A nineteen year old woman was recently taken into custody for the protests outside the Bergen County Jail. Lizbeth Vazquez, who is from Yonkers, New York, has been arrested for allegations of spraying police officers at the December 12 protest with MACE. After spraying the officers, she allegedly retreated into the crowd of protesters. The Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, with the help of the Hackensack Police Department, identified Vazquez as the perpetrator.
Vazquez was arrested last month in her home state of New York. There, she was arrested for rioting, disorderly conduct, and obstruction. Vazquez faces similar charges here in New Jersey. She is facing the following charges; Riot (4th degree), aggravated assault on law enforcement (3rd degree), criminal trespass (petty DP), possession of weapon for unlawful purpose (3rd degree), terroristic threats-occurs during state of emergency (2nd degree), unlawful possession of a weapon (4th degree).
Hackensack Criminal Defense Lawyer
The most serious charge the Vazquez faces is the terroristic threats. That charges is the most serious because it is a 2nd degree. A 2nd degree felony (indictable) carries a presumption of incarceration. That means that if you are convicted or plead guilty, then it is presumed that at sentencing you will be sent to prison. The 2nd degree felony also carries up to ten years in New Jersey state prison. This may not sound too bad, but please keep in mind that a 2nd degree carries a minimum sentence of five years in state prison.
The 3rd degree charges of possession of weapon for unlawful purpose and aggravated assault on law enforcement are not as serious as the 2nd degree. The reason being is that a 3rd degree, as well as the 4th degree charges carry a presumption of non-incarceration. This means that if convicted or if you plead out to one of those charges, at sentencing it is presumed that you will not be sent to prison. However, that doesn’t man that they are not serious. A 3rd degree felony carries a maximum of five years in state prison and a minimum of three years in state prison. The 4th degree carries a maximum of eighteen months in state prison.
Why our criminal defense law firm?
If you or a loved one has been charged with the above crimes, then you need a strong criminal defense attorney by your side. Before you retain an attorney, however, please do your research. At the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall, we have the experience, knowledge, credentials and man-power to fight you or a your loved one’s criminal case. Specifically, our criminal defense law firm has:
- Over two-hundred (200) years of combined experience
- A team of ten (10) criminal defense attorneys that devote their entire practice to criminal law
- Our firm has seven (7) former prosecutors
- Three (3) of our attorneys were former assistant county prosecutors and held directorial positions of the Drug, Gang, and Gun Task Force, Major Crimes Division, Trial Division, Juvenile Division
- We have multiple attorneys selected to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100 or Top 40 Under 40
- Two (2) of our lawyers were recently selected to Super Lawyers Rising Stars 2021 list for New Jersey which is a highly credentialed, peer-influenced, third-party validated, and a patented process that selects only 2.5% of the attorneys in New Jersey to this list
- One (1) of our attorneys is Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Criminal Trial Attorney, a distinction held by less than 1% of attorneys in this State