Whether this was a case of injustice and great tragedy, racial or otherwise, is of no question, but whether the officers should have been charged with Murder is not quite as easily answered. As with all charging decisions, the answer comes only after careful application…
The Right to Remain Silent, perhaps the most sacred right a criminal defense attorney is charged with protecting for his/her client. Every client has the right, and like every right our clients have, we remain on constant guard to fight off any potential violation of…
Gov. Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney have reportedly reached an agreement that will pave the way toward marijuana legalization in New Jersey, possibly by the end of the month. The major hurdle has been what most major legislation always revolves around – money,…
I’ll try to make this my last post, but i hope the discussion does not stop. Don’t give Congress the gift of silence again. But here are a few facts/observations I think are important for everyone to know. First, Assault Weapons, including the AR-15, have…
Thinking About Shared Residential Custody Five years ago if you were to ask someone to identify a standard/typical custody arrangement between divorced parents, they would most likely say that the parents were sharing joint legal custody (i.e. decision making) but that one parent had the…
Do I have to contribute to my child’s graduate school? An Ocean County trial court judge has recently ruled that a child over twenty three years old who wants to attend graduate school has the burden of showing that a non-custodial parent should be required…
Understanding Child Support Termination As discussed in a prior posting, on January 19, 2016, significant revisions were made to the law concerning the termination of child support. These changes take effect on February 1, 2017. This posting will summarize what you need to know about…
Interfering with Employment may be an act of Domestic Violence An Ocean County trial court judge has recently ruled that interfering with someone’s employment could be considered an act of domestic violence pursuant to the statute. In C.G. v. E.G., a woman returned to work…
Be Careful Defining College Contribution Obligations in Your Divorce Agreement Divorced parents in New Jersey more often than not will be faced with a situation where they will be required to contribute in some fashion to their child’s college expenses. When faced with a dispute…
The New Law Concerning the Termination of Child Support Earlier this year Governor Christine signed S-1046 / A-2721 into law. It is now been established that child support will end when a child reaches the age of 19 (rather than a rebuttable presumption that it…
Child Support May be Adjusted for Car Insurance Expenses An Ocean County trial court judge has recently ruled that the court, in its reasonable discretion, may adjust Child Support Guideline awards to account for the additional cost of car insurance for a newly licensed teenage…
LOOKING AGAIN AT “GRANDPARENTS RIGHTS” The New Jersey Supreme Court recently looked at the issue of grandparent visitation in the case of Major v. Maguire. The case re-affirms the task of the trial court in these fact sensitive cases. By way of brief history, New…
It is “Official”- a Child May Call their Stepparent Mom or Dad In many cases conflict arises when divorced parents with children start dating. Specifically, there are often disputes when one parent seeks to dictate when their ex-spouse can introduce their significant other to the…
What happens if I stop paying support? If you have been court ordered to pay support (alimony, child support or something else) or if you have agreed to pay support then it is expected that you will actually pay consistent with the order or agreement.…
Can child support be waived? The short answer is – no. It is well established in New Jersey case law that parents are not legally permitted to waive the payment and/or receipt of child support. In essence, the receipt of child support is the right…
Child Support Orders May be Retroactive to the Filing of a Divorce Complaint An Ocean County trial court judge has recently ruled that when a party files a divorce complaint that contains a written request for child support, the court may at trial establish a…
What Do You Mean I Cannot Deduct Business Expenses From My Income? One of the fundamental questions that must be answered when looking at potential support obligations is – what is each parties’ income. One of the statutory factors for alimony addresses income. The very…
What is the best way to pay my support obligations? There are a number of different options to pay your child support and/or alimony obligations. Your agreement or court order establishing the support obligation should direct the manner in which the payments are to be…
How can I be sure that the life insurance has not been changed? In the event that there is an alimony and/or child support obligation there should also be a requirement for life insurance to remain in place to secure the support obligation(s). There are…
The Case Information Statement Budget The Case Information Statement (hereinafter “CIS”) is a financial disclosure document that must be filed (and kept updated) as part of a divorce proceeding or as part of any court application seeking to address support-related issues. There is a uniform…
How Do We Divide Our Personal Property? There are plenty of horror stories about couples fighting over personal property. Whether it is the clothes in your closet, the furniture around the house, or the boxes of stuff in your attic or basement, there is always…
