The ability of law enforcement to access the cell phone content of a criminal defendant has received considerable attention in recent years. The issue has been the same in case after case. If the cell phone is seized as part of an investigation, the security settings, such as passcodes, shield…
We frequently handle cases where the discovery states that law enforcement has identified our client as being gang-affiliated. Police agencies frequently collect information on individuals who they think are gang-involved and enter it into a database, which is then used to investigate criminal activity. Recent experiences in California, however, demonstrate…
Two issues regarding the right to privacy, and its potential impact on criminal cases, appeared in the news recently. These issues have no relationship to each other, but can both be highly relevant to criminal cases. The first involves a your man who was living alone in a South American…
We all have the experience every time we shop online. Once we view or purchase an item on a particular website, ads for that site pop up everywhere we go online. Online sellers are tracking our search habits so as to market and sell their merchandise. We are, in fact,…
A state trooper stopped a vehicle on I-295 in Burlington County. The basis for the stop was a damaged tail light. The vehicle, which also changed lanes without signaling, had three occupants – the driver, a front-seat passenger, and a six-year-old child in the back seat. The trooper smelled burnt…
Our personal information is constantly being collected by third parties without our realization. Every time we use one of our devices, we expose personal details and information to collection by any number of entities that use the data for various purposes. Privacy is clearly on the decline as the use…
Law enforcement agencies that investigate child pornography cases face special technological challenges when tracking the distribution of contraband on the Internet, and then in building a case against a specific defendant. A case in point is “Dreamboard”, an online bulletin board that advertised and distributed child pornography. Dreamboard users employed…
Arnett Blake, his girlfriend Cindy Edwards, and his former girlfriend Terri Hannah, all attended a party in Vineland, New Jersey. At some point, Edwards encountered Hannah in the bathroom. While there, Hannah allegedly made rude remarks about Edwards. Hannah then left the bathroom and told Blake that she should “F___…
Earlier this week, I was in the Chancery Division, Family Part for a hearing on one of my juvenile delinquency matters. While waiting to be called, I listened to the colloquy in the cases being heard before mine. Virtually every case included some discussion involving texting or social media. In…
Prior articles on this blog have discussed our increasing dependency on our electronic devices. Many members of my generation are still getting somewhat used to smart phones, I-pads, and the like. However, for our children who have grown up with them, using these devices is perfectly natural and an ordinary…