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Assault charges can take many forms. For example, you can be charged with simple assault, aggravated assault, aggravated sexual assault, terroristic threats, assault by auto, and stalking. Most assault charges in New Jersey are not Indictable (felony) offenses. Simple Assault charges are Disorderly Persons Offenses (misdemeanors).
Our law firm is located in Hackensack, NJ. We offer free consultations to help you understand the legal challenges before you. If you are facing assault charges in Northern New Jersey, come meet with our team today!
Our clients hire us when facing New Jersey assault charges in Bergen, Essex, Hudson, and Passaic counties. Whether your case is in Hackensack, Jersey City, Newark, Paterson, or a nearby city, we will help you with your New Jersey assault charges.
Simple assault is by far the most common of all New Jersey assault charges. Hundreds of simple assault complaints are generated daily. These cases are resolved in New Jersey municipal courts. If you plead guilty or are found guilty, you face up to 6 months in jail & a $1,000- fine. You will get a criminal record and this may affect employment & education opportunities.
If your charges stem from a domestic violence situation, you may have been issued a temporary restraining order. Violating a restraining order has serious consequences. If you are in this situation, our team of lawyers is here to help you.
If you have a clean record & are facing this type of New Jersey assault charges, you may be eligible for the conditional dismissal program. When you successfully complete this type of diversionary program, your simple assault charges will get dismissed.
We represented a client in Hackensack, NJ charged with simple assault. They accused him of pushing another man in a bar. During our client’s free consultation he explained that he did not push anyone. He insisted that he was the victim. At our first NJ court appearance, we met with the prosecutor & explained our side of the story. As expected, the prosecutor requested proof of our self-defense claim. We appeared before the judge & requested a brief 30-day adjournment to conduct our own investigation. Through our investigation, we got video surveillance from the bar & our client was telling the truth. He was not the aggressor. We went back to court & after meeting with the prosecutor he agreed to dismiss the criminal charges.
In another case, our client was facing simple assault charges in Newark. Our client had been having trouble with his neighbor for years & one-day things escalated. They exchanged insults & our client slapped his neighbor. The whole incident was captured on a smartphone video. This time we could not assert self-defense. The case against was strong & our client was in the wrong. We successfully admitted our client into the conditional dismissal program. We kept him out of jail & his criminal charges were dismissed.
In our last example, one of our Jersey City clients lost his temper with a co-worker. His co-worker had been making fun of our client’s weight issues & our client lost it. He punched his co-worker in the chest. Since he did not act in self-defense, we could not get his criminal charges dismissed. However, we showed the prosecutor evidence that our client was provoked & we reached a plea deal where the simple assault charges would be downgraded. Again, we kept our client of jail & kept his record clean.
The word “Aggravated” includes the following behavior.
A person acted purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life.
Basically, this means that you knew what you were doing when you did and that you didn’t care about any consequences.
Aggravated Assault charges in New Jersey are indictable offenses.
If you’re facing Aggravated Assault charges, it’s important to understand two things:
1. The extent of your victim’s injuries; and
2. Identifying whether the victim in your case is a member of a “protected class”.
Depending on the degree of your criminal charge, you will not be eligible for Pretrial Intervention. But don’t lose hope! As criminal lawyers, it is our job to negotiate the prosecutor in your county to get your New Jersey assault charges reduced from a more severe charge to a less severe charge.
You are guilty of assault by auto if you cause someone injury by driving in an aggressive manner. If you cause someone serious bodily injury while driving drunk, you will be facing a 2nd-degree crime. However, if you injure someone (even if you are not driving drunk), you will face either 3rd or 4th-degree charges.
It may come as a surprise but we can add another type of assault to our list of New Jersey assault charges. Yes, it involves situations where you leave the scene of an accident.
If you are driving and are involved in a car accident (where serious bodily injury occurred) you will be charged with a felony offense if you leave the scene of the accident. Your lack of knowledge that someone got hurt is irrelevant. If you plead guilty or are found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident, you face 3-5 years in prison.
New Jersey assault charges also include something we call terroristic threats.
A terroristic threat in NJ can fall into one of the following:
(1) You threatened somebody.
(2) You threatened to commit a violent act.
(3) You threatened to commit a violent act to
Terroristic threat charges usually come in “bundles”.
If you get these charges, you’re probably facing other offenses like Harassment, Resisting Arrest, Obstruction of Justice, Eluding, and Simple Assault. If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a Disorderly Persons offense, you face up to six months in jail and up to a one thousand dollar fine.
You must wait for five years from the date you completed your sentence before you can get an expungement. If you plead guilty or are found guilty of a felony, you must wait ten years to get your records expunged.
