New Jersey Criminal Lawyers Blog

Vandalism is one of the most common crimes at the Jersey Shore, especially in the summer months. Recently, police nabbed 5 people who had been terrorizing several Monmouth County towns for almost a year. Police Officials in the towns of Brielle, Atlantic Highlands, Howell, and Spring Lake recorded approximately 150 reports of rocks being thrown through car and living room windows over the year.

Police responded to a 12:15 a.m. report of rocks being thrown through the windows of a car and home on Pitney Avenue, in Spring Lake. As the two police officers arrived on scene, a group on people were surrounding a SUV. Plainly visible from the outside were piled of rocks scattered on the seats and floors of the truck. All 5 suspects, ages ranging from 17-24, were arrested and charged with various counts of criminal mischief or other summons. Residents throughout Monmouth County should be delighted by the news as many felt helpless to stop such seemingly random acts throughout the county.
A charge of criminal mischief may result if an individual is thought to have caused damage to property belonging to someone else, for instance, a local businesses or private residence. The charge is usually written when a person purposely or knowingly damages the tangible property of another person or recklessly/negligently causes property damage in the employment of a fire, explosives, or other dangerous means.
Many acts can constitute criminal mischief. Some of these acts include damaging or defacing property, such as cars, trucks, buildings, and private residences (this includes rental property); interrupting a public communication, transportation, or supply of oil, water, gas or power; and tampering with a grave, headstone, crypt, or mausoleum. Other acts include destroying or tampering with signs, signals, or lights located on public streets and airports.

The degrees of offenses affiliated with criminal mischief are very fact specific. The facts of an individual's case will dictate what degree of the offense one may be charged with.
A charge of the disorderly persons offense of criminal mischief in New Jersey will result if one has damaged or destroyed the personal property of another in the amount of $500.00 or less. The value of the damage is determined by the fair market value of the property allegedly destroyed. If convicted of the disorderly offense of criminal mischief, one will typically face the standard disorderly persons penalties and will be ordered to pay restitution for the damaged caused. If the damage is found to be greater than $500.00, however, the charge is no longer a disorderly persons offense, and elevates to a much more serious, indictable offense.

An individual may be charged with an indictable offense of the 2nd degree if the damage done recklessly causes death. If one is found guilty of this 2nd degree offense, the result may be a substantial prison sentence.
An individual may be charged with the indictable crime of criminal mischief in the 3rd degree if he/she has purposely or knowingly caused damage that exceeds $2,000.00. One may also be charged of the crime of the 3rd degree if, in certain situations, bodily injury is caused to another person. If one is found guilty of a 3rd degree offense, they may face a prison sentence.

A charge of criminal mischief in the 4th degree may result if an individual has caused damage that is valued between $500.00 and $2,000.00. If one is found guilty of a 4th degree offense, they may face a prison sentence as well.
A type of criminal mischief that is frequently seen in New Jersey is when one purposely, knowingly or recklessly tampers with the property of another, including the rental premises by a tenant in retaliation for evictions proceedings. This aspect of the offense is personal to homeowners and landlords in Ocean and Monmouth Counties who rent their homes to vacation-goers during the summer season. If the homeowner/landlord decides to evict the tenant and the tenant damages the property in retaliation, the homeowner/landlord may bring a claim of criminal mischief against the tenant and recover the cost of the damage.

Charges and convictions involving an act of graffiti frequently fall under the criminal mischief offense as well. The repercussions that may flow as a result of this conviction include paying the monetary value of the amount the damage caused, performing community service for no less than 20 days or not less than the amount of days required for the removal of the graffiti from the property

Continue reading "5 Charged With Vandalism & Criminal Mischief; Connected to over 150 Police Reports of Broken Windows " »

Contact a Seaside Heights Criminal Defense Attorney if you need help.
Police officers throughout Ocean and Monmouth County are now using a new device that can scan passersby vehicle license plate numbers in a second and instantly provide the status of your vehicle and information about its owner. With 6 cameras mounted on the roof of the "reader car", information is instantly sent to the dashboard computer screen. If a vehicle warrants stopping, such as a outstanding warrant for arrest, an alert beeps and the officer can initiate a motor vehicle stop. The legality of the instruments usage has already been approved in a recent case, State v. Donis, that held that a police officer may randomly check the status of a vehicle registration or driver's license and whether the vehicle or its plates are stolen. According to one source, there are approximately 1.5 million unregistered or unlicensed vehicles in the State of New Jersey.
The scanners have powerful uses for crimes other then motor vehicle violations enforcement. Each scanner saves the data of license plate numbers it has read. If for example, bank robbers are casing a place for several hours beforehand their plates may be picked up by a police camera. Police are able to fetch this data many days later if need be as evidence to help establish probable cause and other elements of the crime.

Continue reading "Police In Ocean and Monmouth County Can Scan Your License Plate in a Second With New Technology" »

If you need a criminal lawyer contact the Villani & DeLuca Law Firm Now for a free consultation.
The everyday traffic stop by a police officer has recently taken a drastic new turn. Implementation of tiny personal cameras pinned onto every police officer in Sea Girt Jersey is sure to create vibrations that will be felt for decades to come throughout New Jersey courtrooms. Created by Axon System the mini cameras are mounted on a headband, eyeglasses, or clipped to the collar of police and are able to record up to six hours of an officer at work. When video is recorded, it is wirelessly uploaded to a website, evidence.com, where it is available for retrieval by an officer with the proper authority. This groundbreaking implementation of technology, already used in Western States, is hoped to lead to better overall law enforcement procedure. In today's highly litigious society where even a simple traffic stop may end up in municipal court, this new upgrade will have untold effects.

