“I was in a hurry that morning, and I was supposed to be there already…and I guess I was a little over the limit…but when I looked on-line I saw that I could not only get points which will make my insurance go up; but that could also lose my license. I need my license to get to work, and to take care of my family. I live in an area of N.J. where there is no public transportation. What will happen when I go to Court?” Excuses and explanations worked best when you were talking to Mom, not to an officer during a traffic stop when caught speeding. While almost everyone drives over the posted speed ..read more

When you are charged with a criminal offense in New Jersey, you must appear in Court when you are told to be there, or the Judge can issue a warrant for your arrest and require you to post bail before the Court will lift the warrant or issue a new Court date. Being ‘busy’, or not wanting to miss work, or having child-care issues does not excuse you from you court date. The danger is not limited to you being arrested and held until the Court has time to see you. The fact that you did not appear can impact your drivers license, risk additional penalties and consequences for Contempt, and impact ..read more

Client: “I didn’t mean to do something to hurt someone, and I swear I didn’t know my co-defendant had a gun…we were just out to have fun, and we thought it would be funny to grab some stuff from a store and have the owner chase us, but he had a bat, and that’s when my co-D shot him to keep him from hitting us…” Attorney: “Let’s talk about conspiracy and accomplice liability.” In its simplest of terms under the New Jersey law, Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit an unlawful act. In essence, anything that is a reasonable and foreseeable consequence of the actions tha ..read more

I don’t have to worry, the cop said that if I cooperated and helped them as an informant that the cop would dismiss the charges…so why do I need a lawyer? So the law enforcement officer who arrested you, and who is sworn to uphold the law, is going to ‘dismiss’ the charges that he just filed against you on an official New Jersey criminal complaint… Yeah, OK, and the Emperor really was wearing something, right? Psst, hey pal…since you’re that gullible, I got a nice bridge for sale and you would look great collecting all those tolls… There is a saying, that if something sounds to good to be tr ..read more

“My lawyer didn’t do what I told him to, and I got convicted because he screwed up my defense!” must be raised by filing a Post-Conviction Relief Petition, not an Appeal. If you are convicted or enter a guilty plea, you have the right to file an appeal if you believe that the Court made a mistake. If you believe that the lawyer made a mistake, that type of error must be raised by filing a Post Conviction Relief (PCR) Petition. If it’s a legal issue = file an Appeal; if it’s a representation issue = file a PCR petition. Everyone makes mistakes. The best lawyer in the land still puts on his or ..read more

“I promise! I’ll never do it again” is easy for you to say, and hard for your lawyer to convince a prosecutor that you mean it (this time) and, that your behavior is not going to be repetitive. There are some types of crimes, especially those involving sexual assault, where one of the main issues a prosecutor and a sentencing Court are concerned with, is whether your behavior is repetitive and compulsive. In essence, what is the likelihood that you will ‘do it again’. As a NJ criminal defense lawyer, I frequently start a defense in a case involving sexual assault with having my client evaluat ..read more

In New Jersey, a Temporary Restraining Order issued under the Domestic Violence Act, can be issued at the request of the protected party when there is evidence presented to the Court to establish the existence of a ‘domestic relationship’ that did or does still exist, an allegation of one or more of the prohibited criminal acts, and a reason to believe that without the protections of the RO, that future acts of domestic violence will occur. A ‘domestic relationship’ includes dating relationships, couples who are a ‘couple’, lovers, a father and mother of a child; sibling vs. sibling; parent an ..read more