New Jersey Criminal Lawyer Blog

Charges of a drug-fueled rape of a potential client do not do much to help the legal profession. Mr. Al Garcia's rape trial began with his accuser's testimony that when she appeared for a consultation for his legal services one evening, she was instead offered cocaine, raped and forced to perform sexual acts. While three others have come forward to testify that Mr. Garcia attempted to trade legal services for sex, the defense has offered evidence that shows no signs of force or injury in the medical report taken after the alleged attack.

While this story leaps of the page due to the "shock value" the case may still be a difficult for prosecutor's to prove based on the facts that have been publicized. This case ultimately comes down to the credibility of both the victim and the attorney. This is because the attorney's defense is not a denial that sexual acts occurred, but rather that the sexual acts were consensual. The fact that Judge is allowing three witnesses to testify appears to undermine the defense. Witness testimony like this can backfire, though, because the defense may argue that the victim in this case was accepting the attorney's offer. However, the fact that the attorney was allegedly using narcotics really damages the attorney's image for the jury. The jury is going to have to weigh the evidence, and the drug use may be a factor is convincing a jury that the attorney did sexually assault the victim and that there was no consent. An experienced attorney can determine the strongest defense against these types of charges, with extremely sensitive and nebulous circumstances, based upon the specific facts of each individual case.

In addition to the State trial, Garcia has been convicted in Federal Court as well for distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine, though the State jury will not know this, at least until the trial is over. Regardless of the outcome of the state trial, Garcia faces attorney discipline including potential disbarment. His law license has already been suspended, and he will probably be looking for a new line of work. The only question is whether he'll have a stopover in the state prison.

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.

An update from a previous entry, Los Angeles Police have now charged Ryan Jenkins with the murder of his wife, Jasmine Fiore. Apparently, police were able to gather enough evidence to show that Mr. Jenkins was responsible.

Also, it appears doubtful that Jenkins retained a lawyer as he has escaped to Canada. If he is appreheneded in Canada, he can only be extradited to the United States if he would not face the death penalty.

New Jersey Criminal Lawyer Blog's Take: This is a sad turn, but it appears Jenkins has decided to take his chances on the run. This will be an interesting situation to see if Jenkins is caught in Canada or if he is seeking to escape to another country which will not extradite him to the U.S.

There is no legal strategy discussion left in this matter, it really just comes down to when and where the authorities capture Jenkins.

Megan Wants a Millionaire Star wanted for Murder - Times Online 8/21/09

Jasmine Fiore, 28, a former swimsuit model beauty, was found dead on Saturday, August 15, 2009 in Los Angeles. Her body was found strangled left in a suitcase in Buena Park, CA. Later that day, her husband Ryan Alexander Jenkins, 32, reported her missing and subsequently, Mr. Jenkins has gone missing as well. Jenkins was a former contestant on VH1's dating reality show "Megan wants a Millionaire."

Police said that Fiore was last seen alive on Friday night at her Los Angeles home. She and Jenkins were planning on attending a poker party in San Diego that evening. Police have stated that Jenkins is a "person of interest" in the investigation. Moreover, Police believe the Canadian citizen may be headed north to Canada in Fiore's 2007 Mercedes CL S550. Border authorities have been notified.

New Jersey Criminal Lawyer Blog's Take: When someone is called a "person of interest," it means the Police want to talk with this person and obtain a formal statement. Depending on the results of the statement, a person such as Jenkins in this case could be charged with the crime. The reason he is not a suspect at this time is probably because police are still investigating the crime.

There is a report from TMZ.com that says Jenkins publicist said that "Ryan is currently speaking to his attorney and will fully cooperate with the police in this matter. He is planning on meeting with them in the near future." This would be the logically step if Ryan has sought legal representation. However, the fact that he cannot be located does make one wonder if something else is going on in this matter.

It can be common for people to assume that someone is "hiding" something if one seeks an attorney at this stage. Actually, hiring legal counsel is the prudent move. The attorney should let the police department know that the person has hired legal counsel. Therefore, any communication between the "person of interest" and the police will be handled through the attorney's law office. The attorney will then let the police gather their facts and then determine whether his client is going to give a formal statement. If the client rushed to give a formal statement it could allow the police to confuse the person and get answers the police want rather than objectively conducting an investigation.

In this instance, the issue is the fact that Jenkins has disappeared altogether. Besides, the poor impression it makes it could create a bigger problem when he is eventually caught. If the TMZ.com report is accurate and he has retained a lawyer, the first thing his attorney should advise him is that he should return to the area. Although, they may hold off on a formal statement at this time; nonetheless, the police know where Jenkins is located when the time comes to question him about Fiore's death.

Reality Show finalist sought in Swimsuit model's murder - Fox News 8/19/09

VH1 Reality Show Contestant sought - ABC News 8/19/09