Yes. On a kidnapping charge, the No Early Release Act (“NERA”) will require convicted defendants to serve no less than 85% of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
If the allegations are that the victim suffered emotional or psychological harm, the state must prove that the injuries were beyond those inherent in a kidnapping. This means that the harm suffered by the victim was substantial and enduring emotional or psychological harm.
If the removal of a victim is from a place other than the victim’s residence or place of business, the removal must be to another location that is a “substantial distance” from where the victim was taken. Under New Jersey law, “substantial distance” is not measured by any other standard…
If you commit kidnapping but release the person unharmed and in a safe place, your charge may be reduced to a second-degree crime. To determine whether the victim was released in a safe place, the court considers the totality of the circumstances and evaluates the evidence presented at trial in…
There are two statutory affirmative defenses available to a person charged with kidnapping. One defense is that you had a reasonable belief that the kidnapping was necessary to protect the victim from danger. Another defense is that you reasonably believed that a parent or state agency had consented to the…
