Criminal Cases

My client allegedly walked into a Fairview music store one afternoon, shot the owner in the back of the head and left fingerprints on a glass shard broken off from the glass window of an old cash register. The glass shard itself was lost by the State, but the prosecutor still had photographs of the prints. Without the piece of glass, I argued that the State could not prove upon what surface the fingerprints originated from in the store. Also, the fingerprints could have been placed there before the time of the murder. The jury could not decide, and a mistrial was declared. Bergen Record Newspaper

A night of loud reggae music, dancing, and drinking at a city nightclub ended in tragedy when my client allegedly shot a young man to death. The 500 Club was packed with patrons, many of whom had guns, creating a situation where there was no shortage of suspects. The party soon erupted into a virtual shooting gallery. I was able to argue there was reasonable doubt, and my client, who was facing 30 years to life, was convicted of a lesser charge.
Passaic Herald Newspaper

More than 2,500 visitors from out of town converged upon a local picnic ground in Oakland, New Jersey in celebration of a Jamaican holiday when gunfire erupted from all directions killing three people and injuring nineteen in the melee. My client was accused by several witnesses of firing a weapon into the crowd. Over thirty weapons were eventually found strewn around the park. Upon cross-examination, I demonstrated that the witness testimony was flawed and contradictory, and that none of the ballistics recovered matched any weapons possessed by my client. My client was charged with three counts of attempted murder and aggravated assault. After trial, he was found guilty of illegal possession of a weapon and was acquitted of all other charges. Bergen Record Newspaper

Four teenagers were charged with murder in the death of a young man in Hoboken, New Jersey. The teens verbally taunted this man, and the argument soon devolved into a street fight. My client was the oldest and roughest looking of the group. A jury’s impression of a client is always important, so I asked him to wear a pair of eyeglasses, a white shirt and a tie in order to soften his appearance at trial. My client was facing 30 years to life for murder, but he was convicted of simple assault instead. The Jersey Journal

My client was accused of killing his girlfriend. Upon arrest, he gave a statement to the police. I got the statement excluded from evidence as he was under the influence of medication when he gave his statement. In the statement, he told the police that his girlfriend shot him once, and then she turned the gun on herself and fired twice. Fortunately, my client’s statement was excluded from evidence. Both bullets found in her skull proved fatal, making it impossible for her to have shot herself twice, according to medical experts. Passaic Herald News

My client allegedly jammed the barrel of a pistol in her mouth and threatened to kill her. He was then arrested five hours later while asleep in her car. She testified that she was robbed and raped by him. Upon my cross-examination, she was unsure about identifying my client. I argued that my client had found the car abandoned in the street and was innocent. Her inability to identify my client created reasonable doubt and he was acquitted of rape and attempted murder. Newark Star‑Ledger