By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
John Hartmann is a lawyer, not a writer but it was a case involving a man who was wrongfully convicted of armed robbery and who wanted his day in court that convinced Mr. Hartmann it was a story that needed to be told.
That story was published last month in a memoir entitled “Jacket,” which is a term that refers to a person’s criminal record, or criminal case history. It’s one of the first documents that a lawyer examines in preparation for representing a client.
And while the book may not make The New York Times best-seller list, Mr. Hartmann who also served one term representing the 15th Legislative District in the State Assembly is the first to admit that he certainly enjoyed the writing.
The book tells the tale of Nathaniel Oliver, who was convicted of robbing the Halo Farms store on Spruce Street in Lawrence several years ago. The conviction was appealed and the case was sent back to Mercer County Superior Court on a technicality, and that’s where Mr. Hartmann entered the picture.
”Mr. Oliver was a very nice man, and this was a poorly investigated case. He was charged with a robbery he didn’t do, and he was convicted. The case was overturned on appeal, and that’s when I stepped in,” said the Lawrence Township resident, who has been practicing criminal law for 15 years.
Mr. Oliver was minding his own business, eating a sandwich and drinking a soda at a bus stop nearby, around the same time that the convenience store was being robbed at knifepoint. Searching for the robber, a police officer discovered Mr. Oliver.
One of the victims identified him as the robber as he sat in the back of the patrol car, but if he had been able to stand up, it would have been clear that Mr. Oliver was not the perpetrator. He was much taller than the knife-wielding robber that the cashier described to police. Nevertheless, he was charged, convicted and sent to jail.
Mr. Hartmann picked up the case on appeal, and relates that while he was able to work out a deal so that Mr. Oliver would be released on the time he had served in exchange for pleading guilty, his client refused. He wanted his day in court, on principle. A second trial was held, and he was found innocent.
”I have done about 50 jury trials, and this is one guy I was convinced was not guilty of anything,” Mr. Hartmann said.”He could have pled out, but he stuck to his guns and that’s something you don’t see too often.”
But the book isn’t just about Nathaniel Oliver and his wrongful conviction. It is also about Mr. Hartmann’s small criminal law practice, in which he handles cases ranging from defending drivers charged with minor motor vehicle violations, to defending people charged with murder.
Scattered throughout the book are snippets and anecdotes about what it’s like to be a criminal defense lawyer everything from how to start a legal practice and then how to get clients to pay their legal bills, to how to pick a jury and the tricks prospective jurors can use to get out of jury duty.
”This book is about what it’s like to be a lawyer. It’s a lot different than ‘Law and Order.’ It’s a book for a lot of people. It’s for people who are in law school or who are considering it. This isn’t ‘War and Peace.’ It’s an insider’s view of the legal practice,” he said.
For example, the State of New Jersey brings a charge against the defendant, and it is up to the criminal defense attorney to go to court to defend him or her, Mr. Hartmann said.If a motorist is charged with a speeding ticket, “you go to court and you want to make sure the state can prove its case,” he said.
”It’s the same way with a murder case. We don’t have to prove our (client’s) innocence. The State of New Jersey has to prove the (defendant) is guilty. It’s the rules we made as a nation,” he said.
Mr. Hartmann, who grew up in West Windsor Township and who graduated from Princeton Day School, Georgetown University and Seton Hall University Law School, said it took about six months to write the book spending about two hours a day, early in the morning and another six months to polish it.
Although Mr. Hartmann readily acknowledges that it was representing Mr. Oliver that inspired him to write “Jacket,” he said he also wrote it for his two children so that one day, they may pick up the book off the shelf and read what it was like for their father to practice law.
“I had fun writing it. I’m my own biggest fan, but I’m not quitting my day job,” Mr. Hartmann said with a smile.