Alimony is Not Based on the Length of Marriage Alone The New Jersey Supreme Court released a unanimous decision in the case of Gnall v. Gnall reaffirming the notion that all statutory factors are to be considered when establishing alimony awards. This was not an…
I am getting a divorce- what do we do with the marital home? For many couples the marital home is their most valuable asset. As a result, one of the most important decisions that needs to be made is what to do with the property…
A Checklist of Issues for Your Divorce Agreement Discussions As with many things in life, proper planning is key when thinking about divorce. This article is directed to those of you who have either started discussing divorce with your spouse or are thinking about having…
Firm Announcement Domers & Bonamassa is proud to announce that Associate Edward W. Hoffman was recently appointed to the Finance Committee of the New Jersey State Bar Association. Ed, who is the Burlington County Representative on the Board of Trustee, also serves on the Association’s Legslative…
How much does it cost to get divorced? One of the most frequent questions posed to divorce attorneys is how much will it cost in legal fees to get divorced. The absolute reality is that there is no concrete answer to that question. The only…
What is the MESP? The Matrimonial Early Settlement Panel ("MESP") is a mandatory program run by the court for all divorce cases that are not settled by a particular date. The program was designed to avoid delays in the court system and to foster settlements.…
Divorce Myth #10* – All assets are divided fifty-fifty. Put simply – there is no single statute or case that stands for the proposition that all assets are to be divided fifty-fifty. The idea of your soon-to-be ex-spouse "getting half" is a product of television…
Divorce Myth #9* – I can remain on my spouse’s medical insurance after divorce It is not uncommon in marriages for one spouse to maintain the medical insurance for the entire family. Sometimes one spouse just has better and/or cheaper coverage. Sometimes one spouse is…
Divorce Myth #8* – I do not have to pay support if I am not working The short answer is that the fact that you are not working does not automatically equate to a suspension or termination of your obligation to pay support. There are…
Divorce Myth #7* – My alimony should stop because my ex-spouse is living with someone Whether or not an alimony "should" stop upon cohabitation is a fact sensitive inquiry. Absent a written agreement to the contrary, it is well settled that alimony must terminate upon…
Divorce Myth #6* – The recent changes to the law eliminated permanent alimony It is true that the recent statutory changes eliminate the term and concept of "permanent alimony." However, to address long term relationships under certain circumstances, the concept of "permanent alimony" was replaced…
Divorce Myth #5* – I do not have to pay child support after their eighteenth birthday. To be clear, in New Jersey there is no specific age where child support simply terminates automatically. Instead, the law provides for a rebuttable presumption of emancipation upon reaching…
Divorce Myth #4* – We have to be separated for eighteen months before a divorce complaint can be filed The short answer is, no. It is true that, in the past, parties did need to be separated for an eighteen month consecutive period in order…
Divorce Myth #3* – If I File for Divorce My Spouse Needs to Move Out There is a belief that once a divorce complaint has been filed that there needs to be a physical separation requiring one party to move out from the martial residence.…
Divorce Myth #2* – The Non Custodial Parent Only Gets Alternating Weekends There is a common perception that the parent who does not have primary residential custody is limited to only seeing the children on alternating weekends. The reality is that there are no set…
Divorce Myth #1* – Mom Always Gets Custody of the Children There is a common perception that regardless of the circumstances that Mom will always be awarded custody of the children. In reality, the Court is gender neutral and there is no law that states…
While there will continue to be great divide over the decision of the Ferguson grand jury, we now at least have some facts that can allow for some real dialogue about the merits of that decision. Most importantly, the Prosecutor has released the testimony of…
Real Housewife Teresa Giudice was sentenced to 15 months in prison yesterday, beginning Jan. 5, and $414,000 in restitution. She will also face two years of supervised release. Teresa Giudice’s time behind bars will be staggered with her husband’s, who was sentenced earlier today to…
http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Former-Firefighter-Acquitted-After-Mistaking-Police-for-Burglars-254280611.html
New Jersey lawmakers have advanced a bill that would allow all convicted drunken drivers the option of having ignition interlock devices installed in their cars as an alternative to license revocation. The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously recommended passage of S-385, sponsored by committee Chairman Nicholas Scutari,…
On February 2, 2013, Timothy Farrow’s client was awoken at 2:00 am to the sounds of what he thought were would-be burglars outside his house. As an experienced and responsible gun-owner, he retrieved his shotgun and went to the door and tried to get a…
A NJ Assembly and Senate panel recently approved the release of a bill that would require drunk-driving offenders in New Jersey to have an ignition interlock device installed in their vehicle following a DWI conviction. The devices require a breath test before a vehicle can…
