An Article Relating To Disorderly Persons Offense NJ

By Shirley Bailey


The municipal courts usually prosecute indictable offenses that are also called misdemeanor crimes. They are usually petty crimes, and they fall into the category of simple assaults, a few drugs, and petty theft among others. These Disorderly Persons Offense NJ is usually handled in the township where the crime occurred, and the state is supposed to prove all the elements of the DP charge beyond reasonable doubt.

These misdemeanor charges are usually not classified as crimes thus the defendant will not be entitled to get a jury. This does not mean that the lawbreaker will not have the criminal record. However, the convicted person may not automatically face disqualification from becoming in the court jury. Hence he/she can still practice the law.

New Jersey has come up with a rule that if one is arrested for petty crimes, he/she will be required to face imprisonment for six months or less. The reason behind this is that these charges do not qualify to be classified as felonies. This means which is the lawbreaker will not be required to face trial thus he will not have a jury hearing. Additionally, the person will not lose any legal privileges.

Although these DP charges are not categorized in the felony crimes, one is still convicted in a municipal court. Therefore, it is clear that the defendant will have criminal record attached to his profile especially when a potential employer does a background check. The defendant will still be in a position to face serious charges, and fines can be imposed on them. Additionally, the individual can lose driving privileges.

There is a possibility for the petty misdeeds to be erased. Nevertheless, one has to wait for five years before the DP convictions can be expunged. Hence, the defendant should be ready to wait for a maximum of five years if he/she wants the misdeeds to be eliminated or annihilated form the record.

The penalties that one is liable to face when he commits these misdeeds are several. As an instance, the lawbreaker can be stripped of the rights to participate in community service and institutions. Also, he may be fined an amount starting from 1000 dollars or a jail term of six months. One can even have his driving license revoked for two or more years.

Other consequences can be serious when a person is convicted of the petty crimes. For instance, one can have a problem with immigration offices. More so, the workers of the state such as doctors, nurses, stockbrokers, attorneys, pharmacists, etc. Can be punished and lose jobs. This may be very disadvantageous especially for people with big families.

Another disadvantage is that the individual tends to face very long jail terms if it chances that they are arrested for the second time. The reason behind this is that the court will reason that you are deliberately breaking the law hence the punishment that will land on you will be harder and tougher than the first time.




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