If prosecutors have charged you with robbery in New Jersey, you face devastating penalties. If they allege you used a weapon or threatened to use one, the consequences are even worse. However, a skilled Essex County robbery and armed robbery lawyer is ready to help you fight for the best possible outcome.
At The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, we’ll meet you where you are and start building a strategy that keeps your future in view. Our team will bring a laser focus to your high-stakes Essex County case and a commitment to implementing practical, courtroom-tested solutions. Our attorneys feature former prosecutors in Essex County who have the skill and experience necessary on both sides of the courtroom to achieve the best possible outcome.
How Conduct Elevates a Theft
A robbery starts as a theft but turns into a far more serious felony when force, injury, or threats enter the picture. New Jersey’s robbery statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:15-1, defines the offense and sets out what can elevate the degree:
- Inflicting bodily injury or using force.
- Threatening someone or purposely putting a person in fear of immediate bodily injury.
- Committing or threatening to commit a first- or second-degree crime during the theft.
First-degree robbery typically occurs when a weapon is involved, serious bodily injury occurs, or the conduct meets specific statutory triggers; otherwise, robbery is ordinarily a second-degree crime.
Sentencing for New Jersey felonies follows degree-based ranges. Ordinary terms for second-degree crimes range from five to 10 years, while first-degree crimes carry terms of 10 to 20 years, with additional parole consequences in certain violent cases.
Why Weapons Allegations Change Everything
Armed allegations can change both the degree of the robbery and the parole rules that apply after sentencing. New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA) requires judges to impose an 85% period of parole ineligibility for designated violent first- and second-degree crimes, and it adds a term of parole supervision after release.
Firearms can also trigger New Jersey’s Graves Act, which imposes mandatory minimum periods of parole ineligibility for certain gun offenses or crimes committed while possessing or using a firearm.
How Robbery Cases Move Through Essex County Courts
After an arrest on a warrant complaint, you’ll appear quickly in court. New Jersey’s Criminal Justice Reform system uses a data-driven Public Safety Assessment to guide release or detention decisions. Instead of cash bail being the default, the court focuses on assessing risk, setting conditions, and ensuring public safety.
Indictable offenses (our state’s term for felonies) are handled in the Superior Court, Criminal Division in Essex County. The Criminal Division manages adult indictable matters from start to disposition, while municipal courts handle disorderly persons charges and motor-vehicle matters. Your case path may include a grand jury presentation, pre-indictment conferences, motion practice, and status events set by the Criminal Division.
What We’ll Do First: Independent Investigation and Evidence Challenges
Our team can initiate an independent investigation into the charges against you, including examining any evidence the prosecution has used to indict you. We can then argue for disputable evidence to be excluded from further proceedings.
An Essex County robbery and armed robbery attorney will scrutinize the incident timeline, location data, surveillance footage, police body camera records, and the chain of custody for any physical items. A defense attorney will also test whether the identification procedures used by law enforcement complied with due-process standards and whether suggestive methods tainted the result.
Statements matter in robbery litigation. Your lawyer will examine how any statement was obtained, whether police honored your Miranda protections, and whether the timing lines up with the investigative record. Where police attribute threats or a weapon to you without corroboration, a defense attorney will compare witness descriptions, dispatch audio, and officer notes, looking for inconsistencies that support suppression or impeachment at trial.
Identifying Degree Downgrades, Mergers, and Alternatives
One of the most important questions in robbery defense is whether the conduct supports first-degree robbery or a second-degree version. An experienced legal professional will strive to remove allegations of weapons use that lack credible evidence. Doing so can significantly reduce exposure.
If a separate weapons possession count is filed, your attorney will analyze whether the facts actually fit statutory definitions. They will also analyze whether a Graves Act waiver argument is viable and whether the alleged weapon qualifies under the law.
Negotiations sometimes involve downgrading to attempted robbery, theft, or another offense that reduces sentencing ranges. Limited diversion options exist in violent-crime settings; New Jersey’s Pretrial Intervention (PTI) program provides a framework for early rehabilitative services in eligible cases. In practice, however, PTI requires the consent of the prosecutor. Prosecutors seldom grant PTI for violent first- or second-degree felonies. However, PTI may be an option in cases involving juveniles or cases where prosecutors have reduced charges.
