Author Archives: Tonacchio Law, LLC
False Swearing, (2C:28-2)
New Jersey False Swearing Attorney
A criminal conviction can ruin your reputation and your life. Calling a tough, smart attorney as early as possible may make the difference between a great result and disaster. Regardless of the how simple or complex the case, or where the court is, our team of aggressive New Jersey criminal defense lawyers will fight for you.
With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our false swearing (2C:28-2) defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call our attorneys today to begin your aggressive defense.
2C:28-2. False swearing
a. False swearing. A person who makes a false statement under oath or equivalent affirmation, or swears or affirms the truth of such a statement previously made, when he does not believe the statement to be true, is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree.
b. Perjury provisions applicable. Subsections c. and d. of section 2C:28-1 apply to the present section.
c. Inconsistent statements. Where the defendant made inconsistent statements under oath or equivalent affirmation, both having been made within the period of the statute of limitations, the prosecution may proceed by setting forth the inconsistent statements in a single count alleging in the alternative that one or the other was false and not believed by the defendant. In such case it shall not be necessary for the prosecution to prove which statement was false but only that one or the other was false and not believed by the defendant to be true.
From Newark to Trenton, Jersey City to Atlantic City, our false swearing (2C:28-2) defense lawyers will fight you in any court in New Jersey. With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our team of tough, smart criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call us today to begin the fight against your charges!
Perjury, 2C:28-1
New Jersey Perjury Attorney
A criminal conviction can ruin your reputation and your life. Calling a tough, smart attorney as early as possible may make the difference between a great result and disaster. Regardless of the how simple or complex the case, or where the court is, our team of aggressive New Jersey criminal defense lawyers will fight for you.
With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our perjury (2C:28-1) defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call our attorneys today to begin your aggressive defense.
2C:28-1. Perjury
a. Offense defined. A person is guilty of perjury, a crime of the third degree, if in any official proceeding he makes a false statement under oath or equivalent affirmation, or swears or affirms the truth of a statement previously made, when the statement is material and he does not believe it to be true.
b. Materiality. Falsification is material, regardless of the admissibility of the statement under rules of evidence, if it could have affected the course or outcome of the proceeding or the disposition of the matter. It is no defense that the declarant mistakenly believed the falsification to be immaterial. Whether a falsification is material is a question of law.
c. Irregularities no defense. It is not a defense to prosecution under this section that the oath or affirmation was administered or taken in an irregular manner. A document purporting to be made upon oath or affirmation at any time when the actor presents it as being so verified shall be deemed to have been duly sworn or affirmed.
d. Retraction. It is an affirmative defense under this section that the actor retracted the falsification in the course of the proceeding or matter in which it was made prior to the termination of the proceeding or matter without having caused irreparable harm to any party.
e. Corroboration. No person shall be convicted of an offense under this section where proof of falsity rests solely upon contradiction by testimony of a single person other than the defendant.
From Newark to Trenton, Jersey City to Atlantic City, our perjury (2C:28-1) defense lawyers will fight you in any court in New Jersey. With offices in New Brunswick, Toms River, Eatontown & Princeton, our team of tough, smart criminal defense lawyers are easy to reach from anywhere in New Jersey. Call us today to begin the fight against your charges!
This blog is totally unbiased
This was on a message board about my coverage of the Higbee trial:
“But Avalon..do we really know this blogger/attny is impartial?..Maybe he has an agenda..maybe he owes something to someone for something..I do get a sense that this prosecution was politically motivated..course I am rather a skepticle type…dont ya know?”
That was rather funny. While I am involved in politics, my criminal defense life comes before all else. I have no agenda and I always give you my honest opinon on whatever I am blogging about.
Man seeks revenge on ex-wife by leaking oil on lawn
Gerald Dugan is charged with criminal mischief and unlawfully releasing hazardous materials after he allegedly removed a valve from the oil tank of his ex-wife’s house causing 200 gallons of home heating oil to be spilled outside and onto her lawn.
He is also alleged to have broken into a locked garage, scratched a car, spray-painted its headlights black, slashed a bike tire, unplugged a freezer, slashed a mattress and damaged a lawn mower. The bad part about all that is that each incident will be used to prove the other. In addition, he also faces burglary and criminal mischief charges from May 16 when he allegedly was captured on security camera ripping down a clothesline and stealing a storage bin. While the last part isn’t that much of a problem, that incident will also be used against him to try to convict him of the other incidents.
