Q: I'm facing felony charges for aggravated assult for an altercation I my was in with my current partner. He told the
Police, emt's, prosecutor that it was an accident and they still want to press charges. Lowest charge from a level 3 to level 2 felony. I have no arrest history or traffic violation, nor domestic violence charges. In the midst of all of this chaos, I lost my mom on Nov. 18th of last year right before my first court day. I'm honestly lost and need help.
A: You need to retain a private criminal defense lawyer, particularly one who is experienced with domestic violence matters. Prosecutors are very reluctant to dismiss a DV case due to fear of being accused as soft on DV. A second degree charge involves a presumption of incarceration for 5+ years. So this is a serious problem and you should retain the best lawyer you can find.
A: If you're being charged the prosecutor does not feel that this was a mistake you need to get a good lawyer to fight these charges. A second-degree charge in New Jersey carries between 5 to 10 years in jail with a presumption of jail. Although many of us good lawyers have gotten many of these cases dismissed or downgraded that's statistically is not the rule but the exception. Prosecutors and judges simply don't like dismissing or downgrading domestic violence charges because this is the crime of the decade. I had a client tell me recently that when he was in jail awaiting his first court appearance everyone in the jail was telling him better to murder someone then to hit your wife. This obviously is not true but you get the point.
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