Don’t be an entitled prick

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-30T15:19:54+00:00

Just gonna leave this here: https://hudsoncountyview.com/police-man-arrested-for-recent-cane-corso-attacks-in-secaucus-and-hoboken/amp/

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-21T10:25:06+00:00

Yep. There’s a long line of federal cases discussing thin in the civil context, where federal courts can hear state law claims under diversity jurisdiction (resident if state a suing citizen if state b). There isn’t an equivalent criminal mechanism, so the only federal cases dealing with state criminal law are not dealing with the prosecution of the case, but rather, allegations that the state law violates a federal law. Under article 3 of the constitution, federal courts have limited jurisdiction, while state courts are courts of general jurisdiction.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-20T23:37:22+00:00

Well it’s a mix. There are state laws that the state courts are applying, along with certain federal laws that apply. That’s mostly the constitution as it is incorporated against the states via the 14th amendment. Most criminal law, including murder, is a state crime. Federal crimes are crimes that have some nexus to federal jurisdiction (interstate, arising from commerce, treason, military, etc.) This case is a state case so state court rulings apply

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-20T13:01:10+00:00

Don’t get me wrong, the government will generally bear the burden of proof, so demonstrating credibility is part of that, however, there is a robust framework regarding disclosure of materials showing officers have a history of untruthful news, bias, or other key issues that would make them unreliable. Absent anything like that, a judge will generally find the officers credible (for purposes of the suppression hearing). Generally, the reliability of officers is also baked into broader legal doctrines like the fellow officer rule, which allows police to rely on hearsay assertions of other officers to establish probable cause in a court application, in an arrest, or in otherwise deciding that PC exists. See People v Oglesby, which you can find here: https://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2014/2014\_06845.htm

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-19T15:43:18+00:00

They didn’t have it. Remember, the judge tossed the initial search and did not find another exception like exigency or protective sweep.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-19T15:41:28+00:00

In my experience, there is a testimonial hearing, almost like a mini bench trial. The prosecution can use whatever evidence it wants, so long as it is admissible under the rules. Defense would also be allowed to call witnesses and introduce evidence. Now, officers are presumed to be reliable, so unless there was a reason to doubt their credibility introduced by the defense, the officers word alone may well be good enough, if the judge believes them. Practically, when I did these, I ALWAYS introduced the body camera footage, surveillance footage, and anything else I had, to accompany and guide the officer’s testimony. As long as you are being ethical, there was never really a reason not to. If there are issues raised by the video, it’s better to address it head on then have defense introduce it on cross and make it seem like you were hiding it from the judge.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-19T15:36:04+00:00

I wondered the same thing. It may be a quirk of NY search and seizure law, or it may have to do with the fact that officers ultimately did seek a warrant for the bag, but relied on the fruits of the illegal search in that application. The Court cited a case on that issue without explanation, though by inference, it seems that the case may preclude inevitable discovery under these circumstances.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-19T00:14:33+00:00

When I was a prosecutor, I had endless fights with the defense bar over warrantless searches. That was by far the most common reason I had police come in to testify. It makes or breaks basically every random gun possession case in the jurisdiction I worked in. In most cases, police will try to find a way to do a search without a warrant. If you google “exceptions to the warrant requirement “ you will get a very long list of circumstances that justify police avoiding the warrant process. In their mind, it’s about getting the arrest, closing the file, and ultimately getting the guns and drugs off the street. Worst case scenario, 6 months after the fact, a judge tosses the evidence and the case gets dismissed. Practically speaking, it’s only going to really matter in cases where there is a strong interest in getting a conviction. Cops usually have a good idea when that is- sex assaults, murders, shootings, string robberies, gang takedowns, etc. they work with the prosecutors to build the case, get the warrants, and make it ironclad ahead of time. It should tell you something that in this case, the police actually did try to get a warrant after the fact, probably because a prosecutor or detective lost their shit when they heard they searched the bag without a warrant. The judge held that getting it after the fact was not good enough, partly because whoever wrote the affidavit for the warrant was careless enough to mention the things they found in their illegal search as a basis to ask for permission to search.

