Being a defendant in a criminal case is always stressful, but the stress is even greater if the crime is related to domestic violence. If you are under investigation for criminal activity or have formally received criminal charges, it is natural to worry about getting criminal penalties such as jail and prison time. While it is possible to focus on completing your sentence and moving on with your life, some consequences of a criminal conviction linger for a long time.
For example, prospective employers will be able to see the record of your conviction on pre-employment background checks unless you get the record expunged, which takes a lot of work. If the crime is related to sex, then your name will remain on the sex offender registry for a long time after you finish your sentence. In other words, a criminal case can affect your public reputation and your finances, even when your sentencing hearing is in the distant past.
In the case of domestic violence crimes, though, the criminal case directly affects your relationship with your family. If you get into a heated argument with your spouse, you can easily talk things out and reconcile, but once the police arrive and accuse you of domestic violence, you will face an uphill battle in getting your in-laws to trust you again. While New Jersey law does not define domestic violence as a separate offense under the criminal code, it does have its own domestic violence laws. Whether or not the crime of which you are being accused is related to domestic violence, all defendants in criminal cases have legal rights, and if you are facing criminal charges for domestic violence, a New Jersey domestic violence defense lawyer can help you exercise your rights.
Legal Definitions of Domestic Violence
The first thing that comes to mind when most people hear the phrase “domestic violence” is a man hitting or otherwise physically assaulting his wife or domestic partner. In New Jersey law, a considerable variety of criminal offenses can be considered domestic violence, and only some of them involve physical harm to the victim. The New Jersey Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991 categorizes violent crimes as domestic violence if the victim is the defendant’s current or former spouse, domestic partner, or dating partner. These crimes also count as domestic violence if the defendant and the victim have a child together, even if they were never in a romantic relationship with each other. By New Jersey’s official definition of domestic violence, both the defendant and the victim are adults or emancipated minors. An emancipated minor is a teenager below 18 who counts legally as an adult because they are married or because they have petitioned the court to become emancipated.
By contrast, family violence is when the defendant and the victim are members of the same household and are related to each other by blood, adoption, fostering, or marriage. Victims of family violence can be adults or minors. The victim in a family violence case can be the defendant’s child, stepchild, parent, stepparent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, grandparent, grandchild, or in-law; in other words, any close family relationship where the defendant and the victim live in the same household. Legal and social services are available to victims of family violence and domestic violence in New Jersey.
Domestic violence laws apply if you are accused of committing any of the following crimes against your spouse, partner, co-parent, or ex:
- Assault
- Aggravated assault
- Criminal sexual conduct
- Kidnapping
- Harassment
- Stalking
- False imprisonment
- Criminal threats
- Sexual assault
It is notable that some of these crimes involve physical violence, while others only involve endangerment and the threat of physical violence. The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act makes it easy for victims of domestic violence to obtain temporary protective orders against the defendant in the domestic violence case. This means that you cannot be near your partner or ex until the case is resolved in court or even longer. The length of time that the protective order remains in effect depends on whether you get convicted of the domestic violence offense, among other factors.
How Domestic Violence Affects Family Law Cases
The standards of evidence for convicting someone of a crime are high. This means that not everyone who gets arrested on suspicion of domestic violence will get a criminal conviction; in some cases, you never even formally receive criminal charges. Even if your domestic violence case is over as quickly as it started, it can have a major effect on your divorce or child custody case. New Jersey does not normally assign fault in divorce cases; people have the right to get divorced simply because they no longer want to be married to each other. If your ex presents police records of domestic violence incidents in your divorce case, even if they did not result in a criminal conviction, or even in formal charges, it can reflect negatively on you. If the judge has reason to believe that you physically abused your spouse or threatened your spouse with violence, the judge is less likely to grant you the marital assets you are requesting in your divorce case. (New Jersey is an equitable distribution state, which means that the court does not have to divide the marital property evenly; instead, the couple or the court decides on a case-by-case basis what is the fairest way to divide the marital assets.)
In child custody cases, the consequences of credible allegations of domestic violence are even worse, even if the children never witnessed the violence or the threats. The family law courts of New Jersey order a parenting plan for every minor child whose parents are not married to each other. The parenting plan indicates which parent will be with the child on which days of the year and how the parents will divide responsibility for the child’s transportation and decisions about education and non-emergency medical care. If the family court judge is convinced that you have a history of domestic violence, they are unlikely to give you as much parenting time as you want. If you are convicted of a domestic violence offense, even if you do not go to jail or prison, the court might temporarily give you supervised parenting time only. This could mean that, during your parenting time, another adult, such as your parent, sibling, or new spouse (the child’s stepparent), must be present at all times, and you cannot be alone with the child. In the most severe cases, the court might order you to spend all your parenting time (which will only be a few hours each week) at a specially designated supervised parenting facility, with social workers present. Supervised parenting time orders are always temporary; in six months, you will go back to court, and the judge will decide whether you are ready for unsupervised parenting time.
Possible Criminal Penalties for Domestic Violence
The crimes covered under New Jersey domestic violence laws range in severity, so whether or not the victim is your current or partner romantic partner is not the deciding factor in determining your sentence if you are convicted. On one end of the spectrum are disorderly person offenses; this is the term that New Jersey uses, but most other states call them misdemeanors. These offenses tend to include a brief sentence in county jail or no incarceration at all. One domestic violence crime classed as a disorderly persons offense is online harassment. Most domestic violence crimes, being violent offenses, are felonies, which are also known as indictable offenses. Indictable offenses are subdivided into four degrees. Fourth-degree offenses carry a maximum sentence of 18 months in state prison. Most first-degree offenses carry a maximum sentence of 20 years. The most serious first-degree offenses have even harsher sentences; for example, almost everyone convicted of murder gets a sentence of life in prison, regardless of the relationship between the defendant and the victim.
Your Rights if You are Accused of Domestic Violence in New Jersey
If you are accused of any crime, whether or not it is related to domestic violence, you have constitutionally protected rights. For example, you have the right not to be forced to confess to a crime; you may remain silent during questioning until you have the chance to speak to a lawyer privately, and afterward, you may choose to plead the Fifth Amendment when appropriate. You have the right to take your case to trial and to have a lawyer represent you. If a court issues a protective order requiring you not to contact the alleged victim, this is legally binding, and you will face additional criminal penalties if you violate the order.
A Criminal Defense Lawyer Can Help You Fight Domestic Violence Charges
A domestic violence defense lawyer can help you if you are being accused of a domestic violence offense and can help you avoid jail time and other criminal penalties. Contact the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall to discuss your case.
