General Criminal Law

Lewdness in New Jersey may be charged at one of two levels, a Disorderly Persons Offense or a Fourth Degree Crime.

As a Disorderly Persons Offense, Lewdness can put you in a county jail for as long as six months and exact a $1000 fine.

A good criminal defense attorney is likely to shield you from the toughest penalties, especially if your record is pretty clean.

As a Fourth Degree Crime, a lewdness charge is much more dangerous to you.

Charged at this level, the prosecution has evidence that the lewd act was a form of sexual gratification for yourself, and that it happened in a place where a reasonable person could expect that a child under 13, or a disabled person might witness the act.

This charge carries a sentence of up to 18 months in state prison, and a fine of up to $10,000.

Lewdness is a serious offense in New Jersey that can wipe out your future.

Call attorney Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9661 and get experienced help against lewdness charges in New Jersey.

Believe it or not, public urination is not against the law in New Jersey – at least at the state level.

Most municipalities in the state have ordinances prohibiting it, which means that if a cop spots you, you are subject to a ticket and fine.

This is the best case scenario when it comes to public urination, because many police officers take the opportunity to not only write up a public urination citation, but also assert something extra, like a lewdness charge.

If you are charged with something like lewdness stemming from a public urination citation, you need to hire an attorney right away.

Conviction for these more serious charges can land you on the sex offender registry for the rest of your life, and destroy your future.

Attorney Matthew Reisig can protect you from overzealous prosecutors looking to boost minor offenses into something much more serious.

Call 732-625-9661 today for a free consultation.

Under-ringing the value of goods in a store where you work in order to allow for a friend or someone else to take material out of the store without paying the approved price is considered shoplifting in New Jersey.

Penalties for shoplifting are based on the value of the goods taken, and can be charged as anything from a Disorderly Persons offense (value less than $200) to a Second Degree crime carrying a potential sentence of 5-10 years (value in excess of $75,000).

A shoplifting charge may not seem like a big deal, but at whatever level you’re charged, the full penalty won’t be felt until later, when you sit down to fill out job applications and try to get your life back on track.

Attorney Matthew Reisig is an experienced criminal defense attorney who can protect you from prosecutors when you’ve been charged with shoplifting. Call 732-625-9661 today for a free consultation.

Yes, photos, videos, status updates, tweets, and other social media content you produce can be used against you in criminal proceedings in New Jersey.

More importantly, police and prosecutors are able to look at and “mine” any publicly available material on the internet without a warrant.

This is dangerous to you because many people believe that their privacy settings are more comprehensive than they are.

In fact, you should consider anything other than e-mail to be fair game to prosecutors, and even e-mail can be accessed with a warrant.

If your computer, tablet, or smartphone has been seized as part of a warrant, you can expect that the contents – including emails stored on the hard drive – can be accessed and used against you.

If you’re facing criminal prosecution, you should protect yourself by shutting down all your social media accounts completely.

Even if you think you’re playing it safe, any conversations online that appear to contradict statements you’ve given to police may be used against you.

To learn how to protect yourself during a criminal prosecution, call attorney Matthew Reisig at 732-625-9661 for a free consultation today.

Even though charges will be dismissed when you successfully complete the terms of a conditional discharge, the record of the arrest itself will stand.

This can pose a problem when you seek employment, apply to a college, or try to rent an apartment.

Six months after the court dismisses the charges against you, you are entitled to petition to have your arrest record expunged.

This will remove all public listings of your arrest and the disposition of your case, meaning that potential employers and others won’t be able to see it.

The exception is in the case of a career in the military, law enforcement, or federal law enforcement.

In those cases, you should expect that the record will be visible, and should always disclose the arrest, with a full explanation.

Conditional discharges don’t make everything go away, but they’re usually preferable to other outcomes.

When you’re facing criminal charges in New Jersey, call attorney Matthew Reisig at 732-625-9661 for a free consultation with an experienced New Jersey criminal defense lawyer.

New Jersey has a very narrowly drafted medical marijuana statute, but the implementation of the law has been handled in such a way that few patients are able to legally receive the drug.

For those who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, seizure disorders, cancer, MS, terminal illnesses, and several other named conditions, it is possible to register with the state to receive medical marijuana.

Registered patients can designate one “primary caregiver,” also registered with the state, who cultivates the plant for the patient.

Patients are not allowed to cultivate their own medical marijuana, and primary caregivers are not allowed to use the patient’s medical marijuana.

While it is still illegal for patients to possess marijuana beyond the amounts allowed for medical use, to drive under the influence, and to sell the drug outside of the tightly designed framework, the medical marijuana statute does remove the penalties for simple possession of approved amounts from those with state-issued registry identification card.

Because the state has chosen to regulate this market nearly to death, people continue to encounter problems when it comes to receiving, possessing, and using marijuana as medicine.

If you’re facing legal challenges to your lawful access to an approved drug, attorney Matthew Reisig can help.

Call 732-625-9661 today for a free consultation.