The new technology will cost the Sea Girt Police Department about $2,000 per system and $1,200 in annual cost for data storage per unit. Sea Girt, with only 11 police officers, is the first of New Jersey's 566 municipalities to implement the mini cameras but already officials in Morristown and Cape May County have indicated their intent to have them soon. This new technology is possibly a response to the current trend of motor vehicle drivers recording snippets of their traffic stop with a cell phone. Rather than having only 10 seconds of recording, the longer videos will provide greater insight into the specifics of what happened.

Continue reading ""Big Brother" Police in New Jersey Are Watching You!" »

In a recent New Jersey Appellate Division case, the three Judge panel concluded that cellular telephone location searches are valid according to the Constitution of New Jersey. State of New Jersey v. Thomas W. Earls, SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY, APPELLATE DIVISION, DOCKET NO. A-2084-07T4, decided July 11, 2011. According to police officers, a cell phone signal was used to track a suspect from a string of burglaries. The signal could not lead them directly to the suspect; it could only point them in a general area. Once the general area was determined, police then had to move in and physically search for the suspect.

The suspect in this case, as mentioned, was involved in a number of burglaries and police officers were eager to track him down. One of the reported victims told police that the suspect had stolen his cellular phone. The police then obtained a cell phone data warrant and located the phone. The new "owner" of the stolen phone was arrested but was not the suspect the police were seeking. The new owner knew the suspect and told police that he had a storage unit with his quasi-girlfriend where he kept stolen property. Armed with the identity of the sometimes girlfriend, Middletown Police located her for questioning. The girlfriend led police to the storage unit and signed a release for the storage company to break the lock of the storage unit. When inside, Middletown Police found a number of stolen items leading police to obtain a warrant for the suspect's arrest.

Armed with a warrant for the suspects arrest and concern for the suspect's girlfriend's safety, the police began to aggressively search for him. Middletown Police Officers contacted T-Mobile, the suspect's cell phone carrier, and asked them to locate the suspect. T-Mobile stated that they could not provide police with an exact location, but could give them a general area to search. Although there were a series of misses, police eventually located the suspect at a hotel in Howell on Route 9.

Once inside, police officers presented the warrant and made the arrest. Officers later testified that they had taken a flat screen TV from the room as well as other merchandise because it was "in plain view", not requiring a separate warrant. During the "plain view" search, the officers took a suitcase and later asked the suspect if they could go through it. He consented and officers found more stolen goods and an undisclosed amount of marijuana. The suspect was indicted for: burglary (N.J.S.A. 2C: 18-2), theft of moveable property (N.J.S.A. 2C: 20-3(a)), receiving stolen property (N.J.S.A. 2C: 20-3(a)), and possession of marijuana (N.J.S.A. 2C: 35-10(a)(3)).

On appeal, the defendant alleged a constitutional violation of his right to privacy. His main argument was that police officers obtained information from his cell phone carrier, without a warrant, to locate him. The defendant claimed he was the victim of an illegal search and seizure. The Court had to decide if the search was violative of Article I, paragraph 7, of the New Jersey Constitution, which protects citizens of New Jersey from illegal search and seizure. The Court determined that the defendant's rights had not ultimately been violated because (1) the cell phone trace did not lead the police directly to him (only a general area), and (2) the use of a tracking device (in this case a phone) tracked the defendant through public roads and highways where there is no reasonable expectation of privacy. There are a string of cases the court used to affirm their decision that essentially state the same principle. In this case, the Appellate Division upheld the lower courts ruling and the defendant's convictions did in fact stand.

Continue reading "Cell Phone Triangulation NOT Violative of New Jersey Constitution! Call an Experienced NJ Criminal Defense Attorney to Discuss your Case! " »

Howell is a large landlocked township in Monmouth County surrounded by Freehold, Wall, and Colts Neck. It is easily accessible through Route 33, Route 9, and Interstate 195. Among other things, Howell is well known for the Manasquan Reservoir, which attracts activities such as hiking, running, jogging, fishing, boating, and kayaking, and also Turkey Swamp Park, which boasts extensive horseback riding trails and campgrounds that are open year round. Due to its endorsement of many outdoor activities and close proximity to neighboring beachfront towns, Howell experiences a sharp boom in population and traffic congestion during the summer months each year which is normally accompanied by a drastic increase in the amount of motor vehicle violations and disorderly person charges. Last year alone, Howell witnessed 3,725 moving violations, 193 DWIs, and 298 disorderly persons offenses.

Moving violations refer to a rather broad category of offenses but common examples are speeding, reckless driving, failing to observe a traffic control device, and the more serious charges of DWI, DUI, and Refusal. Where DWI, DUI, or Refusal charges have been administered, extremely serious penalties may follow including jail time, loss of license, significant fines, probation, and large increases in your auto insurance premiums.

While disorderly persons charges are less frequent than moving violations in Howell, they still occur regularly and include disorderly conduct (N.J.S. 2C: 33-2), underage drinking (N.J.S. 2C: 33-15), use or possession of a fake ID (N.J.S. 2C: 21-2.1), simple assault (N.J.S. 2C: 12-1), possession of illegal drugs (N.J.S. 2C: 35-10 and N.J.S. 2C:36-2), and resisting arrest (N.J.S. 2C:29-2). Penalties for these offenses can also be quite serious, ranging from monetary fines approaching $1,000.00 to jail time.

For further information on the Howell Township Municipal Court, visit their website at
http://www.twp.howell.nj.us/content/75/130/default.aspx

Continue reading "Howell Township Criminal Lawyer: Howell Township Municipal Court" »