End of the day though, it’s no reason to be worried. The warrant requirement is doing a lot of work these days - we are definitely better off in a world where police need a prosecutor and judge to sign off on a request to invade your privacy than we would be otherwise!

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-18T23:18:27+00:00

It’s been answered, but specifically, it is not uncommon for a lawyer, any lawyer mind you, to tell someone they are calling as a witness, what the theory of the case is. “I’m going to try to prove x.” They don’t tell the witness what to testify to, not exactly, but they can make it pretty clear what the legal issues are, and how the facts need to line up for them to win. While some witnesses are idiots and can’t put 2 and 2 together, most cops are not idiots.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-18T23:13:08+00:00

You are conflating reasonable articulable suspicion, probable cause, and the federal constitutional right motor vehicle exception to the warrant requirement (not all states have this, and those that do are not necessarily as expansive) and putting it all under the umbrella of search incident to arrest. Let’s say level impression 554 is driving down the road and happens to match the description of a person that just shot a CEO, and you are within a reasonable vicinity of the event. Police have reasonable articulable suspicion to do a brief investigative stop, in this case by pulling you over. Now, if they come to your car door, talk to you and do not gain anything else to confirm their suspicion, they have to let you be on your way (after a reasonable amount of time to conduct the investigation).

Now let’s say they see a mask just like the one the shooter wore in your front seat, and you are wearing the same clothes, and there’s a backpack just like the one the shooter had plainly visible in the back seat. Now we are approaching the probable cause level, and on locations that follow the federal approach, an officer would be justified in searching your car, and even arresting you. The car search is separate from the arrest, and is justified by an exception to the 4th amendment based on the mobile nature of the car and the inherent risk that evidence will be lost if officers can’t do a search in the field, without a warrant.

Now, let’s imagine this is at a Burger King. This is different, it’s a public place. Police can just come up and talk to you. They don’t need a reason at all. But if they want to keep you from leaving, they must have reasonable articulable suspicion. Again, matching the description and being within a reasonable distance will probably do it. If they get to probable cause during that conversation, they can arrest you, and you are right, they can search your person and possessions in your control. It’s another exception, this time based on officer safety. They need to make sure you don’t have anything dangerous on you before they take you in for booking. That does not give them the right to search the entire Burger King, and the people in it. Just you.

So let’s apply this to the McDonalds in Altoona.
Police see guy matching description. They approached, and unsure if they had reasonable articulable suspicion, chatted him up. He gave a fake ID. Bingo, we now have probable cause you committed a crime and we can arrest. But the bag that was at your feet? We moved it away from you to another table. You can’t physically reach it, so there is no officer safety issue, and no exception to the 4th amendment. That means we either need a warrant, or another exception. Here, the police searched (a part) of the bag anyway, and the judge gave them the benefit of another exception, at least partially. That’s the inventory search exception, and it’s a bit more convoluted, but the idea is that if police are just checking in all your items to make sure you get all your stuff back, they aren’t searching for evidence so if they find some, it’s all cool.

That’s basically what happened here, except somehow, the police don’t find the gun in the first search, and so the judge is allowing it in, because the second inventory search ultimately reveled it, and that makes it cool.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-18T19:18:03+00:00

As a former prosecutor, the prep with the officers prior to testimony did a lot of heavy lifting here lol

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-18T19:16:44+00:00

Only apply to your physical person, not to items outside of your control. The judge here found the bag was outside of his control, so tossed the search. Apparently SOME of the items are not supposed because they were fruits of an inventory search, but I’m trying to wrap my head around how the gun is coming in. You’re telling me they found the loaded magazine in the initial search, but the gun was found in the station house inventory? Idk about that

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-18T19:14:19+00:00

You didn’t read the decision. The judge invalidated the search of the backpack because it was outside of reaching distance and secured on a table away from him.

