New Jersey Criminal Lawyer BlogOn March 14, 2014, Rodney Roberts was released from a state facility for sex offenders after spending 17 years in prison and at a treatment center. In 1996, he was convicted of rape, although he maintained his innocence. As a result of new DNA evidence, attorney Michael Pastacaldi won Roberts’ appeal on Post-Conviction relief and vacated his conviction of 17 years.
DNA Evidence Exonerated Man Who Pleaded to Rape Related Kidnapping, New Jersey Law Journal, March 18, 2014
State v. John Tate
In 2014, Mr. Pastacaldi represented Mr. Tate in a criminal matter in which Mr. Tate was wrongfully convicted of child abuse. Mr. Pastacaldi drafted an appellate brief and argued before the New Jersey Appellate Division which upheld the conviction. The matter was then appealed to the New Jersey Supreme Court which granted certification. In November 2014, a full panel of the New Jersey Supreme Court held oral argument in Mr. Tate’s case in which Mr. Pastacaldi argued against the Morris County Prosectutor’s Office which sought to uphold the conviction. On February 2, 2015, a unanimous New Jersey Supreme Court issued its decision in which it agreed with Mr. Pastacaldi’s position and vacated Mr. Tate’s conviction for child abuse.
NJ Justices Dodge Constitutionality of Anti-Cursing Statute, New Jersey Law Journal, February 2, 2015
Fernandes v. Arantes
In 2011 in Fernandes v. Arantes, a Hudson County judge awarded Fernandes palimony, despite the same-sex couple not having a written agreement or being formally married. They had been living together since 1996, and in 2005 they bought a home in New Jersey. When the relationship dissolved, attorney Michael Pastacaldi represented Mr. Franandes in a seven day trial seeking to protect Mr. Franandes’ financial interests in the shared property acquired during the relationship through a palimony claim. At the conclusion of the trial, The Hon. Claude Coleman, Jr., J.S.C. held that Mr. Fernandes was entitled to recover his one-half interest in the property.
Oral Palimony Pact Upheld in One of the Last Cases before The Statute of Frauds, New Jersey Law Journal, October 13, 2011