Protecting Your Constitutional Rights

Our Federal and state constitutions provide each of us with numerous constitutional rights. Unfortunately, many of us take these rights for granted. Some of us cannot even identify them. Nevertheless, our constitutional rights affect every aspect of our daily lives, and are particularly important in criminal cases.

Constitutional rights are not always clear-cut. The same general constitutional right may arise under both the Federal and a State constitution. The level of protection the right provides in a particular situation may vary depending upon which constitution is at issue, and whether the constitutional provision which guarantees the right is being interpreted by a Federal or State court. A skilled New Jersey criminal defense lawyer can understand these distinctions, and use them to their client's advantage.

Your federal and state constitutional rights are the focus of any criminal case.

Constitutional rights exist in every criminal proceeding. Whether the charges involve drugs, weapons, murder, rape, assault, sex offenses, or crimes involving the Internet, or some other criminal charge, the defendant has many constitutional rights that must be protected at all times throughout the criminal case.

It also does not matter if the defendant is an adult or a juvenile, or is facing charges in the Superior Court of New Jersey, a New Jersey municipal court, or the New York City Criminal Court in Manhattan (New York County) or Brooklyn (Kings County), or the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, or the Eastern District of New York, or the District of New Jersey. Constitutional rights are always an issue, regardless of the defendant, the charge, or the court hearing the case.

Some of the most basic constitutional rights that can arise in almost any criminal case involve the propriety of an arrest. Other constitutional rights involve searches of a person, their home or their car, without proper authority. Many constitutional rights impact upon incriminating statements or admissions made to law enforcement officials investigating allegations of criminal wrongdoing. A seasoned criminal defense attorney in New Jersey can identify these issues where they exist, and act to protect them at the appropriate stage(s) of any criminal case.

In any criminal case, a criminal defense attorney must always be asking questions such as:

• Were any of the client's constitutional rights violated?
• If so, which ones?
• What actions or events caused the violation?
• What is the best response to the violation? Can the client's constitutional rights be restored and protected? Is there a motion that must be filed? Is there some other action that must be taken?
• What steps should be taken to preserve and protect the client's rights if an appeal is necessary?

Further, a skilled New Jersey criminal defense attorney will continue to ask these questions throughout the case, and not just at the beginning.

Whether and to what extent someone's constitutional rights were violated can, and often will, have a significant impact on almost every aspect of any criminal case. An effective criminal defense attorney will continually seek to determine if their client's constitutional rights were violated at any stage of the criminal process, and then respond appropriately.

We understand and respect the importance of the constitutional rights that come into play in criminal cases. We know that constitutional rights do not only exist at the trial level, but continue through the appeal stage of a criminal defense matter.

Whether you have an indictable/felony offense, or a non-indictable misdemeanor offense in any New Jersey or New York City Court, we can consult with you concerning your options. Call Mr. Friedman at 800-361-6554 (toll free) to learn more, or contact us online.