Criminal Defense

Protecting the legal rights of people who have been accused of criminal misconduct in New Jersey
Allegations of criminal activity are an extremely serious matter. In many cases, a conviction for even a first-time offense can result in significant penalties, including probation, fines, community service, and even jail time. Furthermore, the existence of a conviction on your record can have significant collateral consequences as well. For example, employers may be less likely to hire you and a conviction could even keep you from gaining admission to an educational institution. Criminal convictions are generally public record, meaning that anyone with sufficient curiosity may be able to find embarrassing details about your past.

In many criminal cases, there are defenses available that may mitigate the consequences that a criminal defendant may be facing or may even result in an acquittal, should the case go to trial. Even in cases in which there are no defenses available, the representation of an experienced criminal defense attorney can often result in a favorable plea bargain arrangement which avoids the most serious consequences associated with a particular offense.

Offenses related to the possession, manufacture, sale, or distribution of illegal drugs are aggressively pursued by New Jersey prosecutors. These cases often arise when law enforcement makes initial contact with a defendant for reasons not related to drugs - for example, many people are accused of drug crimes when drugs are discovered during a traffic stop for a completely unrelated matter. Some of the more common drug offenses that people face include:

• Possession
• Possession with intent to distribute
• Drug trafficking
• Manufacture or cultivation

For this reason, there are often various legal defenses related to the way in which law enforcement officers conducted a particular search in cases related to drugs. The 4th Amendment prohibits law enforcement from conducting unreasonable searches and seizures, and violations of this rule can keep illegally obtained evidence from being used against you. A common example of this type of violation occurs when police search a person's car without probably cause to do so. Our attorneys will thoroughly review your case and determine whether any of these apply.

In New Jersey, the offense of harassment is either brought as a disorderly persons offense or a fourth-degree offense if the defendant is in prison or is on probation or parole for an indictable offense. The offense of harassment is set forth in N.J.S.A. 2C:33-4 and involves the following type of conduct:

• Makes, or causes to be made, a communication or communications anonymously or at extremely inconvenient hours, or in offensively coarse language, or any other manner likely to cause annoyance or harm.
• Subjects another to striking, kicking, shoving, or other offensive touching, or threatens to do so
• Engages in any other course of alarming conduct or of repeatedly committed acts with purpose to alarm or seriously annoy such other person

In order to for the prosecution to prevail in a harassment case, it must prove that the defendant intended to harass the alleged victim. Determining a person's intent is inherently a subjective matter - defense attorneys, therefore, often have the opportunity to argue that the conduct at issue in a particular case did not rise to the level of harassment.