Month: June 2010

NJ DWI Appeal Dismissed – State v. Parra

G.Marootian, Esq. NJ DUI Appeal Dismissed For Failing To Follow Court Filing Rules

In State v. Parra (App. Div. 2010), the New Jersey Appellate Division upheld the dismissal of the Defendant’s Appeal. The Defendant sought to vacate a 1997 guilty plea to DWI in a New Jersey Municipal Court. The Motion was denied in the Municipal Court, and the Defendant appealed. The Superior Court dismissed his appeal (because the appeal was not properly filed). The Defendant appealed to the New Jersey Appellate Division.

The Appellate Division upheld the dismissal of the appeal. The Court noted that the Defendant failed to properly file the appeal (filing the appeal with the “Court Clerk, Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer County, Mercer County Civil Courthouse …” (not the Criminal Division Manager’s Office). Further, the Defendant did not file the appeal with the Municipal Court (as required by New Jersey Rules of Court), nor did he serve a copy on the County Prosecutor’s Office (rather he served the Municipal Court Prosecutor). These filing deficiencies were deemed fatal to the appeal pursuant to New Jersey Court Rule 3:23-2, which spell out the filing requirements for a Municipal Court Appeal.

The Court said that the “violations are not mere administrative violations that can be overlooked … they are fatal to defendant’s ability to pursue an appeal in the Law Division.” The Court found that “in every single respect, defendant violated the requirements of the Rule[s].” Thus, the Appellate Division ruled, “the Law Division correctly dismissed the appeal.”

Filing appeals is intricate. If proper procedure is not followed, the appeal is subject to dismissal. This case presents an example of a NJ DWI Appeal that was fumbled, and unfortunately, the Defendant’s Appeal was dismissed. Defendants contemplating filing an appeal in a New Jersey DWI case are cautioned to seek an experienced NJ DWI Lawyer who is familiar with the appellate process. A misstep can result in the dismissal of the appeal and the loss of the right to have a full and proper review.

"Fugazi" (Fake) NJ DWI Lawyer Websites

G.Marootian, Esq. NJ DWI Lawyer Websites

Time after time, I find that content from my websites (www.njdwidefense.com and www.newjerseydwi.com) has been copied and placed on other lawyer-websites. They say that imitation is “the best form of flattery.” Unfortunately, clients reading these copycat websites can be fooled into believing that the lawyer whose website where my work appears actually wrote the material. In reality, the sites contain work that was simply pilfered from my sites – or a lame attempt was made to make the material look authentic. People charged with DWI in New Jersey looking for information are entitled to true and authentic material from the attorney (the learned “professional”) who purports to be writing it.

I believe that a lawyer who resorts to lifting the work of another (or who allows his website to contain pilfered work and stands by blindly) and passes it off as his own is lacking in a core set of principles, and does a disservice to the public.

In the movie “Donnie Brasco”, an FBI undercover agent (Donnie Brasco) played by Johnny Depp, infiltrates the New York Mafia. Brasco came to be known as “Don the Jeweler” because of his keen knowledge of the jewelry trade.

A real Mafioso, Lefty Ruggiero (played by Al Pacino) approached Donnie Brasco (“Don the Jeweler”) and offered to sell him a diamond. Brasco quickly examined the diamond and said to Ruggiero, “You should give it to someone who don’t know any better because that is a fugazi … it’s a fake … you want to go embarrass yourself with this thing?” Ruggiero and Brasco then went back to the person who gave Ruggiero the (fake) diamond (as payment of a debt), and relieved him of his Porsche.

The diamond was a “fugazi” – slang for a fake. Some Lawyer websites that purport to be offering nj dwi information are fugazies; they are fakes. Clients who have been charged with dwi are usually embarrassed, shame-ridden, suffering from anxiety, and are seeking genuine information from educated professionals, and they are shopping for an suitable professional dwi defense lawyer.

Watch out for fugazies – for fakes; unfortunately, the world is full of them. I tell my nine-year old daughter (who is beautiful, smart, and a gifted singer and actress – OK, I am bragging about my daughter but I cannot help it) to always be genuine, to be authentic and original – to be a critical thinker. When she was three, I once told her not to be a “copycat”, and she said daddy “what is a “coffee cat?” That is now a running joke in our house to this day; – “don’t’ be a coffee cat?”

If you are looking for GENUINE NJ DWI Information (and not a Fugazi Website), please visit my main website: www.newjerseydwi.com

Please keep the internet genuine and report plagiarism to gmmesq@aol.com. If you have comments, please post through the link below – and remember, please don’t be a fugazi.