If you cause injury to someone with a “deadly weapon”, you will be facing aggravated assault charges. Simply pointing a gun at someone is aggravated assault. Even if the gun is unloaded or it is a toy gun, it does not matter.
The simple act of pointing a firearm at or in the direction of another person means that you are manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life. It does not matter that you did not intend to harm anyone.
Deadly weapon means:
One of our Newark clients faced these charges in Essex county. He carried a paintball gun into a public place and the authorities were called. Within minutes it seemed like the entire Newark police department surrounded him. Luckily no one was hurt but he faced serious prison time for a stupid mistake. His case took a year to resolve & we are glad to say that we resolved it through a plea bargain. He never spent a day in jail & only had to pay a fine. Needless to say, he was very grateful.
You are guilty of Aggravated Assault with a Bodily Fluid if you:
Note: If the victim suffers bodily injury, this shall be a crime of the third-degree.
Otherwise, this shall be a crime of the fourth-degree.
You are guilty of assault by auto if you cause injury by driving in an aggressive manner:
*You commit simple assault against certain persons given special protection by New Jersey law due to their occupations (third-degree crime or fourth-degree crime, depending on injury).
Of all New Jersey assault charges, stalking is the least common.
You are guilty of stalking, a 4th-degree crime, if you:
‘purposefully or knowingly engages in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for his safety or the safety of a third person or suffer other emotional distress.”
New Jersey defines “course of conduct” as maintaining visual or physical proximity to a person through any of a number of methods. These methods include using friends, neighbors, and social media platforms.
See our stalking page for more information.
2nd-degree
If you are convicted of a second-degree assault in New Jersey, you face:
3rd-degree
If you are convicted of a third-degree assault in New Jersey, you face:
4th-degree
If you are convicted of a fourth-degree assault in New Jersey, you face:
You or a loved one have been arrested. Understandably, you are terrified & have a lot of questions. You’ve heard about plea bargains & probation, but the process is overwhelming. You want a local attorney near you to represent you.
Mr. Peyrouton is from Ridgewood & handles all types of criminal matters in New Jersey The New Jersey Law Journal recently published one of his articles on the subject of criminal law.
Regardless of the criminal charges you are facing, we are here to defend & protect you. Whether you are facing a restraining order, drug charge, theft charge, or aggravated assault charge, we are here to help you. Even a DWI case can really complicate your life.
If we can’t get your charges dismissed, we can either get them downgraded or place you in a diversionary program. The point is, our criminal defense lawyers will fight tirelessly to get you the best result possible. Take advantage of our free consultation to see how we can help.
Below, you will find a few of our practice areas.
Our Hackensack criminal lawyers represent clients in Bergen County & nearby counties & cities.
There are plenty of excellent Hackensack criminal lawyers in our area. Most, if not all of them, offer free, 20-minute, consultations. However, our free consultations do not have a time limit. You will never feel rushed.
The best way for us to help you is to patiently listen to your side of the story. Your version of events will serve as the basis for your legal defense. It is during these initial meetings that your memory of the event is fresh in your mind. Why we would rush you during such an important aspect of your case.
We understand that your choice of attorney could mean the difference between your freedom and spending years behind bars.
When you hire an attorney, you are entering a long-term relationship. For this reason, it is important that you feel comfortable with the team of Hackensack criminal lawyers that will represent you.
Our criminal defense law firm handles criminal matters throughout Northern New Jersey — including, but not limited to, clients in the following localities:
BERGEN COUNTY, including Hackensack, NJ, Teaneck, Fort Lee, Fair Lawn, Garfield, Englewood, Bergenfield, Paramus, Mahwah, Cliffside Park, Ridgewood, Lodi, Lyndhurst, and Palisades Park;
PASSAIC COUNTY, including Paterson, Clifton, Passaic, Wayne, and West Milford;
HUDSON COUNTY, including Jersey City, Union City, Bayonne, North Bergen, Hoboken, West New York, Kearny, and Secaucus;
ESSEX COUNTY, including Newark, East Orange, Irvington, West Orange, Montclair, Belleville, City of Orange, Livingston, Nutley, Maplewood, and Millburn.
HACKENSACK OFFICE
200 Passaic St, Hackensack, NJ 07601
Phone: (201) 686-9538
alan@peyroutonlaw.com
No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Before making your choice of an attorney, you should give this matter careful thought. If this advertisement is inaccurate or misleading, you may report same to the Committee on Attorney Advertising at Hughes Justice Complex, P.O. Box 037, Trenton, NJ 08625
