Scholarship winner, Leah Moskalow We congratulate Leah Moskalow for being selected as the 2023 recipient of the Law Office of Matthew V. Portella, LLC $500 scholarship! Leah Moskalow Leah Moskalow is a recent graduate of Winslow Township High School and will be attending Rutgers University – Camden to major in Biology and minor in Art. …
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Read MoreThe Drug Recognition Evaluator (DRE) program is an intensive training program that teaches law enforcement officers how to identify and evaluate drivers who are suspected of being impaired by drugs. The program was developed in the 1970s by the Los Angeles Police Department and has since been adopted by law enforcement agencies across the country, …
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Read MoreMarquis Donegan
Read MoreThe U.S. Constitution protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Police officers generally need to get a warrant from a judge to conduct a search. However, there are some limited exceptions. In this article, our New Jersey criminal defense attorney provides an overview of the key things to know about your search warrants, the legal …
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Read MoreAs a general rule, a law enforcement officer in New Jersey needs a valid reason to stop a driver. In other words, they need “reasonable suspicion” that the driver has committed a traffic infraction or a criminal offense. However, a DWI checkpoint is an exception. DWI checkpoints have been upheld as constitutional by our nation’s …
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Read MoreImpaired driving is one of the most common traffic offenses. According to data published by the New Jersey Department of Human Services, an average of 26,500 people are convicted of a DWI or a related offense in the state each year. To be convicted of a DWI in New Jersey, a prosecutor must prove that …
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Read MoreAccording to data provided by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), nearly 1.4 million Americans are arrested on DWI charges each year. Although anyone could be arrested on suspicion of impaired driving, the data is clear: Younger drivers are more likely to be charged with a DWI; and Male drivers are more likely to be …
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Read MoreDWI charges can be defended on a number of different grounds. In some cases, police officers make serious errors that violate the rights of the accused and/or render the evidence that they collected unreliable or inadmissible during the trial A DWI charge could potentially be dismissed because of law enforcement misconduct. In this article, our …
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Read MoreIn 2021, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act into law. The legislation dramatically reformed New Jersey’s marijuana laws creating a system for regulation and legalizing cannabis possession and use for adults 21 years of age and older. This raises an important question: How is …
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Read MoreIn 2012, Washington and Colorado became the first two U.S. jurisdictions to legalize the recreational use of marijuana (cannabis) at the state level. Over the last decade, many other states have followed, including New Jersey. On Nov. 3, 2020, New Jersey voters strongly supported Public Question 1 — an amendment to the state’s constitution that …
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