E610 Newletter

 

E610 News

1. Court here rejects protective sweep where defendant handcuffed State v Radel 2. PTI can’t be conditioned on jail time State v Chen 3. Even if the second DWI test was administered within two minutes of the first test, court finds this test reliable State v. Meyer 4. Updated Spring Wills seminars online Zoom 2021

1. Court here rejects protective sweep where defendant handcuffed State v Radel 465 N.J.Super. 65 (App. Div. 2020)

Police did not have proof they had a reasonable and articulable suspicion that there were other persons inside the home or that they posed a risk to the police or others State v Radel    Defendant moved in the trial court for the suppression of evidence – guns, ammunition, drugs, and drug paraphernalia – seized pursuant to a search warrant based on information police obtained during a warrantless entry into defendant's home. The trial judge denied the suppression motion, finding the police conducted a permissible protective sweep of the home.     The court concluded that the police lacked both a reasonable and articulable suspicion of danger and a legitimate purpose for remaining on the premises, since defendant was arrested outside the home and handcuffed before police conducted the sweep. A-2503-18T3

2. PTI can’t be conditioned on jail time State v Chen

The appeal asked the court to determine whether the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office (Prosecutor's Office) can condition defendants' admissions into the pretrial intervention program (PTI) applications, N.J.S.A. 2C:43-12, on service of jail time after they were released on their own recognizance. In accordance with plea agreements, defendants pled guilty to amended charges of third-degree criminal mischief, N.J.S.A. 2C:17-3, and they were each sentenced to a four-year term of noncustodial probation. Pursuing rights preserved in their plea agreements, defendants sought to overturn the denials of their PTI applications with appeals to the trial judge, claiming the Prosecutor's Office abused its discretion by proposing that they serve jail time to gain admission. The trial judge rejected defendants' requests without addressing the impact of the jail time proposals.    The court reversed. The Prosecutor's Office abused its discretion by tainting the PTI application process through unsuccessfully seeking to have defendants agree to serve jail time to gain admission. Although imposing the condition of jail time for PTI admission was not expressly permitted or prohibited by the governing statute, court rule, or guidelines in effect at the time, the court conclude it was illegal to do so because vesting such authority to the Prosecutor's Office would afford it powers contrary to the Legislature's intent in creating PTI. The trial court shall therefore enter orders vacating defendants' guilty pleas and admit them into PTI. A-1121-18T4

3. Even if the second DWI test was administered within two minutes of the first test, court finds this test reliable State v. Meyer Appellate Division, unpublished.

Defendant appealed from the March 11, 2019 order of the Law Division convicting him after a trial de novo of driving while intoxicated, per N.J.S.A. 39:4-50. On June 13, 2016, defendant was involved in a three-car accident that resulted in personal injuries. An officer took two breath samples, two minutes apart, from defendant with an Alcotest machine at the station. The tests reported blood alcohol content readings above the legal limit, so defendant was charged with DWI. On June 20, 2017, defendant entered a conditional plea of guilty in the municipal court to the DWI charge.      Defendant appealed to the Law Division where the judge affirmed the conviction based upon State v. Mukherjee, an unpublished appellate decision. On appeal, the court affirmed the lower court's decision. The lower court erred in basing its decision on an unpublished appellate decision, per Rule 1:36-3. But the court affirmed the decision because the Alcotest evidence was admissible under State v. Chun, 194 N.J. 54 (2008). The record showed the machine's lockout feature was functioning properly, so even if the second test was administered within two minutes of the first test, the test results were reliable pursuant to Chun. Source Daily Briefing, an exclusive New Jersey State Bar Association member benefit, in partnership with the New Jersey Law Journal. 9/21/2020 Join the NJSBA for this benefit!

4. Updated Spring Wills seminars online Zoom 2021

March 1, 2021 Piscataway Library Wills & Power of Attorney Seminar at 6pm free Zoom program open to the public Link for free registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqUaEv63xNrVHFbmGHjkEoIuklLGkYqBwr0U384LzryU3e6Q/viewform   March 2, 2021 East Brunswick Library Wills, Probate & Estate Planning 2021 update at 7PM  https://www.ebpl.org/main/polCalendarEvent.cfm?Event_Date={d%20%272021-03-02%27}&Calendar_Code=&Event_Id=96692 https://www.facebook.com/events/3695020237225185   March 3, 2021 at 12 noon Annual Review of the Major Municipal Court Cases and new laws affecting Law Enforcement 2020-2021  Sponsored by Retired Police & Fire Middlesex & Monmouth Local 9 meeting NJRPFA     To listen on Facebook Live for free https://www.facebook.com/events/1382312715448127   March 9 Woodbridge Library Estate Planning seminar 7pm http://woodbridgelibrary.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=11154&backTo=Calendar&startDate=2021/03/01 More info https://www.facebook.com/events/271486024411893   March 15, 2021 Sayreville Public Library Will & Power of Attorney Seminar via Zoom at 6pm Registration at sayrevillelibrary.org http://engagedpatrons.org/EventsExtended.cfmSiteID=1717&EventID=426879&PK=   March 23 Estate Planning General Practices , Estate Administration and the Successful Practice Middlesex County Bar Association MCBA 3pm $$ https://www.mcbalaw.com/events/EventDetails.aspxid=1485210&group=   April 12 Winning Strategies in Municipal Court seminar 5:30pm-8:30pm Zoom https://tcms.njsba.com/personifyebusiness/njicle/CLEPrograms/NJICLEEventsCalendar/MeetingDetails.aspx?productId=64354255   April 13, 2021 Estate Planning for the Dysfunctional Adult Child $$ https://www.americanbar.org/eventscle/mtg/web/410451228   April 19 Metuchen Library Wills, Estate Planning & Probate Seminar at 6:30pm  https://www.facebook.com/events/879306299545975 April 20, 2021 South Plainfield Public Library Wills, Estate Planning & Probate Seminar at 6:00pm https://www.facebook.com/events/319319469479778   April 26 2021 5pm  $$ Nuts & Bolts of Elder Law & Estate Administration   April 29 West Windsor Mercer County Library System Wills, Probate & Estate Planning 2021 Update Virtual Program at 6PM GotoMeeting   May 4 North Brunswick Library Will seminar