en Copyright 2011 Stefankiewicz & Barnes, LLC Attorneys at Law 2011-11-16T20:45:34+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-expands-condo-blog-to-include-real-estate-law/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-expands-condo-blog-to-include-real-estate-law/#When:20:45:34Z Condominium Associations and Condominium Law, Jeff Barnes, Managing Partner of Stefankiewicz & Barnes, has expanded the blog to include issues and news related to Real Estate Law.

“Once we launched the Condo Law Blog, we began hearing from residents all over the state of New Jersey with questions about their specific homeowners association’s issue,” said Barnes.” Many of these inquiries had real estate law implications, and given our subtantial work in this area, it seemed only natural to expand the blog to cover those topics as well.”

In addition to his work with Condominium Associations, Barnes concentrates his practice in real estate transactions, real estate development, land use matters, business planning/transactions, commercial financing, formation of business entities and commercial litigation, as well

The blog can be found at www.snblegal.com/condorealestatelawblog.]]> 2011-11-16T20:45:34+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/judge-dismisses-murder-charges-against-george-j-carty-iii/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/judge-dismisses-murder-charges-against-george-j-carty-iii/#When:13:04:07Z
This ordinary piece of paper had just become his most treasured possession. It read, in part, “It is on this 6th day of October 2011 ordered and adjudged that the above-captioned indictment shall be, and hereby is, dismissed without prejudice.”

In a Thursday morning court proceeding that lasted no more than a few minutes, Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten signed that dismissal order, officially ending a criminal case that began nearly four years ago when police arrested Carty and charged him with the 1982 murder of Lower Township resident John Attenborough.

As the judge signed the order dismissing the murder indictment against Carty, Carty’s supporters, including his wife Cheryl, applauded.

“I think my client wants a copy of that order,” defense attorney David Stefankiewicz said with a smile.

Carty, 53, and his wife then hugged and cried.

“It’s kind of overwhelming. I never thought it would be over, and it’s still not over,” Carty said outside …

more »]]> 2011-10-07T13:04:07+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/cape-may-county-prosecutor-seeks-dismissal-of-murder-charges-against-carty/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/cape-may-county-prosecutor-seeks-dismissal-of-murder-charges-against-carty/#When:12:38:31Z
“There is presently insufficient evidence to proceed with this prosecution,” states a court order submitted to Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten’s chambers Friday. The order is awaiting the judge’s signature.

“Short of finding any new evidence, it’s pretty much game, set, and match for Carty,” defense attorney David Stefankiewicz said Monday.

The dismissal order comes nearly two years after a statement Carty made to investigators in March 2007 was first ruled inadmissible. The statement, made in a West Virginia State Police barracks, was the crux of the state’s case.

In 2009, Batten found that West Virginia State Police Sgt. James Merrill, who administered a polygraph test to Carty, failed to properly advise him of his rights and then, when Carty initially balked during the interview, continued with the polygraph anyway.

The court also took issue with Merrill’s interview technique, in …

more »]]> 2011-10-04T12:38:31+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/nj-supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-cape-may-county-prosecutors-appeal-in-1982-murder-case-/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/nj-supreme-court-refuses-to-hear-cape-may-county-prosecutors-appeal-in-1982-murder-case-/#When:16:36:34Z CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE — The state Supreme Court will not hear an appeal by the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office in its case against murder suspect George J. Carty III.

“It should effectively end the case,” Carty’s defense attorney David Stefankiewicz said Wednesday afternoon. “The court doesn’t want to hear the case.”

Carty, now 53, was arrested in December 2007 at his Ohio home and charged with first-degree murder in the July 27, 1982, death of Lower Township resident John Attenborough, 57. Carty and Attenborough had worked together as cooks at the Wildwood Golf and Country Club in Middle Township.

Carty’s arrest came months after Carty agreed to talk with investigators at a West Virginia State Police barracks as part of a cold-case review. He was living in West Virginia at the time and it is the state he still considers home.

Those lengthy conversations were recorded and became the crux of the state’s case, but on Dec. 18, 2009, Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten ruled the taped statements, including a polygraph examination, inadmissible.

Batten said Carty was not …

more »]]> 2011-09-15T16:36:34+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-authors-new-jersey-condo-law-blog/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-authors-new-jersey-condo-law-blog/#When:17:30:48Z
“For residents or board members of a condominium association, there are any of a number of issues that can arise at any time that can be incredibly confusing,” said Barnes. “While this can not serve as the one-on-one advice of a legal professional, it can help those individuals get a better understanding of the issues and how they might apply to that association’s unique situation.