Timothy Farrow’s client was charged with possession of marijuana in Pleasantville, NJ, and faced penalties including 6 months license suspension, $700 in mandatory assessments and up to $1000 in fines, and 6 months in jail. After being forced to go to court 3 times and…
1. a. A person commits the crime of cyber-harassment if, while making a communication in an online capacity via any electronic device or through a social networking site and with the purpose to harass another, the person: (1) threatens to inflict injury or physical…
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/home-depot-is-accused-of-shaking-down-suspected-shoplifters-142619625.html
As of this moment, the short answer to this question is- maybe. For some time now there has been what can be described as a movement by many to review New Jersey’s alimony laws. Under attack are issues concerning the length of alimony, the amount…
DWI Labor Day holiday crackdown begins in 10 Burlco towns Starting today through Sept. 2, police in 10 Burlington County towns will be out in force as part of the annual nationwide “Drive Sober, or Get Pulled Over” crackdown on drunken driving sponsored by the…
Although much of the recent controversy over the verdict in the Zimmerman trial has focused on the issue of race, there is no question that this case exemplified the extreme difference between Florida and New Jersey criminal statutes concerning gun possession and self-defense. A large…
Our own Tim Farrow spoke to students at Willingboro High School last week about the dangerous new world of Social Media and cell phone communications. Farrow, along with fellow Moorestown attorney Katherine Hartman, Esq. and the Honorable Karen Williams, United States Magistrate Judge, participated in…
NTSB RECOMMENDS LOWERING BAC The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has voted to recommend to states that they lower the blood-alcohol content (BAC), which is used to determine drunken driving, from .08 to .05. The NTSB says that studies have shown that a person experiences…
By now we’ve all heard at least something, some of us more than others, about the details of the lengthy trial and appellate proceedings in the Amanda Knox case in Perugia, Italy. Many of us at this point might think it’s a fairly easy call…
This past week, on April 17, 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued a highly significant ruling concerning drunk driving investigations, addressing whether a search warrant is needed before police may conduct a non-consensual blood draw from a DWI suspect. In Missouri v. McNeely, the…
A recent rape trial in Steubenville, Ohio has grabbed national headlines and thankfully educated teens and young adults everywhere about the extreme danger of alcohol and sex. Despite their near-celebrity status as high school football players in a football-obsessed town, 17-year-old Trent Mays and 16-year-old…
The Easter High School Mock Trial Team has finally earned some well-deserved rest after another extremely successful season. The team, lead by its Teacher-Coach Kevin Farrow and Attorney-Coaches Tim Farrow and Anne Picker, won the Camden County Championship of the Vincent J. Apruzzese Mock Trial…
You might have recently heard that a Judge in Canada has sent a loud and clear statement to out-of-control parents in youth sports. Unfortunately for Martin Tremblay, his despicable act of tripping two kids on the opposing team in the handshake line after his son’s…
Tim Farrow has been telling his clients for years now to be very careful about pleading guilty to a criminal offense, even if it is just a “minor misdemeanor”. The days of just moving on with your life and leaving that minor youthful indiscretion behind…
What should I bring to my initial consultation? You have taken the first step, called our office, and scheduled an initial consultation. You may now ask yourself what should I bring with me to this meeting? Here a list to help organize your thoughts. First,…
What is the Children’s Bill of Rights? In an effort to assist parents with making good choices regarding what should and should not be done concerning children going through a separation or divorce, the Court has created a document known as the Children’s Bill…
How is alimony and child support paid? There are three common ways in which to make support payments to your spouse. First, payments can be made directly from one person to the other. It is recommended that these payments be made by way of check…
Do I need to be married a certain number of years to obtain alimony? The short answer is no. There is no magic number of years in which you need to be married to have a viable claim for alimony. Similarly, there is no magic…
Firm Announcement Domers & Bonamassa is proud to announce that Associate Linda Hynes has been appointed to the Westampton Township School Board. A former PTA President and mother of two, Linda will be a wonderful addition to the Board. We wish her success in her…
How do I get my maiden name back? There are essentially three ways in which one can legally resume the use of their maiden name. First, you can make a request as part of your divorce and permission for the name change will be done…
Is my spouse entitled to my inheritance? The equitable distribution statute is found at N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23.1. Put simply, assets and liabilities acquired by either party from the date of the marriage through the date that a divorce complaint is filed are subject to equitable distribution…
While I did not closely follow the Casey Anthony trial, as a criminal defense attorney, or I guess any human being at this point, I cannot help but get caught up in the coverage and response to the verdict. Attached below is a recent article…
