by Fred Sisto | May 29, 2022 | Blog, Criminal Law, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Ocean County
On March 14, 2022, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Camden County case of State v. E.R. The principal issue under N.J.S.A 2C:43-12 concerned the denial of the defendant’s pre-trial intervention application based on mental illness concerns. Judge Enright wrote...
by Fred Sisto | May 27, 2022 | Blog, Criminal Law, Drug Crime, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Ocean County
The three-judge panel concluded with the following in relevant part: We stress that the error that constrains us to reverse the leader convictions is not just the trial court’s failure to recite a few adjectives from the case law. Rather, the crux of the error...
by Fred Sisto | May 25, 2022 | Blog, Criminal Law, Drug Crime, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Ocean County
The Appellate Division continued in relevant part: Importantly for purposes of our decision, the State acknowledges that the gravamen of the defense argument is that the trial court did not provide adequate instruction on what “high level” means. We...
by Fred Sisto | May 23, 2022 | Blog, Criminal Law, Drug Crime, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Ocean County
The Appellate Division continued in relevant part: “When a jury requests clarification, the trial judge is obligated to clear the confusion.” State v. Conway (App. Div. 1984) (citing United States v. McCall, 592 F.2d 1066, 1068 (9th Cir. 1979)). In State...
by Fred Sisto | May 21, 2022 | Blog, Criminal Law, Drug Crime, Monmouth County, New Jersey, Ocean County
On March 7, 2022, a three-judge appellate panel decided the Essex County case of State v. Barry Berry. The principal issue under N.J.S.A. 2C:35-3 concerned the adequacy of the jury instruction regarding the narcotics “kingpin” statute. Judge Susswein wrote for the...