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The New Jersey Supreme Court has now made it easier for police to conduct warrantless searches of vehicles. In State v. Witt, the court overturned the previous standard for searching vehicles which required the police to get a warrant in most circumstances because they found the was unworkable in practice. The warrantless search of a vehicle is permitted “when police have probable cause to believe that it contains contraband or evidence of a crime and where...

Expungements are like an eraser that can wipe your record clean. You can get an expungement after two years for a Municipal Ordinance Conviction, five years after a Disorderly Persons Conviction or ten years after you have completed probation or a prison sentence for an eligible indictable crime. Recently the court has been willing to entertain expungement applications earlier that listed above if certain conditions are met. In an apparent switch in their philosophy to...

In a unanimous decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court the court held that law enforcement cannot enter a disabled vehicle to gather proof of registration and insurance, without asking the driver for the information or asking permission. In the case, State v. Keaton, a state trooper was on I-295 when he was called to an accident. The driver had been taken from the car and Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) were treating him. In order...

Governor Chris Christie is currently considering a Bill that will dramatically change DUI law in New Jersey. The Bill has already passed through both houses of the New Jersey Congress and proposes a change in the license suspension requirement following a conviction for DUI. Under current New Jersey law, a person with a BAC of 0.08% or greater, who operates a motor vehicle is considered to be driving under the influence. In addition to other...

If you are convicted of Driving While Intoxicated, or Refusal (to provide a breath sample), your license will be suspended. If you drive during that period of suspension, and you have previously been convicted of driving during that suspension period, you face mandatory jail time. In fact, you could be charged with a fourth degree indictable crime (felony) and face a mandatory minimum of 180 days in jail. The New Jersey Appellate Court has just...

New Jersey has special Expungement Rules for young drug offenders who wish to clear their record. In order to get the Young Drug Offenders Expungement it must be not less than one year after conviction, termination of probation or parole or discharge from custody, whichever is later. The charge could only be for possession or use of drugs, or sale or distribution of certain amounts of Hashish or Marijuana. If you were charged with sale...

Katherine Hartman, Esquire will be a speaker on...

If a driver doesn’t use a seat belt or doesn’t make their passengers use one, then the driver could face jail time. The Seat Belt Law, enacted in 1984, has not been used in this way until now. Previously, the Seat Belt Law would be a traffic ticket that would require a municipal court appearance, now violators could go to state prison. The amount of jail time being faced depends on the injuries involved. The...

Expungements are like an eraser that can wipe your record clean. Mistakes from your past can be eliminated from your criminal history. Are you eligible for an Expungement? When can you get your record expunged? Type of offenses that can be Expunged Number of offenses that can be Expunged Amount of time before Expungement is possible Juvenile Delinquency Offenses These records are sealed after the juvenile comes of age. Once the Juvenile reaches 18 they are sealed Young Drug Offenders No Limit If Conviction is for Possession or Use...

This week, the United States Sentencing Commission cut federal prison terms for drug offenses. The reform, adopted on July 18, 2014, retroactively decreases the drug table set forth in the United States sentencing guidelines by two offense levels across all drug types. Effective November 1, 2014, some 50,000 people who are currently incarcerated in the federal prison system for drug offenses could be eligible for a reduction of their sentence by an average of nearly...