Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.

Under assault from criminal defense bar and gun rights groups, NJ Attorney General halts enforcement of unconstitutional stun gun laws

Facing legal challenges from both gun rights advocates as well as the criminal defense bar, New Jersey Attorney General Christopher Porrino on October 20, 2017 issued a memorandum to prosecutors and police departments halting the enforcement of criminal laws that prohibit the possession, manufacture, and shipment of “electronic arms” such as stun guns and Tasers. The legal challenges to New Jersey’s stun gun laws were triggered by a 2016 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, Caetano v. Massachusetts, in which the Court applied the Second Amendment to strike down a Massachusetts law that prohibited the mere possession of stun guns, even if possessed for self-defense.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-18T14:51:38-04:00October 25th, 2017|Categories: Gun Laws|0 Comments

NJ Reverses Order Requiring Written Oral Defense Witness Statements

On May 2, 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court beat back an attempt by prosecutors and a lower court judge to require a defendant to create and turn over evidence prior to trial over the defendant’s objection that doing so violated his right to remain silent. In State v. Tier, the Supreme Court clarified an issue that often causes a great deal of argument in the days leading up to criminal trials: the extent to which and in what form a defendant must provide the State with statements by witnesses who are expected to testify for the defense. In ruling for the defense, the Supreme Court provided criminal defendants with a valuable precedential opinion by which to combat overly-aggressive attempts by the State to shift the burden onto the defendant to produce evidence before trial.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-18T17:45:52-04:00May 3rd, 2017|Categories: Criminal Discovery, Criminal Trial, Discovery, Pre-Trial Procedures|0 Comments

Andrew Olesnycky to Speak on Domestic Violence CLE Panel

On Wednesday, May 10th, 2017, The Bar Foundation of Union County will be hosting a continuing legal education course entitled “Domestic Violence: Statute and Case Law Update.” Andrew Olesnycky will be speaking during this CLE with active sitting judges in Union County, as well as other professionals. The event will be held at the Garlic Rose Bistro at 28 North Ave. West in Cranford, New Jersey, with the seminar and appetizers happening from 4:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. and dinner being served at 6:45 p.m.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-18T13:28:47-04:00April 26th, 2017|Categories: Criminal Defense Law Firm News|0 Comments

NJ Bail Reform: Criminal Defendants’ Pitfalls & Litigation Opportunities

In January 2017, the New Jersey Legislature amended the State Constitution and passed legislation to dramatically alter the process by which courts determine whether a defendant is held in jail – rather than released – while awaiting trial. While defendants previously could secure pretrial release by paying bail money to the court, the new system, commonly referred to as, simply, “Bail Reform,” conditions pretrial release upon a judge’s determination of the likelihood that the defendant will fail to appear in court or commit another offense, without consideration of the defendant’s financial resources.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-15T13:53:24-04:00February 8th, 2017|Categories: Bail|0 Comments

2016 New Jersey Supreme Court Domestic Violence Year-in-Review

In 2016, the New Jersey Supreme Court issued two opinions of particular importance for attorneys who regularly handle criminal domestic violence cases in New Jersey. In State v. Bryant, decided on November 10, 2016, the Court suppressed evidence found during a protective sweep search of a home after a 911 call reporting a crime of domestic violence. The opinion is extremely important for any defendant who has been charged with a crime based upon evidence uncovered during a police response to a domestic violence call.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-18T13:38:24-04:00January 10th, 2017|Categories: Domestic Violence|Tags: Criminal Defense, Supreme Court|0 Comments

NJ Legislature Seeks to Rein in Civil Forfeitures

On December 19, 2016, the New Jersey Assembly and Senate unanimously passed a much-needed civil forfeiture reporting bill that, if signed into law by Governor Christie, would shed light on a much-criticized practice in which law enforcement agencies reap huge profits by seizing property “connected” to criminal activity, even in cases where no one has been charged with or found guilty of a crime.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-21T23:47:41-04:00January 4th, 2017|Categories: Asset Forfeiture, Search and Seizure|Tags: Criminal Investigation|0 Comments

NJ Appellate Division Clarifies Rules for Social Media Evidence Use at Trial

In the past few years, the explosion in the popularity of smart phones, text messaging, and use of social media has dramatically altered the fabric of our lives in ways that we are only beginning to understand. It has also changed the way that sophisticated attorneys investigate and litigate criminal cases. We all now carry with us detailed records of our conversations, photographs, and even our whereabouts in our mobile phones. For those unlucky enough to become ensnared in a criminal case, those records can become evidence of incalculable value. This is especially so for cases of domestic violence, where the parties almost always have created a voluminous record of communications in the form of text messages and online chats by the time a contested matter goes to trial.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-18T17:29:33-04:00December 23rd, 2016|Categories: Criminal Investigation|Tags: Criminal Defense|0 Comments

How the NFL Can Cure its Image Problem in Domestic Violence Prosecutions

In the wake of the Josh Brown domestic violence incident, the National Football League has, in the public’s eyes, badly mishandled the imposition of discipline over a player accused of domestic violence for the third time in three years. While the headlines have portrayed the NFL as soft on domestic violence following the Ray Rice, Greg Hardy, and, now, Josh Brown cases, it appears to me, as someone who has supervised domestic violence prosecutions for the State of New Jersey, that the NFL’s problem is not that it is soft on domestic violence. I think the league wants to be able to investigate and punish domestic violence appropriately, but it is finding that it is not an easy task. The NFL is simply making mistakes that are fairly typical of a rookie prosecutor that is unfamiliar with domestic violence prosecutions.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-12T11:20:38-04:00November 1st, 2016|Categories: Domestic Violence|0 Comments

Nearly 10,000 NJ Drug Convictions Jeopardized by Crime Lab False Drug Test

On April 25, 2016, in the wake of startling revelations that a laboratory technician at the New Jersey State Police Laboratory in Little Falls had been falsifying test results, the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an order centralizing the litigation of all post-conviction challenges in the State before a single judge. The order appointed Bergen County Superior Court Judge Edward A. Jerejian to handle all post-conviction litigation in which Kamalkant Shah, the laboratory technician found to have faked results, was either the primary laboratory examiner, conducted peer review, or conducted administrative review of purported drug evidence. Pending cases predicated upon Shah's laboratory work are to remain with the judges presently assigned under the order.

By Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.|2024-08-12T14:06:07-04:00September 12th, 2016|Categories: Drug Crimes/Trafficking|Tags: Drug Crimes|0 Comments

Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.

About Andrew Olesnycky, Esq.