Defendant receives PTI on 2nd Degree Aggravated Assault charges in Bergen County New Jersey

An associate from my office, Keith Oliver, just finished representing an individual who was charged with aggravated assault in the second degree and served a Temporary Restraining Order (“TRO”). The charges and restraining order stemmed from an alleged incident with the mother of his children, which took place in Englewood Cliffs New Jersey. If convicted of aggravated assault in the second degree the defendant could be sentenced up to ten (10) years in a New Jersey State Prison and to make matters worse the Defendant would be subject to the No Early Release Act (“NERA”). NERA requires that the Defendant serve 85% of his sentence before he can become eligible for parole.

Mr. Oliver first appeared on the Defendant’s Final Restraining Order (“FRO”) hearing in Hackensack New Jersey. It became apparent to Mr. Oliver that although an incident occurred between the two, it was clear that material facts had been exaggerated to say the least. As a result Mr. Oliver was able convince the Judge that the need for an FRO was not warranted in this case. He established that the victim would not be able to prove at least two of the three elements required to obtain a FRO and as a result the Judge had no choice but to dismiss the TRO. 

With the TRO now dismissed, Mr. Oliver now had to deal with the second degree aggravated assault charges in the Bergen County Superior Court. To sustain a conviction for aggravated assault under N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1b(1), the state must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant:

(a)ttempted to cause serious bodily injury to another, or caused such injury purposely or knowingly or under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life recklessly causes such injury.

The tricky part of this assault statute is the “attempted to cause serious bodily injury”. This allows the state to sustain or at least attempt to sustain their burden of proof without establishing serious bodily injury. Once full discovery was supplied it became apparent to Mr. Oliver that the the injury alleged did not rise to the level of seriously bodily injury. Geared with this information he had the Defendant apply to the Pre-Trial Intervention Program (“PTI”). PTI is a diversionary program in New Jersey, whereby if the Defendant completes all the terms imposed by the Judge, the pending felony criminal charges would be dismissed. Traditionally, PTI is not available for anyone who is charged with a second or first degree felony offense. However, Mr. Oliver was able to convince the prosecutor assigned to the case and the Judge that the Defendant should be afforded the opportunity to participate in the program. Therefore, the Defendant who was facing up to ten years in a New Jersey State Prison, will walk away from these charges without a criminal record.

If you or someone you know has been charged with a criminal offense in Bergen County, the Law Offices of Marshall, Bonus, Proetta & Oliver can help. We have several experienced Bergen County Criminal Defense Lawyers on staff. If you would like a free initial consultation with one of our eight defense attorneys please feel free to contact any one of our Bergen County Offices.