latest legal developments/alerts

ALERTS

Gang Tattoo Expert

ACDL member Alison Brill, Office of the Federal Public Defender, is interested in obtaining an expert who can identify gang tattoors, specifically for Jersey City gangs. If anyone can assist in this regard please contant Alison. Thank you.

Alison Brill, Esq.

Tel. 609.989.2160
Email: Click here to send Alison a Message

Motion to Stay Federal Appeal

I have a case on appeal to Third Circuit with a briefing schedule already set. Within the past few days, I received an affidavit from a previous unknown witness containing evidence possibly warranting a new trial. I would like to have the Third Circuit stay the appeal and remand to the district court for the limited purpose of deciding the motion for new trial. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or, better yet, a motion I can use for reference? Thanks in advance for your anticipated responses.

Stephen Turano, Esq.

New York Office:
275 Madison Avenue, 35th Floor
New York, NY 10016
tel (212) 227-8877
fax (212) 619-1028

New Jersey Office:
60 Park Place, Suite 703
Newark, NJ 07102
tel (973) 236-0119
fax (212) 619-1028

Press Conference Call

PRESS CONFERENCE CALL: 11:00a.m. eastern; dial-in info - 1.866.757.5629; ID #43376080
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 10, 2011
MEDIA CONTACT: see list below

New Report Offers Blueprint to Repair America's Broken Criminal Justice System
Legislation Proposed This Week Embraces Major Recommendation

WASHINGTON, D.C.
Today, a diverse coalition of the nation's leading criminal justice reform organizations released /Smart on Crime: Recommendations for the Administration and Congress among the most comprehensive reports ever published to address the problems confronting America's criminal justice system. In its review of virtually every major criminal justice issue from overcriminalization to forensic science from juvenile justice to the death penalty and from indigent defense to executive clemency the report serves as both a source of information and a spur to action for the Administration and Congress.
http://www.besmartoncrime.org/pdf/Complete.pdf/

Just two days before the release of the |Smart on Crime| report, Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) reintroduced the National Criminal Justice Commission Act which would "create a blue-ribbon, bipartisan commission of experts charged with undertaking an 18-month top-to-bottom review" of the nation's criminal justice system and offering concrete recommendations for reform. http://www.scribd.com/doc/48441859/NatCrimJComissionAct112thCongress/

The establishment of such a commission is among the major recommendations of the report. http://www.besmartoncrime.org/recommendations.php

Virginia Sloan, President of The Constitution Project, said about |Smart on Crime|, "The criminal justice system is supposed to be about |justice| for victims, for those rightly and wrongly accused and convicted of crimes, and for all of us. But a system that costs too much and makes so many mistakes provides justice for no one. |Smart on Crime| contains an ever-increasing and bipartisan consensus on how to fix the problems that have for too long plagued the system."

In addition to its recommendation that a National Criminal Justice Commission be formed, the report developed and published by the /Smart on Crime Coalition http://www.besmartoncrime.org/about.php/, a group of more than 40 bipartisan organizations and individuals offers nearly 100 detailed policy recommendations http://www.besmartoncrime.org/recommendations.php across 16 criminal justice areas. While contributors do not necessarily have positions on each issue addressed, there was universal agreement that the current system with its rampant cost, inefficiency, and injustices is in urgent need of reform.

"Overcriminalization of federal law threatens every American's liberty and drains the public coffers with pointless prosecutions and unnecessary incarcerations," said Norman Reimer, Executive Director of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "We urge every elected official to end the madness that has produced over 4,450 federal criminal statutes, and countless tens of thousands more arising from the unchecked power of regulatory authorities."

A /Smart on Crime/ Web site http://www.besmartoncrime.org/ was also created to provide policy-makers, media and the public with quick and easy access to the report. In addition, visitors to besmartoncrime.org can hear report contributors share their insights on criminal justice system problems and solutions in videotaped interviews http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY7MRF8Emjw.

MEDIA CONTACTS

Paul Cates: Innocence Project
pcates@innocenceproject.org

Allison Conyers: Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
aconyers@endjlwop.org

Dallas Jamison: The Constitution Project
djamison@constitutionproject.org

Jack King: National Assoc. of Criminal Defense Lawyers
jack@nacdl.org and Ivan Dominguez ivan@nacdl.org

Jeanine Plant-Chirlin: Brennan Center for Justice
jeanine.plant-chirlin@nyu.edu

Monica Pratt: Families Against Mandatory Minimums
monica@famm.org

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All: Greetings

We are litigating in the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals the issue of the propriety of the government legending grand jury subpoenas. In our case, many of the grand jury subpoenas contained a legend on the face of the subpoena (and placed there by the U.S. Attorney) to the effect that the disclosure of the nature and existence of the subpoena could impede and obstruct a federal investigation, and requesting that the recipient of the subpoena not make any such disclosure.

My question is: Have you all been seeing recently (2010-2011) the continuation of this practice of including such legends on federal grand jury subpoenas issued by the NJ U.S. Attorney's Office?

Thanks. JDF

Jeremy D. Frey
Attorney at Law
Pepper Hamilton LLP
3000 Two Logan Square
Eighteenth and Arch Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19103-2799
215.981.4445 - Direct
866.422.3552 - Fax
freyj@pepperlaw.com

---and---

Suite 400
301 Carnegie Center
Princeton, NJ 08543-5276
609.452.0808 - Direct
609.452.1147 - Fax
freyj@pepperlaw.com
www.pepperlaw.com

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CRIMINAL CASES PENDING IN N.J. SUPREME COURT

Bail

State v. Fernando Feliciano, Jr.
Docket No. 65,293
Leave to appeal granted January 8, 2010
Robin Kay Lord and Richard W. Berg

Whether the trial court’s order revoking defendant’s bail following his alleged commission of a new offense constitutes unconstitutional preventive detention?