The blog can be found at http://www.snblegal.com/condoblog.]]> 2011-01-03T17:30:48+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/murder-suspect-held-3-years-without-trial-is-free-on-bail/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/murder-suspect-held-3-years-without-trial-is-free-on-bail/#When:17:23:27Z When the numbers were squared away, George Carty turned to his wife in the courtroom, put his hands together as if in prayer and said three words he’s been longing to utter for years.

“I’m coming home,” he whispered before being led back to the Cape May County Jail a few miles away from the courthouse.

In the hallway, Cheryl Carty danced on the tiled floor, simultaneously crying and laughing while hugging strangers. With the help of a bail bondsman, Cheryl hoped to have her husband, jailed without a trial since 2007 in a 28-year-old murder case, home “by supper,” she said.

“I think he wants pizza.”

Carty’s bail was lowered from $250,000 full cash to a bondable $50,000 yesterday after a recent state appellate court ruling affirmed a lower-court decision to throw out statements that the medical-school graduate and former nationally ranked Scrabble player gave to investigators during a long interrogation.

The Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office agreed to the bail reduction but is also petitioning the New Jersey Supreme Court. Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten, whose ruling on …

more »]]> 2010-12-29T17:23:27+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/george-carty-out-on-bail-after-hearing-/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/george-carty-out-on-bail-after-hearing-/#When:17:08:10Z
Bail for George J. Carty, III, accused in 2007 in a 1982 slaying in Lower Township, was reduced by $200,000 at a hearing Tuesday.

When Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten received a copy of the Appellate Division’s Dec. 23 opinion upholding his ruling prohibiting certain statements made by Carty from being used at trial, he immediately reached out to the lawyers in the case.

Batten had found that Carty’s rights were violated during a polygraph test administered in West Virginia, saying he was not given a proper Miranda notification. He said Carty’s statements from that interview could not be used. Last week, the higher court upheld his decision.

The judge and the lawyers set a hearing date of Dec. 28 to address ramifications of the appellate court’s decision.

Batten cut a holiday vacation short to conduct the hearing, at which the prosecution confirmed that it is appealing the recent decision to the …

more »]]> 2010-12-29T17:08:10+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/murder-suspect-free-on-bail-after-3-years/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/murder-suspect-free-on-bail-after-3-years/#When:16:38:41Z
The couple, married for 16 years, smiled and cried as they embraced for the first time since Dec. 18, 2007, the day Carty was arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Lower Township resident John Attenborough.

Since Dec. 19, 2007, Carty’s home had been the county jail. But at 7 p.m. Tuesday, he walked out after posting $50,000 bail.

“It’s three years too long,” Carty said. “I didn’t do it. They know I didn’t do it. But now they’re stuck.”

Carty’s release came days after an appellate court decision that said his statement to police during a March 2007 interrogation would be inadmissible at trial.

Despite making that statement, Carty was given a polygraph examination, and the polygraph examiner, West Virginia State Police Sgt. James Merrill, failed to properly advise Carty of his Miranda rights, Batten said.

During a bail hearing Tuesday afternoon before Batten, …

more »]]> 2010-12-29T16:38:41+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/nj-court-overturns-cape-slay-evidence/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/nj-court-overturns-cape-slay-evidence/#When:16:10:29Z
The decision, however, does not mean the case against Carty, charged in the July 27, 1982, death of John Attenborough, has come to an end. A bail hearing has been set for today.

Cape May County Assistant Prosecutor Matthew D. Weintraub said Monday that his office has reviewed the Appellate Division’s decision and “we will file a petition for certification with the N.J. Supreme Court,” meaning the Prosecutor’s Office wants the state’s high court to determine whether Carty’s statement can be used at trial.

Weintraub added that his office is obligated to pursue the matter because it has enough proof to constitute probable cause to support Carty’s prosecution. “The Appellate Division’s suppression of the defendant’s statement to law enforcement has no bearing on his factual guilt in the commission of Attenborough’s murder,” Weintraub said.

Carty, meanwhile, has maintained his innocence.

The Appellate Division finding comes a year after Superior Court Judge Raymond Batten ruled …

more »]]> 2010-12-28T16:10:29+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/polygraph-taken-without-additional-miranda-warnings-ruled-void/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/polygraph-taken-without-additional-miranda-warnings-ruled-void/#When:16:45:08Z
The Appellate Division affirmed a trial judge’s ruling that Carty was coerced into taking the exam and was not fully informed of his right against self-incrimination.

