evidence that the state or government has on the case in which they will decide, and not on other factors or evidence which has no bearing on the case at hand.

There is a case now before the New Jersey Supreme Court which will directly decide this issue, State v. Parker.  In that case the jury learned that Mr. Parker when arrested had given another name.  Mr. Parker is seeking a new trial contending that such references denied him a fair trial.   

In State v. Salaam, 225  N.J. Super. 66 (App. Div. 1988) the appellate division held that references to the defendant’s alleged aliases should be automatically excluded unless there is clear relevancy to the alias and the pending charges, i.e., fraud case in which the defendant used other names to defraud alleged victims.

This prohibition in the use of aliases is also found in N.J. Evidence Rule 608 which holds that a “trait of character cannot be proved by specific instances of conduct.”  In any event, the criminal defense attorney who is faced with such a case must move to strike the aliases to help insure that the defendant receives a fair trial.

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

P.O. Box 261

277 North Broad Street

Elizabeth, N.J. 07207

Office:  (908) 354-7006

Cell:    (201) 240-5716

CriminalDefenseNJ.com

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