Archive for May, 2009
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 21, 2009
I once had a client that hired an attorney because she was on TruTv (then Court TV). In the client’s opinion, she did a whole lotta nothing for them but she still took the money. I saw the attorney on TV recently and I wanted to just make sure people know that not every attorney on TV is a good attorney. Some, if not a large number of TV attorneys pay to be on there. I can hire a PR firm today and probably be on some national show in the next few months. Does that mean I am better than any other attorney? Of course not; it just means that I spent a lot of money.
Again, some attorneys on TV are on there simply because they are viewed as great attorneys. One way to tell is whether or not the attorney had to drive to the appearance. For example, one of the other attorneys in my office was picked up in a limo for a TV appearance. Other attorneys I know that have paid to get on TV had to drive there. Yet again, a TV appearance alone does not mean the attorney is the best attorney for you regardless of how the attorney got there.
Finally, my main concern with TV attorneys is they are often proclaimed as experts by the show that they are on. Here’s the problem with that. I know an attorney that does not practice criminal law and yet he goes on TV as a criminal defense attorney. Crazy huh?
Posted in News | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 20, 2009
Wow, what else can you say about Paul Bergrin. After dodging a huge bullet by avoiding prison on prostitution charges, he is now facing life in prison for a variety of charges that make him look like a mob boss. Simply put, the Government alleges that he ordered witnesses to be killed and helped his clients carry out illegal activities.
Bergrin was indicted and charged with racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy, murder of a federal witness, and conspiracy to murder a federal witness and a witnesses in a state case, as well as Travel Act violations and conspiracy to commit Travel Act violations. He is looking at life in prison on some counts and a long enough sentence to be a life sentence for him at his age.
Also charged with Paul Bergrin are Thomas Moran of Paramus who is an attorney with an office in Bergrin’s law offices, Vicente Esteves who is an alleged drug dealer, Yolanda Jauregui, a/k/a Yolanda Bracero of the same Nutley same address as Bergrin, and Sundiata Koontz of West Orange.
The Government alleges that is has informants in addition to recorded conversations that capture Bergrin discussing murders and drug trafficking. In addition, there are hints that Bergrin may have been involved in other murders as other cases that he has been involved in had witnesses that turned up dead. Needless to say, it looks pretty bad for Mr. Bergrin.
He was arrested and held without bail. The Government wants to try to keep him held without bail as they allege that he has significant contacts in other countries, including the Dominican Republic, Japan and Costa Rica. In addition they allege that they have received information that he has five false passports.
Story is here.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, New Jersey, Paul Bergrin | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 20, 2009
The same witness was on the stand all day and didn’t even finish. TruTv stated that the most damaging testimony against Higbee was the fact that Higbee should not have went through the stop sign. As a 7 yeard old may say, Duh! The issue here is that Higbee didn’t see the sign, not that he saw it and said, screw it, I’m going for it. Thus, I don’t see how that testimony amounted to anything.
On the other hand, it seemed like Higbee’s attorney, William Subin, scored a lot of points on cross. He did a great job in focusing on the fact that there were any number of reasons for “someone” to not see the stop sign. The testimony got rather complex at times and I am simplifying this. Now if the Prosecutor is smart, he spends most of his re-direct tearing down this testimony by getting him to say that while “someone” could be distracted by this, that or the other thing, he cannot testify that Higbee was in fact distracted by anything. However, Mr. Subin already took care of some of this by getting the witness to indicate that he didn’t even investigate Higbee’s perception, distractions, etc.
The bottom line is, this cross was the most important so far for the defense.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, New Jersey, Robert Higbee, William Subin | 2 Comments »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 19, 2009
While this wasn’t my case, I did work on it as my firm represented the client. It was a tough case as the case was stacked against the client. Nevertheless, we did a great job by getting the plea down. After all, the client killed one person and seriously injured another. Since he already had 18 months in jail, he should get out of prison in about 8 years or less.
This is the type of case where we really don’t make any money because we wind up doing 3 times the amount of work than what we are paid for. However, when it comes to criminal defense, you set a fee and after it is paid, you forget about whether you were paid enough to fight for the client. We turned this case upside down, reviewed 1000′s of pages of documents, filed over a dozen motions and did a ton of research.
In the end, the client thought that it would be best to accept this deal. If he went to trial, he would have had to spend more time in jail to wait for a trial while he was risking a lot more time if convicted. I’m really happy we can get this deal for him.
Story is here.
