Child abuse charges dismissed
My client was charged with assaulting his child to the point where she was a bloody mess when the police arrived. The problem in New Jersey is that there is no clear line between corporal punishment and child abuse. So, I argued that this was nothing more than corporal punishment that took a wrong turn. This case took a few months to work out, but in the end, my client had all charges dismissed. He didn’t even have to pay court costs. It was a great result for a very nice client.
Theft charges for stolen wallet dismissed
My client had allegedly stolen a wallet at a party and was later caught by the police. I thought this case would be a little tough, but I was able to get the criminal charges dismissed in exchange for payment of a small fine.
Neptune plumber accused in thefts
Richard Burgess Jr., has been charged with one count each of third-degree theft and fourth-degree theft, as well as a disorderly persons offense for theft. Police allege that Burgess worked for a local plumbing business and that while performing work at customers’ houses, he stole jewelry from multiple victims.
Story is here.
North Jersey high school teacher charged with criminal sexual conduct
Gianfranco Maucione was arrested Saturday at his Hasbrouck Heights home after an investigation by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the East Rutherford and Carlstadt police departments. An investigation revealed the 29-year-old Maucione allegedly had been exchanging sexually explicit pictures and messages with a 16-year-old student at the Henry P. Becton Regional High School in East Rutherford.
Maucione taught math there and was a former soccer coach at the school, from which he graduated in 1998. He resigned his teaching post after being charged with criminal sexual contact, child endangerment and official misconduct.
Story is here.
Bowling Alley Manager Charged with Burning Down Rival’s Bowling Alley
Who would have thought that the bowling alley business was so cut throat? Police allege that Steven Smink of Philadelphia, the manager of Pike Lanes Family Fun Center in Deerfield, hired Felix Antonio Manzano of Philadelphia and a 17-year-old from Philadelphia to set a fire at the Loyle Lanes which burned down on January 11th. The fire took off the roof and much of the back wall and melted pins, balls and just about everything else inside.
All three men face charges of aggravated arson, aggravated arson for hire and conspiracy to commit arson. As always, this is the type of case where the first one in the door with a plea will work out the best.
Story is here.
Jayson Williams pleads guilty; will go to prison
With his world crumbling down around him, Jayson Williams has entered into a plea deal in which he plead guilty to aggravated assault. As a result, the reckless manslaughter charge will be dismissed and the judge will not rule on whether or not his attorneys (Joseph Hayden Jr. and Billy Martin) should be permitted to withdraw from the case. White the attorneys cited a lack of communication with Williams, money was the real issue there, especially with his pending divorce.
Williams must serve at least 18 months in prison before becoming eligible for parole. For Williams, this ends a saga that has cost him millions in legal feels and a civil settlement with the victim’s family in addition to a divorce, an odd situation in a hotel where the police had to use a taser on him in addition to his DWI just a week ago.
Story is here.
Man who breached security at Newark Airport ID’d as Haisong Jiang of Piscataway
By now, everyone has heard about the incident at Newark Airport where a man went past security to say goodbye to his girlfriend. The airport was shut down and the video cameras were later found to be not recording. Well, police have some figured out that the man was Haisong Jiang of Piscataway, New Jersey.
He was also arrested on charges of defiant trespass which is just plain stupid. I don’t see how the State can prove that he intentionally went someone that he knew he was not permitted. Seriously, its an airport. This guy is going to break the law just to say goodbye. He clearly wasn’t paying attention. It seems that they want to crucify him because the airport screwed up. To arrest someone for charges like this when you can just mail him a ticket or hand him one is just a PR stunt.
Here is the problem. Does he spend a lot of money on an attorney or does he just eat the charge and move on? If he does fight it, his attorney should move to have the case taken out of Newark and then file a motion to dismiss. This is the type of case that I would take for much less money than I normally would just to help this guy out because I think he is getting screwed.
His facebook page is here.
Story is here.
Little Silver Police Officer charged with Official Misconduct
Little Silver police officer Steven Solari was arrested Thursday afternoon and charged with two counts of official misconduct, and one count each of aggravated assault, tampering with a witness, obstruction of justice and hindering apprehension.
The Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation after an incident was brought to their attention by Little Silver police. On Dec. 20, Solari and another officer responded to a call at a private home in Little Silver. During the course of that call, Solari arrested and engaged in a physical struggle with a man. At headquarters, while that man had his hands cuffed behind his back, Solari allegedly struck him several times.
Several days later, Solari allegedly approached a witness to the assault and tried to convince that person to withhold the truth or lie during the course of the investigation.
The misconduct and assault charges are second-degree offenses. The hindering and tampering charges are third-degree crimes, and the obstruction charge is a fourth-degree offense.
He’ll be facing some heavy time unless his attorney can explain away his conduct one way or another (I have several ideas) as well as talking about his record which seems really good.
Story is here.
Lakehurst man charged with impersonating a probation officer
Louis W. Deutsch of Lakehurst was charged with impersonating a probation officer after reports came of an unmarked cruiser pulling behind cars with emergency strobe lights on. He admitted to giving roadside assistance to several drivers between August and October of 2009. He made a big mistake when he assisted an off-duty police officer and his wife while impersonating an Ocean County probation officer. He was arrested in December after being stopped by an Manchester officer but released on $2,500 bail.
It doesn’t sound like he had a bad motive here so if thhat turns out to be the case, this should turn out OK for him.
Story is here.
Police raid leads to five arrests
Five people were arrested on various drug charges Thursday evening, following a month-long investigation by Brick Township police. Those arrested were: Peter Perea of N. Sailors Quay Drive; Daniel B. Lees of Hawaii Drive; Steven T. Reedy of Schindler Drive; Jill R. Mulligan of Emerald Drive, and Russell N. Hand of Buena Vista Drive.
All were arrested after a search warrant was executed at 57 N. Sailors Quay Drive. Marijuana, drug paraphernalia and more than $1,300 cash were seized. From my experience, I am sure that charges against several of the defendant will be dismissed especially if good lawyers are involved. In these cases, police tend to arrest everyone that is there and then sort it all out later.
Story is here.
Tonacchio Law LC 