A $3.5 million settlement has been reached in the Federal lawsuits of 87 people who had drug convictions vacated or charges dropped after Camden police officers involved in their arrests were linked to corruption which came to light after an FBI investigation in 2009. Timothy…
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 10, 2013 CONTACT: Timothy Farrow, Esq. Dash Farrow, LLP 856-235-8300 Settlement Reached in Lawsuit Involving those Wrongfully Convicted by Corrupt Camden Police Officers Camden, N.J. – A $3.5 million settlement has been reached in the federal lawsuits of 87 people who…
http://autos.yahoo.com/news/confessions-of-a-traffic-cop-214425046.html
State Trooper Pleas to Disorderly Person Offense New Jersey State Trooper Alexis Hayes pled guilty to a disorderly person offense in connection to charges of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and disorderly person offense after a police visit to her home in response to a domestic…
NJ Proposes 911 Good Samaritan Law The New Jersey and Pennsylvania legislature are considering passing bills that will grant immunity to 911 callers for drug overdoses. Accord to a Drexel University School of Public Health researcher, the majority of individuals at the scene of a…
Possible Amendment to NJ Constitution Allowing Denial of Bail for Violent Offenders A committee in the State Senate of New Jersey held a hearing yesterday on a proposed amendment to allow judges to consider potential “dangerousness” of a defendant when setting bail in criminal…
FARROW CONTINUES TO TAKE LEAD IN FIGHT AGAINST TAKEOVER OF RUTGERS CAMDEN A few months ago, we reported that our own Tim Farrow has been an extremely active leader in the fight against the proposed takeover of Rutgers Camden by Rowan University first announced by…
“NJ Weedman” Retrial Postponed Until September Last week in the trial of Ed “NJ Weedman” Forchion, a jury found him guilty of possession of marijuana in Burlington County. However, they could not reach a verdict on intent to distribute the pound of marijuana that…
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/former-rutgers-student-convicted-webcam-case-flna462710
Vote to Decriminalize Marijuana in New Jersey Postponed A vote in the State Assembly on the decriminalization of marijuana scheduled for last Thursday was postponed until June. Supporters feel that the bill, which has bi-partisan support, stands a good chance of passing the legislature…
Sentence in Rutgers Webcam Case Sparks Debate Over Invasion of Privacy & Hate Crimes Laws National attention was drawn to the New Jersey criminal justice system this week during the culmination of the Dharun Ravi case. Ravi was convicted on 15 different charges stemming…
Late last year New Jersey Governor Chris Christie issued an executive order that seeks to expand and alter the state’s outdated drug-court program. Drug courts have been used in New Jersey since 1996; however, it took many years before expanding to different parts of the…
In State of New Jersey in the Interest of A.C., a juvenile was arrested in December 2010 as a result of a three count complaint alleging that he had committed two acts of first degree aggravated sexual assault and a second degree sexual assault on…
In the recent Monmouth County Superior Court decision State of New Jersey in the Interest of A.C., the court denied the juvenile’s motion for a jury trial. In sum, the juvenile was charged with two acts of 1st degree sexual assault and a separate 2nd…
n Johnson v. State,[FN13] the supreme court held: In harmony with the central thrust of Franks, we hold that the Franks standard applies to alleged omissions from probable cause affidavits except that (1) the reviewing court must determine whether the omitted material, if added to…
Governor Christie has signed a new road rage law, known as “Jessica Rogers Law”, named for a victim who was paralyzed as a result of a road rage accident. The new law upgrades the offense of assault by auto in cases involving road rage. It…
The Charge: 2nd Degree Murder On Thursday, April 13th, prosecutors filed a 2nd degree murder charge against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the killing of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. While many legal experts anticipated that Zimmerman would be charged with the lesser crime of…
The Charge: 2nd Degree Murder On Thursday, April 13th, prosecutors filed a 2nd degree murder charge against neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in the killing of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin. While many legal experts anticipated that Zimmerman would be charged with the lesser crime of…
The national media attention created by the controversial Trayvon Martin case in Florida provides an opportunity to compare the Florida “Stand Your Ground” statute with New Jersey self-defense laws. Florida Statute 776.012 provides that “a person is justified in the use of deadly force and…
Associate Edward W. Hoffman, Esquire recently served as a presenter for a Domestic Violence Training Clinic sponsored by the Burlington County Bar Association. The workshop and training clinic targeted attorneys agreeing to provide pro bono representation through Legal Services of South Jersey. Mr. Hoffman has…
On Wednesday, New Jersey Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced a statewide ban on all forms of synthetic marijuana, which are combinations of chemicals designed to mimic the effect of marijuana. These drugs were marketed under the names of “K2” and “Spice” and “Space Cadet.”…
