Author Archives: Tonacchio Law, LLC
Pest control company owner faces numerous charges over dead squirrel
This is the type of case where I would reduce my fees to help the person out because I think they are getting screwed over by the system. Now don’t get my wrong, I love animals and everything but there reaches a point where it gets crazy.
Kathleen Buck, owner of Critter Ridder has been charged with four counts of animal cruelty after a squirrel died in a trap that she set. The trap was set on Wednesday at 1pm. By Thursday at 5pm, the trap had baked to death. I think a donation by Buck to an animal shelter should settle this case instead of having this impact her or her business. She has been in business for 30 years and has not had a problem.
Story is here.
Robert Higbee trial on May 21st
There was no testimony on the 20th because Robert Higbee’s attorney was ill. There is no testimony on the 22nd because of an unpaid day off for State employees. Testimony will resume on Tuesday.
Today’s witness was Richard Ruth, the “black box expert”. The defense didn’t even start cross yet so I expect at least another full day of testimony if not more. However, during the voir dire of the expert the defense can cross the expert about their qualifications. In this case, William Subin, Higbee’s attorney did a great job in ripping apart Mr. Ruth who seemed a little “off”. This is the type of guy that wears a short tie which just tells me a lot about him. Mr. Subin brought out the fact that Mr. Ruth forgot about what trial he did testify at and which he didn’t. For me, it was the most exciting part of the case because Subin and Ruth really went at it. While I think Subin could have crafted a little better to box Ruth in, I know it is easy for me to say that when I am not in the heat of trial.
For all of the expert’s testimony, I think a lot of it was too much information for the jury to handle with much of it being pointless. One key issue that came out was that Higbee tapped on his brake pedal before the warning sign for the stop sign. Thus, the State will argue that Higbee saw the stop sign, tapped on his brake and then still went through the stop sign thinking that no one was coming from the other way.
Of course, this is all just speculation. Mr. Subin needs to hammer the point home that you don’t know why he tapped on the brake, i.e is this his normal driving behavior or did he see the stop sign? That is really the key point of the case. Crossing this expert on and on about this and that will only distract from the key points of the defense. As I’ve said before, this is actually a fairly simple case that is being made more complicated by both sides.
A quick note on TV attorneys
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?
Attorney Paul Bergrin charged with Conspiracy to Commit Murder and Racketeering
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.
Robert Higbee trial on May 19th
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.
Man gets 13 years for DWI death of 88 year old
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.
Robert Higbee trial on May 18th
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.
Firefighter charged with sexual assault
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.
Seven charged in 1997 murder
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.
How to survive probation in New Jersey
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.
Tonacchio Law LC 