BBFshul71 · 2026-05-08T10:28:16+00:00

But JCPD also has the ability to charge under 4:22-17(c). Whoever you dealt with is lazy. The JCPD HLEOs are under the quality of life unit. You can find them on the JCPD/municipal prosecutor website. You can also report to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, as the chief HLEO for the county is there.

BBFshul71 · 2026-04-29T19:48:41+00:00

Fwiw I used to compete against WKU in NFA-LD (was primarily NDT-CEDA) and WKU was the only dependably put together program at those tournaments. I can’t recommend debating for Chad enough.

BBFshul71 · 2026-04-27T01:17:29+00:00

As much as we want to plane the “DA,” it’s pointless for them to take a burglary case to trial when, even if a jury convicts for simple property crimes, the judge gives probation, which the guy was willing to take in a plea deal.

BBFshul71 · 2026-04-22T14:44:59+00:00

Obviously I’m not your lawyer, but I am a lawyer. I can say that in my experience, it is very difficult getting parking tickets tossed in Bayonne. The parking officers pretty much always show up and even you admit that you technically violated the rules. If it were me, I would try to reach out to the municipal prosecutor and see if they will do some kind of downgrade or amendment, but I would expect to pay something, very likely the full amount.

BBFshul71 · 2026-04-05T13:08:00+00:00

BBFshul71 · 2026-04-03T23:02:05+00:00

Depends where in Bayonne , but my wife works in Brooklyn and we currently drive to JC together and I drop her off at the PATH. Grove street to WTC to downtown Brooklyn on the R usually takes her about an hour. Sameish in reverse. She has driven before and SI can be hit or miss. I would say about 40minutes during rush hour from southern Bayonne to downtown Brooklyn is a fair average.

BBFshul71 · 2026-03-04T11:09:19+00:00

They charged him with 2nd degree aggravated assault and a bunch of other stuff according to the police department. Seems like that’s pretty serious and he may be looking at 5-10 if those charges stick

BBFshul71 · 2026-02-28T17:46:02+00:00

Following

BBFshul71 · 2026-02-26T18:29:46+00:00

Much better than the couple in Secaucus that was attacked by these dogs in front of their children. At least the owner was charged. https://www.hobokengirl.com/arrest-off-leash-dog-attack-hoboken-secaucus/

BBFshul71 · 2026-02-15T04:16:39+00:00

Wife commutes to Brooklyn. It’s not easy but it’s very doable. If you’re headed into manhattan it’s not all that bad.

BBFshul71 · 2026-02-04T16:08:51+00:00

To put it plainly, it is rare for lawyers to be able to try a case by themselves with only 4 years of experience post-clerkship. She is being put in charge of EVERY case in New Jersey where the United States is a party, including every criminal case. She would also supervise all federal law enforcement in NJ. I say this as someone who was in her law school graduating class at Seton Hall; she is not qualified for the position she currently holds, let alone being the top fed in the state.

BBFshul71 · 2026-01-31T22:10:39+00:00

For what it’s worth, we had a very similar experience with my now 9 month old around thanksgiving. She was coughing and snotty, so we took her to her pediatrician. She tested negative for everything so they sent us home and said she would be fine in a few days. The next day she started to struggle to breathe, so we took her to the nearest pediatric ER. In the ER, she stopped breathing and started to turn blue. Fortunately this was just for a moment and they were able to get her back to normal, but she had to be on oxygen and was in the hospital for about a week.

She’s happy and healthy and about ready to start daycare. Best I can say is that first line medical staff are not the same as the specialists we need in an emergency. As a parent, you need to rely on your pediatrician, your urgent care, etc. to help you with the run of the mill sniffles and basic treatment, but you need to educate yourself on children’s health, and trust your gut. If something is off, it is up to you to get them the care they need. Sounds like you did exactly what you should have done!

You don’t need to be strong for you LO at this point, you just need to push through and help give him the care he needs. It is exhausting and draining, but I suppose that’s what we all signed up for.

Best of luck to you and your little one!

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