Details That Shift Outcomes: Threats, Timing, and Intent
Robbery hinges on what happened “in the course of committing a theft.” That phrase matters. If the use of force or threat didn’t occur during the attempt, commission, or immediate flight, the State can face proof problems.
New Jersey’s statute also ties the degree of the charge to serious bodily injury, weapon use or threat, and other aggravating factors. Your Essex County robbery and armed robbery attorney will use that language to frame motions and jury arguments that separate alleged theft conduct from alleged violence, when the facts support it.
Intent questions also move juries. Prosecutors must demonstrate theft – an intent to deprive another of property – accompanied by force or threats. Where video is blurred, lighting is poor, or descriptions conflict, your lawyer will work to establish reasonable doubt regarding identity and intent.
Local Realities
Essex County cases can vary significantly from city to city. Incidents in Newark or East Orange often come with multiple surveillance angles, license-plate readers, and overlapping agency reports. A defense lawyer will stack those records against each other, searching for contradictions in timestamps or locations that weaken the State’s story.
Incidents in Bloomfield, Montclair, Nutley, Maplewood, or Verona may unfold in residential blocks or small business corridors, where witness vantage points, lighting, and camera placement shape the evidence. Your legal representative will evaluate whether a “shoplifting-turned-robbery” scenario (force during escape) truly meets the statute or reflects a lesser theft with disputed scuffle facts.
Why Our Size and Focus Matter in a Felony Case
Scale can change outcomes. We’re the largest criminal defense law firm in New Jersey, with 15 attorneys focused 100% on criminal defense work. That means we can assign the right people to the right tasks – case review, investigation, motions, negotiations, and trial preparation – without losing momentum.
That level of coverage matters in Essex County. We have lawyers in multiple New Jersey courts who are familiar with local practices and have established professional relationships across the aisle. More than 10 offices statewide enable us to meet quickly and gather records efficiently.
We’ll combine practical, solution-focused advice with seasoned courtroom advocacy to give you a competitive edge in the pursuit of a satisfactory resolution. We’ll also explain how any decision you make today could affect your life years from now, and we’ll take your interests into account while building a defense that reflects your circumstances.
Evidence the State Calls “Strong” Isn’t Always Unassailable
Weapon allegations deserve careful testing. Under NERA, courts look closely at whether the State proved the use or threatened use of a deadly weapon before imposing the 85% parole ineligibility period; courts and official guidance caution that mere possession can be different from using or threatening. Your Essex County robbery and armed robbery lawyer will apply that distinction to plea negotiations and to sentencing advocacy, if necessary.
Sentencing enhancements are not one-size-fits-all, and statutory language evolves. Judicial directives reveal how new violent-crime provisions influence what judges consider when applying enhancement statutes. An attorney with The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall will keep current on those developments and argue for the narrowest, most accurate application of any enhancement in your case.
Reach Out to an Essex County Robbery Defense Attorney Now
You have options in Essex County. An experienced Essex County robbery and armed robbery lawyer will help you understand the degree, enhancements, and court process you face. They will then turn that understanding into a plan – investigation, motions, negotiation, and, if needed, trial – that aims for the best result the facts and law allow. A legal professional with The Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall is ready to provide you with a free case evaluation. Use our online form or call us to get in touch with us.
Essex County Robbery FAQs
What’s the difference between theft and robbery in New Jersey?
Theft involves taking property; robbery adds force, injury, or the threat of force during the theft or flight.
How severe are the penalties for first- and second-degree robbery?
Second-degree robbery carries a sentence of five to 10 years. First-degree robbery carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years, with potential parole consequences under the No Early Release Act (NERA) in designated cases.
Does the 85% rule apply to every robbery where a weapon is mentioned?
Courts examine whether the weapon was used or threatened in a qualifying manner; mere possession can be treated differently under NERA. Official judiciary guidance explains how judges analyze that question.