Story is here.
Robert Higbee Verdict: Not Guilty
I have to say that I am a little surprised. I really thought Higbee was done for since a not guilty verdict should have came on Friday. Regardless, it was the right result and I am happy for him. Luckily the jury saw right through what was mostly a nice presentation by the Prosecutor. In the end, I think it all boiled down to common sense: is this some crazy trooper that blows through stop signs or can a person make one tragic mistake in their life? Higbee’s experience and lack of any discipline problems really helped him out as it was rather obvious that this was just a really bad mistake.
Cocaine and marijuana seized during traffic stop in Warren Township
Darnell Williams and Eric Villalona both of York, Pa., have been charged with first-degree possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, third-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and possession of drug paraphernalia after a traffic stop in Warren township led to the alleged discovery of about $24,000 in cocaine and marijuana in the car.
Police pulled over the men for tailgating and when they approached the vehicle, police allegedly observed marijuana on the lap of Villalona. Ok great, you can arrest Villalona for that and if everything else checks out, Williams is free to leave. Here’s the odd thing about this. Police call for a K-9 and the dog alerts to more drugs. But how do they know that the dog is not smelling the same drugs that they already found on Villalona. The dog apparently hit on the trunk and so they searched it and found the rest.
This is an interesting case and at least one of these guys has a good defense. If the car belongs to neither man, then they both have a great defense. We have a case along these lines in the office right now; actually a few of them. While not a slam dunk case, there is a good shot to win them as there is for this case.
Story is here.
No verdict yet in Robert Higbee case
Trying to read into jury questions is almost impossible. Higbee could still walk away with a not guilty verdict, but I have some serious doubts at this point. Friday came and went without a verdict which is always important for a defense attorney. A lot of verdicts tend to come down around 4 on Fridays when the weak hands fold as the prospect of coming back on Monday becomes real.
With the jury out all day, not much happened except for some jury questions. At first they wanted a calculator and then an hour later, they wanted a ruler. I can’t possibly think of another criminal trial where a jury would ask for things like that. I can’t see how this helps the defense. The more they try to calculate one thing or the other, the more they are trying to find guilt.
My best guess is that there will be several more questions on Monday in addition to at least one read back request. As a result, I don’t think we will see a verdict on Monday.
A cheap attorney may cost you
There is a big market out there for cheap, low-cost criminal defense. I refuse to get into that market. However, it is sometimes difficult for people to understand why one lawyer costs so much more than another one. I’ll try to give you a couple examples.
We just finished a vehicular homicide case and got a great deal for a client that had a lot against him. When his father came to see us, he complained that his attorney was doing nothing. It turns out, he paid his attorney less than what we would charge for a DWI case. As I explained, there is a lot of profit in that next to nothing retainer when you do next to nothing. We charged him about 10 times what he paid the previous attorney. Now that the case is over and he saw the 100+ hours we put into the case, I’m sure he thinks that it was a good investment.
We also had a client that went the opposite way and we just found out what happened with his case. His mother came to see us last year. We charged her a pre-indictment fee that was fair given the amount of work we had to do. He was charged with attempting to stab his wife. However, the wife denied this occurred and was in constant communication with our office. I called the AP on the case and she indicated that she was probably going to downgrade the case back to municipal court. In addition, the client was in the hospital due to mental health issues so he was in no condition to help us. However, the records from his stay there would really help his defense. Thus, this seemed like an easy case.
About a week or so after hiring us, his Mother spoke to another attorney that offered to do the whole case for the same amount we charged for part of the case. Thus, she hired him. Wouldn’t you be concerned with an attorney that would steal a case away from another attorney like that? Anyway, the funny thing about that was that the client wouldn’t have owed us anything if the case worked out like the AP said it would.
We had thought that the other attorney had just used our hard work to wrap up the case. However, this attorney did not take a statement from a wife before the case was presented to the grand jury. Thus, the client was indicted. In addition, at no point did the attorney get his medical records or have him evaluated by an expert to look into his mental state. Instead, the prosecutor threatened him with a big sentence if he didn’t plea guilty so his attorney told him to take the deal even though he claims he is innocent.
So he didn’t save any money, he has a felony conviction and he is likely headed to prison for a crime that both he and his wife claim never happened. So he paid this attorney all of this money for what exactly?
Tonacchio Law LC 