Bail Jumping; Default in Required Appearance (N.J.S.A. 2C:29-7) is charged when a person knowingly skips a court date that has been ordered as a condition of their release from jail.
This applies whether or not bail was actually set at the time of your release.
The primary element of the charge is that you knew you had a court appearance scheduled for a given day and time and failed to appear for it.
The charge is graded according to the underlying charge you are facing. 2C:29-7 is a crime of the third degree if you are being tried for a crime of the third, second, or first degree, and will add an additional three to five years to a sentence if convicted on all counts.
Otherwise, the charge is graded in accordance with the underlying charge, so a crime of the fourth degree will carry the danger of an additional 18 months in prison, a disorderly persons offense will carry the danger of an additional six months in prison, and a petty disorderly persons offense will carry the risk of an additional 30 days in jail.
Any ancillary charge that can double your exposure to prison time is a big deal, but many New Jersey residents are caught off guard when a summons is mailed to the wrong address or is lost in transit.
Do not take chances with charges this serious, as prosecutors will jump at the opportunity to tack on more charges to an indictment.
Call Matthew Reisig today at 732-625-9661 for a free consultation with an experienced New Jersey criminal defense attorney.