Wednesday, August 24, 2011

How to Win Your Criminal Case: The Use of A Forensic Meteorologist.

A forensic meteorologist does not predict future weather patterns but rather testifies as to what was the weather like yesterday, or two years ago, on a certain date, in a certain town or city.

The use of such an expert might be of extreme importance to discredit witnesses version of the lighting conditions, temperature, rain or snow fall, or wind speed, or other weather factors which might play a pivotal role in the guilt or innocence’s of a defendant.

Stephen Wistar (State College P.A.) a senior forensic meteorologist as well as other forensic meteorologist with AccuWeather have testified throughout the country in both civil and criminal cases as to weather conditions at a certain time and place in the past.

Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr.
Dated: August 24, 2011

Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney

The Strauss-Kahn False Accusations of Rape Ends With the Manhattan District Attorney Doing The Right Thing and Dismissing All Charges.

To often in the criminal justice system the local county prosecutors in New Jersey fail to do the right thing by not dismissing cases which have little or no merit.  Unfortunately to often in New Jersey when a police officer swears out a criminal complaint against someone the factual basis of the complaint is never fully investigated by the county prosecutor’s office to determine whether the complaint has any merit. 

It has been my experience that to often instead of dismissing the case outright as did the Manhattan District Attorney did in the Strauss-Kahn case, the assistant prosecutor handling the case will attempt to extract from the defendant some sort of plea.  Typically they will threaten the defendant with further prosecution unless the defendant applies for Pretrial Intervention (PTI), or accept a plea to a disorderly person’s offense or municipal ordinance.  The purpose of PTI is not to extort a plea against a defendant who is innocent, but rather to give a guilty defendant, a second chance with a diversionary program. 

In the Strauss-Kahn case the alleged victim, Nafissatou Diallo, in one of her meetings with the district attorney recounted a brutal rape which she endured in Guinea. Diallo recounted the event with great emotion and conviction. However, after being convinced by her attorney to come clean she admitted that the rape in Guinea was a complete fabrication and a total lie.  In the eyes of the prosecution team that was enough to dismiss the case because how could they ask a jury to believe someone whom they themselves could not.   The key is that the district attorney in New York could not believe her story beyond a reasonable doubt, so therefore, ethically, they could not ask a jury to what they could not.
Recently in Union County instead of dismissing completely a sexual contact charge against my client, the prosecutor last offer was for the client to plea to a non-criminal municipal ordinance charge.  Of course faced with further criminal prosecution my client like 99% of all defendants accepted the non-criminal ordinance plea.  In that case the prosecutor after learning that the alleged victim’s story was not credible should have simply dismissed the charges completely.  If a prosecutor cannot believe an alleged victims story beyond a reasonable doubt, they cannot ethically ask a jury to do what they cannot do.

Again I applaud the District Attorney in Manhattan for doing the right thing in the Strauss-Kahn case and see no reason why that same policy should not be followed in New Jersey.  After all the job the prosecutor is not force everyone to plea to something, but to do the right thing and to insure that justice is done no matter what the result is.

Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr.
Dated: August 24, 2011

Elizabeth, New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney