When you've been charged, the first call matters most.

What we handle

New Jersey criminal practice often runs on three procedural tracks: Superior Court for indictable offenses, municipal court for disorderly persons offenses and DUI/DWI, and Family Division for juvenile matters. The right strategy depends on which track the case is actually in. Each charge below is tied to the Title 2C provision it arises under; our plain-language guide to the New Jersey criminal statutes collects the sections that appear most often in these cases, with the degree, penalty range, and defenses for each.

By the type of charge

• Indictable offenses: felony-level charges (first through fourth degree) heard in the Superior Court Criminal Division. Higher stakes, longer sentences, grand-jury procedure.
• Disorderly persons offenses: misdemeanor-level charges heard in municipal court. Up to six months in jail and meaningful collateral consequences for employment, immigration, and licensing.
• DUI / DWI defense: driving under the influence under N.J.S.A. 39:4-501, including the three-tier penalty structure, the ignition-interlock requirement, and the fact that DUI convictions are not expungeable.
• Juvenile matters: offenses involving minors in the Family Division, with different procedure, different sentencing options, and distinct record-sealing rules under N.J.S.A. 2A:4A-622.

Specific charges

• Drug offenses & CREAMMA: possession, distribution, and intent-to-distribute cases in a post-CREAMMA New Jersey, where cannabis is legal but distribution rules and federal exposure remain complex.
• Weapons offenses & the Graves Act: firearms charges under N.J.S.A. 2C:393 and the mandatory-minimum exposure under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(c)4; post-Bruen constitutional analysis; FOPA non-resident transit.
• White-collar & financial crimes: theft by deception, fraud, healthcare fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, identity theft, computer crimes, and official misconduct. Pre-indictment defense, PTI candidacy, and parallel civil/regulatory coordination. Federal mail/wire fraud exposure is part of the analysis. For crypto-specific securities and money-laundering matters, see also our Digital Assets, AI & Cybersecurity page.
• Federal criminal defense: D.N.J. and surrounding federal districts; pre-indictment representation, grand jury practice, federal Bail Reform Act detention under 18 U.S.C. § 31425, U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and § 3553(a)6 factors, substantial-assistance motions under U.S.S.G. § 5K1.1, First Step Act application, BoP designation advocacy, Padilla v. Kentucky immigration consequences.
• Bail & detention hearings: NJ Criminal Justice Reform Act (N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 et seq.7); Public Safety Assessment; detention motions under N.J.S.A. 2A:162-19 clear-and-convincing standard; statutory presumptions; conditions of release under N.J.S.A. 2A:162-17; CJRA speedy-trial protections under N.J.S.A. 2A:162-22; interlocutory detention appeals under R. 2:9-13.
• Megan's Law & sexual-offense defense: registration under N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 et seq.8; tier-classification hearings under the Registrant Risk Assessment Scale (In re Registrant C.A.); Parole Supervision for Life under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.49; registration-termination petitions after 15 years; PSL violation defense.
• Traffic court defense: Municipal Court representation for reckless driving (N.J.S.A. 39:4-9610), careless driving (39:4-9711), unsafe operation (39:4-97.212), driving while suspended (39:3-4013), CDL violations under N.J.S.A. 39:3-10.1114 and federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations; point management, license-suspension defense, plea-reduction strategy.

After the case is over

• Expungement & Clean Slate: erasing eligible convictions from public records under N.J.S.A. 2C:5215, including the 2019 Clean Slate provisions that significantly expanded what's eligible.
• Post-conviction relief (PCR): petitions to vacate convictions on grounds of ineffective assistance of counsel, newly discovered evidence, or constitutional error under R. 3:2216.

What to do if you've just been charged.

The arrest itself happens fast. What follows shapes the case. Six things to do, and one thing not to.

1. Stop talking.

Even if you think you have nothing to hide. Especially if you think you have nothing to hide. Anything you say to police, to the booking officer, to a cellmate, in a recorded jailhouse phone call, or to a "concerned" detective in the next room can be used against you. The Fifth Amendment exists for everyone, not just the guilty.

2. Don't post on social media. Anything. About anything.

Under New Jersey appellate precedent, private social-media posts and direct messages are subject to civil discovery. They are also subpoena-able in criminal matters. Delete nothing (that creates its own problem), but post nothing, comment on nothing, and assume that what you've already posted will be examined.

3. Don't contact anyone involved.

Not the alleged victim. Not the witnesses. Not the co-defendants. Not the police officer who arrested you. Any contact can be characterized as witness-tampering, intimidation, or violation of bail conditions, even if you intended none of those.

4. Don't violate any condition of release, even technically.

Curfews. Geographic restrictions. No-contact orders. Drug testing. Whatever your conditions are, follow them exactly. A technical violation can result in revocation of release and pre-trial detention, and prosecutors use violations to argue for harsher resolution at sentencing.

5. Document what you remember.

Write down, in your own words and dated, everything you remember about the events leading to the arrest, the arrest itself, what was said, who was present, what you did and didn't do. Keep this private and bring it to your attorney. Memory degrades. Documents don't.

6. Get a lawyer before the first appearance.

In complaint-warrant cases, the court must make the pretrial release decision without unnecessary delay and no later than 48 hours after commitment to jail under N.J.S.A. 2A:162-161. Decisions about release conditions, detention applications, and no-contact terms can shape the rest of the case.

And the one thing not to do: don't assume the prosecutor or police officer is "trying to help you."

They are not your friend, they are not the judge, and "cooperating" with the prosecution before an attorney has reviewed the discovery is one of the most consistently damaging mistakes we see. Polite, calm, and silent is the script. Then call us.

New Jersey criminal law in practice.

Indictable offenses vs. disorderly persons offenses.

New Jersey classifies criminal offenses into procedural tracks. Indictable crimes are first-, second-, third-, and fourth-degree offenses usually prosecuted in Superior Court. Disorderly persons offenses are generally heard in municipal court. The distinction affects discovery, diversion eligibility, plea posture, trial rights, sentencing exposure, and the collateral consequences that may follow a conviction.

Homicide and assault: the grading ladder.

New Jersey grades crimes against the person by the actor's mental state and the harm caused. Murder under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-31 covers purposeful or knowing killing and -- yes -- felony murder: a death caused during the commission of an enumerated felony (robbery, sexual assault, arson, burglary, kidnapping, carjacking, and others), for which the State need not prove any intent to kill. Murder carries 30 years to life with a 30-year period of parole ineligibility, and felony murder carries the same 30-year minimum (New Jersey abolished the death penalty in 2007). Aggravated manslaughter -- reckless killing under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life -- is a first-degree crime (10-30 years) under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-4(a)2; ordinary reckless manslaughter and passion/provocation manslaughter are second-degree. Death by auto (vehicular homicide) under N.J.S.A. 2C:11-53 is a second-degree crime. Murder, aggravated manslaughter, and death by auto all carry the No Early Release Act's 85% parole bar.

On the assault side, simple assault (2C:12-1(a)) is a disorderly persons offense, while aggravated assault under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1(b)4 climbs the degree ladder by subsection: causing or attempting serious bodily injury is second-degree; bodily injury with a deadly weapon (purposely or knowingly) is third-degree; reckless bodily injury with a deadly weapon and pointing a firearm at another are fourth-degree; and assaults on law-enforcement officers and other protected categories carry their own enhanced grading.

A statutory, Model-Penal-Code system -- not common law.

New Jersey's Code of Criminal Justice (Title 2C, effective 1979) is built on the Model Penal Code, and that shapes every charge. N.J.S.A. 2C:1-55 abolishes common-law crimes -- no conduct is an offense unless a statute defines it. Every offense is then read against the four culpability levels in N.J.S.A. 2C:2-26: purposely (conscious object), knowingly (aware of a near-certainty), recklessly (conscious disregard of a substantial and unjustifiable risk -- a gross deviation), and negligently (failure to perceive such a risk). The required mental state attaches to each material element of the offense, and pinning down which state the State must prove -- and for which element -- is frequently the whole case.

Defenses and affirmative defenses -- and who carries the burden.

The State must prove every element of an offense beyond a reasonable doubt under N.J.S.A. 2C:1-137, but defenses divide into two groups with different burdens. Justifications -- most importantly self-defense under N.J.S.A. 2C:3-48, plus defense of others (2C:3-5) and defense of property (2C:3-6) -- need only be raised by some evidence; the State must then disprove them beyond a reasonable doubt. Self-defense permits force reasonably believed immediately necessary; deadly force carries a duty to retreat where the actor can do so with complete safety, except in one's own dwelling (New Jersey's castle-doctrine exception) -- New Jersey is not a "stand your ground" state. By contrast, the Code's affirmative defenses put a preponderance-of-the-evidence burden on the defendant: insanity under N.J.S.A. 2C:4-19 (the M'Naghten "disease of the mind" test) and entrapment under N.J.S.A. 2C:2-1210. Duress under N.J.S.A. 2C:2-911 is labeled an affirmative defense, but the defendant need only produce some evidence of coercion -- the State must then disprove duress beyond a reasonable doubt (State v. B.H., 183 N.J. 171 (2005)). Voluntary intoxication (2C:2-8) is not a general defense but can negate the purposeful or knowing mental state a charge requires. Diminished-capacity, mistake-of-fact, necessity, and renunciation defenses round out the toolkit; which one fits is a function of the elements the State has to prove.

DUI / DWI under N.J.S.A. 39:4-5012.

DUI/DWI is unusual in NJ practice: it is a motor-vehicle conviction, not a criminal one, and it is not expungeable. The penalty structure has three tiers based on BAC and prior offenses, with ignition-interlock requirements on every conviction. Defense strategy focuses on avoiding the conviction -- challenging the stop, the Alcotest procedure, the field-sobriety tests (HGN, walk-and-turn, one-leg stand), the officer's observations, and the chain of custody for breath-sample data.

Drug offenses under CREAMMA.

The Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act (CREAMMA) legalized adult-use cannabis in February 2021. Personal possession of up to six ounces and use by adults age 21+ is no longer a criminal offense under state law, as summarized by the New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission13. Distribution and intent-to-distribute outside the regulated marketplace remain prosecutable. Cannabis remains a federal Schedule I substance under 21 U.S.C. § 81214. Cannabis-influenced driving still satisfies the DUI statute. Probable-cause rules narrowed substantially after CREAMMA. For non-cannabis controlled-dangerous-substance cases, the Comprehensive Drug Reform Act at N.J.S.A. 2C:35-1 et seq.15 continues to govern.

Weapons offenses and the Graves Act.

New Jersey firearms charges carry unusually serious consequences under statutes codified at N.J.S.A. 2C:3916. The Graves Act under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6(c)17 imposes mandatory-minimum prison sentences with parole-ineligibility periods on many firearms offenses. Unlawful possession of a handgun under N.J.S.A. 2C:39-5(b)18 is a second-degree crime carrying five to ten years with a 42-month mandatory minimum under Graves. Graves Act waivers under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.219 are available in defined circumstances and require prosecutor consent. The Second Amendment landscape after Bruen20 has shifted the analysis on certain provisions; that motion practice is an active part of NJ weapons defense.

Diversion: PTI, Conditional Dismissal, Conditional Discharge.

New Jersey offers three primary diversionary programs. Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI) under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-1221 is for first-time offenders charged with indictable crimes -- supervised probation with conditions; successful completion dismisses the charges with no conviction. Conditional Dismissal under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-13.122 is the parallel program for disorderly persons offenses. Conditional Discharge under N.J.S.A. 2C:36A-123 is the parallel for first-time drug-possession cases. All three are limited -- prior diversion participants are ineligible, certain offense categories are presumptively excluded, and the prosecutor's consent is typically required. See our PTI / Pretrial Intervention guide for the full eligibility analysis, the application process, prosecutor-objection review, and the Veterans Diversion framework under N.J.S.A. 2C:43-2524.

Expungement and Clean Slate.

New Jersey's expungement framework, N.J.S.A. 2C:5225, was substantially expanded by the 2019 Clean Slate law. Eligible individuals can seal arrest records, indictable convictions, disorderly persons convictions, and certain juvenile records from public view, eliminating background-check obstacles to employment, housing, and licensing. Waiting periods, eligibility criteria, and categorical exclusions vary by offense; serious offenses (homicide, certain sex offenses) are categorically ineligible. Motor-vehicle convictions, including DUI/DWI, are not expungeable.

How fees work in a New Jersey criminal-defense matter.

Criminal-defense fees are quoted after the firm reviews the charge, county, procedural posture, court date, record, and likely scope of work. Many matters are handled by flat fee for a defined phase of the case; some matters require a different written fee structure because trial, expert work, or appeal changes the scope. Criminal-defense matters are not handled on contingency. The written engagement letter identifies the rate, scope, and any additional-fee triggers before representation begins.

• Initial case evaluation: a confidential consultation and case review.
• Flat fee for many matters: quoted in writing for a defined phase or scope.
• Trial-phase fee: additional structure quoted in advance if trial work is required.
• Urgent arrests: intake details are logged for legal-team review based on timing, charge, and court date.

Your criminal-defense team

Criminal-defense matters are reviewed by the firm against the charge, court, release status, discovery, and client goals. Britt J. Simon, Esq., the firm's Managing Partner, founded the firm after public-service and litigation experience reflected in his firm biography. When the firm accepts a criminal matter, the engagement letter identifies the scope of representation and the legal team responsible for the work.

Address release, restrictions, and the first court date

After an arrest, release conditions, no-contact provisions, preservation requests, and the first court date may need attention before the full discovery arrives. Use the consultation form to identify the charge, county, timing, release status, and any immediate restriction that needs review.

Related Practice Areas

Our criminal-defense work intersects with several other practice areas. See our DUI/DWI defense page for the impaired-driving framework, the drug-charges defense page for the CREAMMA-era analysis, the disorderly persons offenses page for municipal-court matters, and the expungement page for the Clean Slate process. For a plain-language reference to the statutes that appear most often in New Jersey criminal cases, see our NJ criminal statutes guide.