Jason D. Patterson

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Charge:	Firearm related (including ammunition)
Sentence:	3 years & 3 years probation
Years Imprisoned:	3
Year Crime:	2008
Year Convicted:	2010
Year Cleared:	2015
U.S. State or Country of Crime:	New Jersey
County or Region of Crime:	Middlesex
City of Crime:	Metuchen
Result:	Judicially Exonerated
Summary of Case:	"Jason D. Patterson was wrongly convicted on March 4, 2010 of third-degree unlawful possession of a weapon in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Patterson's prosecution was based on a .177 caliber BB gun that was found during a warrantless search of his vehicle on December 1, 2008 after a police officer saw him make an abrupt stop at a yellow traffic light. The officer discovered there was a warrant out for Patterson's arrest for the failure to pay a municipal court fine, and his driver's license had been suspended. Patterson was also charged with drug offenses for drugs and paraphenalia found during the search of his car, but those charges were dismissed prior to his trial. Patterson's motion to suppress the fruits of the warrentless search that he argued was illegal because there were exigent circumstances, was denied by the trial judge. After Patterson's conviction by a jury he was sentenced to three years in prison. Patterson appealed, but it wasn't decided until after he had served his full sentence. On June 25, 2015 the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey overturned Patterson's conviction on the basis the police conducted an illegal warrantless search of his vehicle before it was towed because there was no public safety issue requiring a search, and the only admissible evidence were items in a visible area of his vehicle. The Court ruled there was no factual basis for the State's argument the vehicle needed to be searched to prepare it for towng, and there was no basis for the State's arguments it needed to be searched to make an inventory of the vehicle's contents because there was trial testimony that any inventory was conducted. The Middlesex County DA's motion to dismiss the charge against Patterson was granted on August 15, 2015. On December 14, 2016 Jason Patterson filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit in Middlesex County Superior Court that sought $150,000 in damages."
Conviction Caused By:	Illegal warrantless search.
Innocence Proved By:	"In December 2014 the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey overturned Patterson's conviction on the basis the police conducted an illegal warrantless search of his vehicle before it was towed because there was no public safety issue requiring a search, and the only admissible evidence were items in a visible area of his vehicle."
Defendant Aided By:
Compensation Awarded:
Was Perpetrator Identified?
Age When Imprisoned:	24
Age When Released:	27
Sex:	Male
Skin/Ethnicity:
Information Source 1:	"State v. Patterson, No. A-2842-11T1 (NJ Appellate Div. 6-25-2015) (Reversing conviction based on prosecution's reliance on inadmissible evidence.)"
Information Location 1:	"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9845544812878342749&q=Jason+Patterson+2014&hl=en&as_sdt=4,31"
Information Source 2:	"Exonerated N.J. man seeks $150K in suit after 3 years in prison for BB gun, By Craig McCarthy (NJ Advance Media), NJ.com, December 26, 2016"
Information Location 2:	http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/12/nj_man_sues.html#incart_river_home
Information Source 3:	"Exonerated New Jersey Man Sues After Serving 3 Years For BB Gun, By BearingArms.com, Bearingarms.com, December 26, 2016"
Information Location 3:	http://bearingarms.com/ba-staff/2016/12/26/exonerated-new-jersey-man-sues-serving-3-years-bb-gun/
Information Source 4:	"Appeals court reverses man's weapon conviction, By Sue Epstein, NJ Advance Media (nj.com), 6-25-2015"
Information Location 4:	http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/06/appeals_court_reverses_mans_weapon_conviction.html
Information Source 5:
Information Location 5:
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Jason D. Patterson

Charge:

Firearm related (including ammunition)

Sentence:

3 years & 3 years probation

Years Imprisoned:

3

Year Crime:

2008

Year Convicted:

2010

Year Cleared:

2015

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

New Jersey

County or Region of Crime:

Middlesex

City of Crime:

Metuchen

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

Conviction Caused By:

Illegal warrantless search.

Innocence Proved By:

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

24

Age When Released:

27

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"State v. Patterson, No. A-2842-11T1 (NJ Appellate Div. 6-25-2015) (Reversing conviction based on prosecution's reliance on inadmissible evidence.)"

Information Location 1:

"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=9845544812878342749&q=Jason+Patterson+2014&hl=en&as_sdt=4,31"

Information Source 2:

"Exonerated N.J. man seeks $150K in suit after 3 years in prison for BB gun, By Craig McCarthy (NJ Advance Media), NJ.com, December 26, 2016"

Information Location 2:

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2016/12/nj_man_sues.html#incart_river_home

Information Source 3:

"Exonerated New Jersey Man Sues After Serving 3 Years For BB Gun, By BearingArms.com, Bearingarms.com, December 26, 2016"

Information Location 3:

http://bearingarms.com/ba-staff/2016/12/26/exonerated-new-jersey-man-sues-serving-3-years-bb-gun/

Information Source 4:

"Appeals court reverses man's weapon conviction, By Sue Epstein, NJ Advance Media (nj.com), 6-25-2015"

Information Location 4:

http://www.nj.com/middlesex/index.ssf/2015/06/appeals_court_reverses_mans_weapon_conviction.html

Information Source 5:

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