Judges Philip Carchman and Alexander Waugh Jr. said they saw no reason to disturb the judge’s finding that Carty invoked his right to not answer more questions when he initially declined to take the polygraph test and told the investigators that a DNA sample would be sufficient.

Cape May County Prosecutor Robert Taylor says he will petition the state Supreme Court for certification of the case, State v. Carty, A-3117-09.

Carty, 52, has been held on $500,000 bail since December 2007, when he was extradited from Ohio to New Jersey to face aggravated manslaughter charges for the 1982 beating death of John Attenborough, his former co-worker and “drinking buddy.”

In the early 1980s, Carty and Attenborough …

more »]]> 2010-12-27T16:45:08+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-obtains-approvals-for-unusual-business-operation-out-of-private-home/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-obtains-approvals-for-unusual-business-operation-out-of-private-home/#When:18:38:01Z Jeff Barnes obtained a favorable zoning board interpretation for a gun repair shop to be operated from a private home in North Wildwood, NJ.

Recognizing the unique and sensitive nature of the business, Barnes successfully argued the owner’s commitment to security, safety and respect for neighbors in conjunction with the fact that the gun industry regulations provide additional layers of protections and accountability.

Barnes appears on behalf of commercial businesses before zoning boards all over Southern New Jersey, from small privately owned businesses such as this one, to large developers seeking a variety of variances or approvals.]]> 2010-10-18T18:38:01+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-obtains-variances-for-avalon-hotel-expansion/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-obtains-variances-for-avalon-hotel-expansion/#When:15:55:40Z Jeff Barnes, on behalf of the Golden Inn Hotel of Avalon, NJ, successfully obtained a height variance from the Planning/Zoning Board of the Borough of Avalon to allow the hotel to exceed normal roofline height limits on its east wing.

This approval will enable the hotel resort to enhance the roofline aesthetics as well as modernize the building.

This marks yet another major improvement of the hotel completed in recent years.

For more information, visit http://www.goldeninn.com/.]]> 2010-09-15T15:55:40+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/cape-murder-suspect-in-limbo/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/cape-murder-suspect-in-limbo/#When:14:42:09Z CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE - Twenty-five years passed before someone was charged in the 1982 death of Lower Township resident John Attenborough.

More than two and a half years have passed since someone was arrested in the case.

Today, both the victim’s family and the suspect charged with his murder continue to wait for resolution.

George J. Carty III, the Ohio man charged with murder in Attenborough’s July 27, 1982, slaying, is the longest-serving inmate in the Cape May County Jail.

Now 52, he was arrested at his Richmond Heights, Ohio, home on Dec. 18, 2007, after the Cape May County Prosecutor’s Office announced a break in the cold case. He waived an extradition hearing and arrived at the county jail here the following day - Dec. 19, 2007 - where he has been held ever since, so far a total of 982 days as of Aug. 26.

A murder indictment against Carty was dismissed on Oct. 7, 2009, when Superior Judge Raymond Batten ruled that Cape May County Detective Ed Musick misled the grand jury about whether DNA …

more »]]> 2010-08-26T14:42:09+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-interview-the-pros-and-cons-and-laws-of-seashore-condo-living/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/jeff-barnes-interview-the-pros-and-cons-and-laws-of-seashore-condo-living/#When:15:09:34Z
For many, constructing or buying one of these structures was a win-win. Demolish or remodel an outdated building to sell one or more brand new or “like new” units offering luxuries expected of a resort property: bedrooms with private baths, central air, deluxe kitchens, etc. But while each property brought a number of benefits, it also brings greater responsibilities to the owner in the eyes of the State of New Jersey.

The “Condominium Act” became law in 1969 and provided that condo owners are not owners of separate properties, per se, but members of a union of sorts that governs the management of a whole property and each member owns a percentage of that property. The Act provides for condominium association member entitlements, such as voting rights, …

more »]]> 2010-08-18T15:09:34+00:00 http://www.snblegal.com/news/new-north-wildwood-restaurant-approvals-obtained-by-jeff-barnes/ http://www.snblegal.com/news/new-north-wildwood-restaurant-approvals-obtained-by-jeff-barnes/#When:16:14:45Z Jeff Barnes has obtained approvals for The Big River Fish Co., an existing North Wildwood restaurant, to be rebranded in this ever-growing South Jersey resort.

On behalf of the owner, Barnes presented plans for the site, previously approved as a take-out restaurant, to be expanded into a sixty seat sit-down restaurant and bar with takeout service and onsite parking.

The owner expects the bar and restaurant to thrive as a welcome addition to the resort, given the growth of the Wildwoods as a tourist destination in recent years. ]]> 2010-08-14T16:14:45+00:00