Posted in My Practice | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, New Jersey, Vehicular Homicide | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 18, 2009
I feel sorry for the jury today. They sat through hours and hours of testimony from only one witness and they didn’t even hear any cross yet! The witness on the stand today was the accident reconstruction expert. I understand that there is some foundation evidence that the prosecutor has to get into, but seriously, today was painful. It was also cut short by a family issue with one of the jurors.
This was a big break for the defense. The jury will likely forget most of what they heard today and the defense can prep for cross tomorrow. While this jury can take notes, TruTv has reported that they have not used their notepads that often. One of my biggest issues with the defense in this case is that Higbee’s attorney matches the prosecutor’s tone. While you don’t want to come across like a jerk, you need some passion in your voice.
Of course, some attorneys are just a certain way and you don’t want to be something you are not. It would be nice if another attorney would do some cross from time to time. That attorney can use a different style which will really have the jury pay attention. After hours of boring testimony, a half hour or so of quick, surgical-style cross with a lot of passion would go a long way with the jury.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, New Jersey, Robert Higbee | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 18, 2009
James R. Serfass, a lieutenant with the Upper Black Eddy Fire Company and the son of the station’s chief, was charged with second-degree sexual assault and fourth-degree criminal sexual contact of a 14 year old girl. Police were called by the girl’s father about activity that occurred two days prior. When the officer was at the house taking a report, Serfass showed up to apologize. He was arrested on the spot.
Based upon the charges, I can make a guess as to what took place. I am sure he made a statement as he was ready to apologize to the father. If this case can be handled quickly by a good attorney, Serfass should be able to avoid prison.
Story is here.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Criminal Sexual Contact, Lawyer, New Jersey, Sexual Assault | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 18, 2009
I always like these old cases from a defense stand point. Although there is no explanation as to why Phillip E. Wylie, 34, of Washington Avenue, Asbury Park; Cedric O. Smith, 37, of Jackson Street, Freehold; Sean D. Harris, 36, of Asbury Park Village, Asbury Park; Darren K. Sims, 32, of Boston Way Village, Asbury Park; Alphonso T. Edwards, 31, New Street, Asbury Park; Antonio E. Grant, 30, of Third Avenue, Asbury Park and a seventh defendant were charged 12 years after the death of Andre Williams of Asbury Park it certainly seems interesting. There are going to be many witnesses that forget what they saw and heard which is great from the defense side.
Whether or not this was a murder was unknown until 2006 when Monmouth County detectives developed some new information. The investigation picked up and something led authorities to charge seven people in the alleged slaying. As always, with seven people you have to be careful that someone is going flip if that hasn’t happened already. One person flipping is easy to deal with but three or four can be tough. Otherwise, the State will need some great evidence to put together a murder case that will be probably 15 years old by the time it actually gets to trial.
Story is here.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, Murder, New Jersey | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 17, 2009
I’ve added an articles section to the blog. I like to help people and educate them. When I see a problem, I try to figure out how to fix it. Violating probation in New Jersey is rather easy to avoid but many people each year find themselves in court on a VOP charge. I wrote an article that should eliminate 95% of all VOPs if the suggestions are followed. More articles will follow in the weeks and months ahead. As always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to call me.
Posted in My Practice | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, New Jersey, NJ VOP Attorney, NJ VOP Lawyer, Violation of Probation | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 14, 2009
Nothing exciting about this story, just rather funny. Police in Newton, NJ arrested Brandon Ryzner-Meredith for allegedly trying to break into a grocery store. Witnesses reported that he was wearing some type of trench coat. However, when police came, they found him wearing a dark blue snuggie. Police allege that he was using the snuggie to conceal himself. He was charged with criminal mischief, criminal attempt of burglary and possession of burglar’s tools.
Story is here.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Burglary, Lawyer, New Jersey, snuggie | Leave a Comment »
Posted by whitecollarcrimenews on May 14, 2009
Not much happened on Wednesday due to various delays. The State Trooper that testified, Anthony Mertis investigated the crash. The major aspect of his testimony was the stop sign and whether or not it was illuminated. I missed most of the cross due to TruTv’s schedule, but I did catch some.
It seems like Higbee’s attorney, William Subin did focus on the fact that the video shown to the jury which depicts the stop sign was overly illuminated due to the Trooper Mertis’ car and the lights that he had on. Mr. Subin also brought out the fact that Trooper Mertis was aware of other accidents at the same location. In addition, Mr. Subin established once again that Higbee was following proper protocol when he was attempting to go after the speeder.
All in all, I’d have to give the win to the defense for Wednesday’s brief proceedings.
Posted in News | Tagged: Attorney, Lawyer, New Jersey, Robert Higbee | Leave a Comment »
