New Jersey Criminal Law and Procedure
This domain tests the N.J.S.A. 2C code, arrest and search authority under Article I, Paragraph 7 of the New Jersey Constitution, and the pretrial framework created by bail reform. The exam rewards knowing where New Jersey departs from federal doctrine.
Substantive law
Know the gradations and elements: murder (2C:11-3), aggravated manslaughter, assault (2C:12-1), robbery (2C:15-1), and burglary (2C:18-2), which requires entry into a structure or separately secured portion with purpose to commit an offense therein, or surreptitious remaining. Use of force in law enforcement sits at 2C:3-7, read together with the Attorney General's use-of-force policy.
Search and seizure, New Jersey style
- Automobile exception: State v. Witt (2015) restored the federal doctrine - probable cause, no separate exigency.
- Vehicle search incident to arrest: State v. Eckel (2004) bars it once occupants are secured.
- Blood draws require a warrant, consent, or true exigency.
- Cannabis: since legalization, odor of marijuana alone is not probable cause (State v. Cohen, 2023); the State needs other articulable facts.
Bail reform
Under the Criminal Justice Reform Act, release decisions are risk-based; the prosecutor may move for preventive detention. A detained defendant must be indicted within 90 days and tried within 180 days under N.J.S.A. 2A:162-22.
Worked example
Officers stop a car for a broken brake light, smell burnt marijuana, and pop the trunk. Under Cohen the odor alone does not supply probable cause, and nothing else is articulated. The lieutenant should flag the illegality before the complaint is signed, not let the prosecutor discover it at a suppression hearing.
Traps that cost marks
Importing federal rules wholesale; forgetting Eckel; treating acquiescence as consent; missing the 90/180-day clocks; misstating an offense degree; assuming a warrantless blood draw is fine because the driver was arrested.