Essex County Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer

Essex County Domestic Violence Defense Lawyer

You got arrested in Essex County last week, maybe police showed up at your home in Newark after a 911 call from your spouse or girlfriend or boyfriend, maybe it was an argument that got physical in Montclair, maybe simple assault during a fight in West Orange, maybe harassment charges from repeated text messages in Bloomfield, and the officer arrested you on the spot because New Jersey has mandatory arrest protocols when there’s probable cause of domestic violence, or maybe you weren’t arrested yet but someone served you with Temporary Restraining Order papers telling you there’s a Final Restraining Order hearing scheduled at Essex County Family Court in Newark within ten days, and you don’t know what you’re facing because a Final Restraining Order in New Jersey is permanent where it doesn’t expire in one year, five years, ten years, it continues forever unless a judge changes it, and that permanent order shows up on every background check, requires you to surrender all firearms and your firearms purchaser ID card, gets entered into a statewide central registry under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-34, and violating that order becomes a separate criminal offense with jail time, and domestic violence in New Jersey under N.J.S.A. 2C:25-19 isn’t one crime, it’s a framework that applies when you commit certain predicate acts against someone in a protected relationship where the predicate acts include simple assault, aggravated assault, harassment, stalking, terroristic threats, criminal mischief, burglary, criminal trespass, lewdness, criminal sexual contact, kidnapping, false imprisonment, criminal restraint, sexual assault, criminal coercion, robbery, contempt, while the protected relationships include current or former spouse, present or former household member, someone you’re dating or dated, someone you have a child with or are expecting a child with, and most domestic violence arrests in Essex County involve simple assault like shoving during an argument, grabbing someone’s arm, throwing an object that hits them, or harassment which is repeated communications meant to annoy or alarm where simple assault as domestic violence is a disorderly persons offense carrying up to six months jail, $1,000 fine, but the restraining order implications exceed the criminal penalties by magnitudes since two parallel proceedings happen after domestic violence arrest in Essex County where first track is the criminal charges, simple assault or harassment or whatever the underlying offense is, these get prosecuted in municipal court if disorderly persons offenses like Newark Municipal Court, Montclair, Bloomfield, West Orange, or in Essex County Superior Court if indictable offenses like aggravated assault with serious injury, while second track is the restraining order proceeding in Essex County Family Court, separate hearing, separate judge, civil not criminal but the consequences last forever where you can beat the criminal charge and still get hit with a Final Restraining Order, or get convicted criminally but successfully defend against the FRO since the two proceedings are independent though the evidence overlaps, and the Temporary Restraining Order gets issued ex parte, meaning the plaintiff goes to Family Court or a police station, fills out forms, testifies before a judge without you present, judge issues TRO same day if there’s any colorable claim where the TRO requires you to have no contact with the plaintiff, stay away from their residence and workplace, surrender firearms within 24 hours to local police, and the TRO stays in effect until the Final Restraining Order hearing which gets scheduled within ten days where that FRO hearing is your one chance to contest the allegations, cross-examine the plaintiff, present your defense, call witnesses, and if the judge issues the FRO at that hearing, it’s permanent unless you file a motion years later to terminate it and the standard for termination is extremely high since you have to prove changed circumstances and that plaintiff no longer needs protection, and thanks for visiting Spodek Law Group, a second-generation law firm managed by Todd Spodek where we’ve represented clients in Essex County domestic violence cases for over 40 years, many, many cases in Family Court and at the Veterans Courthouse in Newark, if you’re reaching out to us we understand the pressure you’re under.

Predicate act plus protected relationship equals domestic violence, but that’s where defenses come in where self-defense means you were defending yourself from attack, you used proportional force, the other person was the aggressor, while mutual combat means both parties fighting where New Jersey law says the judge should identify the primary aggressor and only issue FRO against that person, and false allegations mean the plaintiff is lying to gain advantage in divorce proceedings or custody battle, no domestic violence actually occurred, inconsistencies in their testimony, lack of physical evidence, or no protected relationship since maybe you had one date where New Jersey courts have held that one isolated encounter doesn’t constitute a dating relationship for purposes of the domestic violence act, or lack of intent since harassment requires purpose to harass, if your communications weren’t intended to annoy or alarm you haven’t committed the predicate act.

First-time domestic violence arrest in Essex County, disorderly persons simple assault or harassment, no prior record, conditional discharge might be available where you complete counseling and the charge gets dismissed after six months to one year, or conditional dismissal in municipal court with similar requirements, but even if the criminal charge gets dismissed or downgraded, you still face the FRO hearing in Family Court and that permanent order since the FRO hearing is THE critical proceeding because once that order is entered, it follows you forever where employers see it, landlords see it, professional licensing boards see it, you can’t own firearms ever again unless you get the order terminated which almost never happens, and any contact with the plaintiff even years later triggers criminal contempt charges.

Aggravated assault as domestic violence, second-degree or third-degree depending on the injury and weapon use, means Superior Court prosecution, potential prison time three to ten years for second-degree, three to five years for third-degree, these are indictable offenses where PTI might be available for first-timers but the FRO still gets entered in Family Court separately since judges in Essex County Superior Court impose prison sentences regularly for domestic violence aggravated assault especially when there’s serious bodily injury or weapon use, and criminal record implications beyond the FRO mean conviction shows up on background checks, immigration consequences for non-citizens where domestic violence convictions trigger removal proceedings since crimes of domestic violence are deportable offenses under federal immigration law.

Former Essex County prosecutors know the domestic violence unit at the prosecutor’s office, know the Family Court judges who hear FRO cases at the Essex County courthouse, know which judges are more receptive to self-defense claims versus which judges almost always side with plaintiffs, know the municipal court judges throughout Essex County and how they handle conditional discharge applications, know how these cases get resolved while at Spodek Law Group our attorneys have handled many, many domestic violence cases, FRO hearings, criminal prosecutions, some made national headlines, high-profile cases, but most work happens defending regular people facing domestic violence allegations who need their rights protected and that permanent restraining order prevented.

Call 212-300-5196.