Thursday, March 22, 2012

United States Supreme Court Decides Defendants Are Entitled to Correct Legal Advice in Deciding Whether to Accept or Reject Plea Offers.


The United States Supreme Court, (Missouri v. Frye, No. 10-444); (Lafler v. Cooper, No. 10-209) in a split decision decided that criminal defendants have the constitutional right under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution to have effective assistance of counsel during plea negotiations.  The Court ruled that attorneys whom give bad legal advice to their clients during plea negotiations are ineffective and that the Courts are now required to take a more active role in plea negotiations.

The Court noted that nationally 94% of criminal defendants take a plea offer, and in federal court the number is 97% whom take pleas.  Accordingly, the Court noted in reality the criminal justice system is not a system of trial but of pleas, and accordingly, one of the most crucial stages in criminal procedure is not trials, but plea negotiations and the plea bargaining system.

In Frye, the defendant was offered a 90 day jail sentence by the prosecutor for operating his motor vehicle without a driver’s license.  Mr. Frye was not advised by his attorney of the plea offer, went to trial, was convicted and sentenced by the judge to three years in prison. 

In Cooper the facts are even more bizarre in that the defense attorney advised his client that because he shot his victim four times below the waist that he could not be convicted of attempted murder.  Because of the bad legal advice Mr. Cooper rejected the plea offer of between four and seven years and went to trial.  Convicted a trial for attempted murder Mr. Cooper was sentenced to 15 to 30 years.  The Supreme Court in Cooper held that the Mr. Cooper should be reoffered the plea that he was never advised about, and that if he accepts it, to be re-sentenced by the Judge.


Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr. 
A New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney who has 21 years of experience and skill to fight for your acquittal, and achieve your not guilty verdict.

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Dated: March 22, 2012
 
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

The Crane Brothers Looking to Make another Easy Money Score Against the Catholic Church, on the Backs of the Faithful Catholics Who Support the Church.

Twin brothers Tom an Bill Crane are either two of the most unluckiest brothers, or consummate con-artists looking to make another easy money score against the Catholic Church claiming that they were sexually abused.

One payoff was not enough for the Crane brothers whom were part of a settlement of 5 million dollars divided by 12 different plaintiffs and their attorneys when the Crane brothers claimed that a Priest from St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in Mendham New Jersey molested them.

Now remarkably these two brothers are now claiming that two other priests molested them when they were living with their Father, an administrator and teacher at the prestigious Delbarton Catholic pre-school in Morris Township.  Of all of the tens-of-thousands of young men who have been educated by the great Benedictine monks from Delbarton these two unlucky men were abused by not only monks at that school, but at their local parish.  These two brothers claimed that the abuse occurred over thirty-years ago, but told no one, including there Father who worked there as a teacher and administrator.

One would need the help of a quantum computer (not yet invented), to finger out the miniscule likelihood of such abuse to have occurred by three separate Priest, at two different locations, when these two brother were growing up, while not telling anyone.

It is time that the Catholic Church and its religious orders put an end to monetary payouts to these so-called, “abused” scam artists and fight them in court to expose their lies and incredible stories, such as the one concocted by the Crane brothers.  Otherwise there will be no end to these scam artists looking to the Church for a quick payoff on the backs of the millions of faithful Catholics who give their hard earned money every Sunday to the Church which they love and respect, and which has withstood the test of time and history for 2000 years.

"If you want Peace Work for Justice."  Pope John Paul, I

Law Office of Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr., Esq.
CriminalDefenseNJ.com
Tel. No. (908) 354-7006


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Dated: March 21, 2012

The Necessity of Expunging All Criminal Records, When Possible, Even Arrests which Did Not Lead to Convictions.

A recent survey conducted found that over 90% of employers run criminal background checks on every job applicant.  Additionally, another 60% screen all job applicants with credit report checks.  Amazingly, in some cases even a bad driving record will exclude most applicants from the employment position.

Even more troubling is the fact that over 65 million potential job applicants will be excluded from any type of gainful legitimate employment because of a criminal record.

Most people do not understand and are not aware that even the mere arrest, which did not lead to a conviction, will in most cases also bar a job applicant from employment.  Most employers seeing an arrest also see with the background check what the person was arrested for.  This is especially true with someone arrested for a serious charge. 

Therefore, it is absolutely essential that anyone convicted of a crime, which is subject to an Expungement obtain one.  Further, anyone arrested but not convicted most likewise obtain an Expungement of the arrest, so that the arrest does not come up in the background check.  It is too easy for employers in this tough job market to eliminate job applicants with criminal background checks.

Law Office Vincent J. Sanzone, Jr., Esq.
CriminalDefenseNJ.com
Tel. No. (908) 354-7006

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Dated: March 21, 2012