As many of you are probably aware by now, on January 25, 2012, Governor Christie announced the release of a report on higher education resources, which contained the shocking recommendation to merge all of Rutgers University – Camden, including Rutgers School of Law, into Rowan…
The first step in successfully filing a petition for expungement is confirming that your record is statutorily eligible for expungement. A felony or indictable conviction in New Jersey can be expunged as long as the person has not been convicted of any other crime or…
Timothy Farrow has been a very familiar face over the years in Mt. Laurel Municipal Court, but not one necessarily one the Prosecutor looks forward to seeing. Over the last few months, he has had some hard-fought battles with victories worthy of the effort. In…
Timothy Farrow has been telling his clients for years now to be very careful about pleading guilty to a criminal offense, even if it is just a “minor misdemeanor”. The main consequence of course is employment. With the expansion of the internet, background checks are…
Is my spouse entitled to a portion of my entire pension? The short answer is maybe. All of your retirement benefits may be subject to equitable distribution as part of the divorce litigation. The equitable distribution statute is found at N.J.S.A. 2A:34-23.1. Outlined in this…
On New Year’s Eve in Oklahoma, Sarah McKinley shot an armed intruder to death, while the accomplice to the break-in fled. Last week it was announced that Ms. McKinley will not face charges for the shooting, while the surviving accomplice was charged with first-degree murder. …
How much child support and alimony will I have to pay? The presumption is that child support will be calculated pursuant to a computer program, the New Jersey Child Support Guidelines. By properly imputing certain variables (such as the number of children, the parent’s income,…
N.J.S.A. 2C:3-6 (3) Use of deadly force. The use of deadly force is not justifiable under subsection a. of this section unless the actor reasonably believes that: (a) The person against whom the force is used is attempting to dispossess him of his dwelling otherwise…
As with much of America, I was shocked and appalled at Jerry Sandusky’s interview. Unlike most of America, it was not so much by what he said, but that he and his attorney said anything at all. I recognize that our clients always have the…
On October 29, 2007, Timothy Farrow’s client, his client’s brother, and mother were all charged with aggravated assault on two law enforcement officers. The original charges were later upgraded by the Prosecutor to included attempted murder against the brother, and two counts of second degree…
By now we’ve all heard at least something, some of us more than others, about the details of the lengthy trial and appellate proceedings in the Amanda Knox case in Perugia, Italy. Many of us at this point might think it’s a fairly easy call…
Prosecutor upgraded the charges to include Attempted Murder against our client’s brother and two counts Second Degree Aggravated Assault against our client. Client faced exposure of up to 10 years State Prison on each count, for a total of 20 years. Client sat in jail…
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, nearly 5,500 people died and half a million were injured in 2009 (the most recent year for which statistics are available) in accidents involving a distracted driver. New Jersey lawmakers are taking this very seriously, and already NJ…
http://www.phillyburbs.com/my_town/mount_holly/families-fight-during-resentencing-hearing-for-shamong-man/article_1d209f16-75c0-52b0-9591-684550d2b5ee.html
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/breaking_news/burl-city-boe-background-check-law-needs-changes/article_d754cb4c-861f-5c44-8e6b-f6eeff78a0e9.html http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/burlington_county_times_news/law-requires-background-checks/article_8cbb525a-c684-595f-bad2-cae2cfe0bf78.html
As Michael Smerconish’s column in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer correctly points out, NJ school officials are likely scrambling on the eve of the new school year to implement the new anti-bullying law signed by Governor Christie this year. To say that this new law is thorough…
Yes, thankfully the case of the infamous West Memphis Three finally has a somewhat happy ending. Happy because the three defendants have been released after serving 18 years for a crime they did not commit, but only relatively happy, because they still had to plead…
In the case of State of New Jersey in the Interest of B.P.C., the New Jersey Appellate Division recently upheld the adjudication of delinquency of two fourteen (14) year-old juveniles for acts of criminal sexual contact and most notably, the accompanying sentence of registration as…
The latest news from the Casey Anthony trial is a petition flying across the internet and even making its way into state legislatures across the nation for Caylee’s Law. The proposed law calls for a new felony offense for any person who either fails to…
New Jersey teenagers caught texting sexually explicit photos or posting them online could avoid prosecution if Gov. Chris Christie signs a measure passed by the state Senate. The Senate voted 39-0 today to approve the bill. It passed the Assembly in March. The bill targets…
This report reviews findings from a first-of-its-kind survey conducted by the Center for Community Alternatives in collaboration with the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) that explores the use of criminal history screening in college admissions procedures. A 59-question survey was administered…
