New Jersey Criminal Lawyer Blog

The police are still investigating the situation even though they know that George Huguely killed Yeardley Love. However, the police are doing their due diligence to make sure they prove their case. Also, the police are searching for information about the lacrosse player's state of mind. If they can find some evidence of proof that he intended to kill Ms. Yeardley, also a lacrosse player, then he can be charged with first-degree murder. This is a much different ranking than the rest of his team, ranked first in collegiate lacrosse right now. If that evidence cannot be produced then Mr. Huguely can argue that the crime was manslaughter. That means the death was an accident or that he didn't intend to kill her, but only intended to harm her. Practically speaking this could mean the difference of the young man spending life in prison with no chance of parole or merely spending a very long time in prison.

It is beginning to look like there is evidence of his state of mind because it has been reported that he allegedly attacked Ms. Yeardley before, at another university, the University of North Carolina. They had a long term, on-off-again volatile relationship. Our "gentleman" student-athlete has been arrested for threatening to kill a female police officer while drunk, in an altercation where the officer eventually tasered him. He apparently jumped off the family yacht when his father called the police to come out a quarter mile off shore from the family's Florida estate to help with a domestic dispute. Both the defendant and the victim were raised in a life of privilege, complete with prestigious prep schools the likes of which make this story ripe for a made-for-television-movie. In the interim, the trial will unfold that will demonstrate the relevant issues in prosecuting and defending crimes of passion. There are many lesser crimes resulting from domestic type disputes that, if prosecuted, could prevent the violence from escalating. A proper, skilled defense by an experienced attorney can redirect someone a defendant on a destructive path toward a more productive, mentally healthy life and protect those around him or her.

A 17 year-old girl pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated and criminally negligent homicide connected to a car crash that killed her boyfriend. She was driving drunk in the middle of the night, and crashed her car into a brick pole. She had a blood alcohol level of .13 % and was driving 56 m.p.h. in a 30 m.p.h. zone. Basically, she got behind the wheel of a car while drunk, and should have known that doing so could easily kill someone. Every state, including New Jersey, has its own requirements, definitions and terms for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol and the crimes that stem from that action. As always, it is crucial to consult an attorney well versed in those laws.

The Judge denied her youthful offender status and imposed a 6-month jail sentence reportedly because he had seen a picture she posted of herself on Facebook. The photograph was taken of her one month after the crash, and she posted it captioned "drunk in Florida." She could have gotten as much as 4 years in state prison, but the Judge reportedly felt forced to consider her young age and clear history.

Her drivers license is revoked, and following her jail sentence, she will be under electronic home monitoring for one year and on probation for five, during which she is not allowed to drink under its terms.

A judge wants to see a remorseful defendant regardless of the crimes he or she has been charged with or found guilty of, and evidence to the contrary is extremely damaging. The Judge is free to consider all factors that have any arguable relevance. Every defendant should keep in mind that the Judge wants to see that his or her encounter with the criminal justice system has taught a lesson and changed his or her behavior for the better. The Internet has created a new environment in which to evaluate a defendant's behavior, and it is completely public. There is a new way we are all being held accountable for our behavior, and the legal profession is aware, that is nothing new. The consequences can clearly be harsh, and it is yet another lesson young adults have to learn.

In Somerville, Hunterdon County, NJ, former NBA star Jayson Williams was told by a judge that his defense attorney was unable to prove that any racial bias on the part of a county investigator constituted prosecutorial misconduct during his first trial back in 2004. Further, Williams' motion to overturn his conviction of tampering with evidence and witnesses to cover up his shooting of a limo driver in his own house with his own gun was denied. In order to make even the suspicion of racial bias a non-issue, state Attorney General's office has granted Hunterdon County Prosecutor J. Patrick Barnes's request and will be taking over the case.

New Jersey Criminal Lawyer Blog's Take: Apparently, evidence that a Captain William Hunt uttered the "n-word" during the course of the investigation was not enough to taint the evidence which showed that, upon the course of a house tour of his residence, Jayson Williams shot the driver-guest with his own shotgun, then wiped off his fingerprints, placed the gun in the driver's hand, directed his brother to lie to 911 operators about the shooting, change clothes giving his old clothes to a guest to hide, jump in the pool to wash off, and order all guests to lie that they were downstairs when they heard the gunshot. It seems that the Captain's second "wrong" does not make Williams' first "wrongs" right.

Jayson Williams was hoping that his retrial for "reckless manslaughter" scheduled for January, 2010 would be dismissed due to the offensive utterance, theorizing that that word was evidence of prosecutorial misconduct motivated by racial bias, that would call into question all the evidence produced by that investigation. Williams also hoped that his conviction on the cover-up charges would be dismissed on the same theory. For some reason, three years had passed before the Judge received a letter from the Hunterdon County prosecutor notifying him of the use of this racial epithet by a county investigator.

So a jury did not believe that on February 13th, 2002 following a night out to see the Harlem Globetrotters and dinner, Williams acted in a way that demonstrated "extreme indifference to the value of human life," but that he should be retried to determine whether or not he "disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk of death," for which Williams could serve 10 years in prison. The evidence that the jury heard was not tainted by a racially biased investigation, and the fact that the jury could not decide on one count with the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a retrial.

It is too bad his former teammates, now Globetrotters, Chris Morris and Benoit Benjamin, Curly "Boo" Johnson and Paul "Showtime" Gaffney, among other guests on Williams' house tour didn't bring more reason to the situation. It is impossible to foresee the array of crimes that a defendant may be charged with due to incorporated lesser charges.