The Latest In NJ Law:
February 14th, 2017 – An Update on Ride-Sharing Legislation
The New Jersey Legislature, in a bill signed into law by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, has decided to place regulations upon the Ride-Sharing Industry including Uber, Lyft, and Wingz. Among others, the Bill requires the following: (1.) Conducting Criminal Background Checks but NOT Fingerprinting. (2.( A Payment of a $25,000 Permit Fee. (3.) Each Driver or Company, or the Combination of the Two, Carry Minimum $1.5M in Liability Coverage. (4.) A Zero Tolerance Policy on Driver Substance Abuse. (5.) A No-Discrimination Policy on Hiring of Drivers. (6.) An $100K Annual Payment on State Bureau of ID for Background Checks. (7.) Up-To-Date Inspections for Every Vehicle on the Service. For More Information, Visit Here.
February 8th, 2017 – An Update on the Bail Reform Act
The Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division, in an opinion delivered by Hon. Susan Reisner, addressed the scope of discovery that the State must produce prior to Pre-Trial Detention under the Bail Reform Act. Under N.J. Court Rule 3:4-2(c)(1)(B), as the Court determined, the State must provide a Defendant with those materials in State’s possession that relate to the facts on which the State is basing it’s Pre-trial Detention Application upon. In the matter at hand, the State was being ordered to produce an affidavit of an eyewitness ID, two other eyewitness statements, photo arrays, a surveillance video, and initial police reports. (See State of New Jersey v. Habeeb Robinson) More Information available Here.
February 1st, 2017 – An Update on Search & Seizure in a Home
The Supreme Court of New Jersey, in an unanimous decision of the Court delivered by Justice Walter F. Timpone, held the Police Officers lacked reasonable and articulable suspicion of another party’s presence in a home and if that party posed a danger to the officer’s safety. As such, a protective sweep turning up evidence, generally an exception to the warrant requirement, would be excluded as ‘Fruit of the Poisonous Tree’ following the Defendant’s Motion to Suppress. (See State of New Jersey v. Charles Bryant, Jr.)
February 1st, 2017 – An Update on Search & Seizure in a Motor Vehicle
The Superior Court of New Jersey Appellate Division, in an opinion delivered by Hon. Clarkson S. Fisher, Jr., affirmed the usage of the “Smith Test,” as the proper test for determining if a police officer may require a passenger in a car to exit the vehicle after a valid stop. The “Smith Test,” developed in State of NJ v. Smith (134 N.J. 599 (1994)), says that a Defendant’s furtive (or secretive/clandestine) movements inside a recently stopped vehicle provides an objective reasonable basis for an officer’s heightened caution and, thus, justifying the removal of the individual from the vehicle. (See State of New Jersey v. Taiwan Bacome)