The defense of a child charged with a criminal offense in Old Bridge or another Middlesex County municipality is not a matter of discretion for a parent. It is required that the juvenile be represented by an attorney at every stage of proceedings. The attorneys at our criminal defense firm defend a wide range of juvenile charges at the Family Division of the Superior Court, the place where all criminal cases involving minors are heard. You are required to hire a lawyer for your son or daughter and we are here to serve you in this capacity with over 100 years of combined experience defending assault, drug, theft, sex, weapon and other juvenile offenses at the Middlesex County Family Court on New Street in New Brunswick. Our attorneys, including a former director in the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, the agency that will be prosecuting the case, are available to assist parents and their children with the defense of criminal charges 24/7. Contact our office at 732-210-6241 to speak to one of our lawyers immediately.
Juvenile Criminal Charge in Old Bridge New Jersey
A juvenile can face the same criminal charges that adults are charged with under the New Jersey Criminal Code. However, the objectives, range of penalties and procedures for processing cases are much different. As you already know, a juvenile case is heard in family as opposed to criminal court since the primary focus of the proceedings are to help the child and his/her family. The result is that while your child may have been processed at the Old Bridge Police Department, that is probably the last contact the case will have locally as all proceedings are conducted in New Brunswick at the Family Court. If your child was detained/remains in custody, this is where the detention hearing and any other formal proceedings will take place. The same holds true for juveniles who are released except in those limited cases where a case is referred to Juvenile Conference Committee.
The most common juvenile charge in Old Bridge is possession of a controlled dangerous substance like marijuana, MDMA or prescription drugs. There are also those instances where hard street drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine are possessed. The next biggest category is probably assault charges including aggravated assault on a teacher or other school official or another juvenile. Simple assault, harassment and terroristic threat charges are also encountered frequently. Theft offenses probably comprise the highest number of cases after that with burglary, criminal mischief, shoplifting and theft by unlawful taking being the most common. The Juvenile Part of the Family Court also presides over many Old Bridge cases involving drug and CDS distribution with allegations of selling or possession with intent to distribute marijuana representing the largest block of charges. The most serious Old Bridge juvenile offenses are those involving violence such as sexual assault, robbery and aggravated assault in the second degree.
Old Bridge Juvenile Criminal Lawyer
As attorneys that have been representing minors for decades in Middlesex County, we realize that you are probably feeling a little overwhelmed about what has happened. Your concern is legitimate and well grounded as no one wants a juvenile criminal offense to comprise the future of a child. A criminal lawyer at the Marshall Firm will help insure that this does not occur. Our lawyers are compassionate advocates who are also parents. We are ready to put our extensive experience, including decades as attorneys practicing in both Old Bridge and Middlesex County, to work so that you child achieves the very best result in their juvenile case. An attorney is available now at 732-227-1200 to conduct a comprehensive review of your matter.
