Bail Hearing Attorney represents defendants at bail hearings |pretrial detention hearings
Stephen A. Gravatt, Esq.
Attorney
565 NJ 35
Middletown, New Jersey 07748
(732)-337-7922
email: pipking@comcast.net
Effective January 1, 2017, new Legislation, i.e., N.J.S.A. 2A:162-15 through 26, imposes changes to the Criminal Justice system which can be accurately described as “BAIL REFORM NEW JERSEY”. I, STEPHEN A. GRAVATT, ESQ., (732)-337-7922, www.NJDwiCriminalDefenseAttorney.com, have been handling criminal defense matters in New Jersey for approximately 29 years. The following is Part 1 of an overview of the recently enacted New Jersey BAIL LAW NJ and how to obtain pretrial release from pretrial detention, (jail) while awaiting trial.
The New Jersey Constitution, Article 1, paragraph 11, provides that (in general) a person accused of committing a criminal offense shall be eligible for PRETRIAL RELEASE until a finding of guilt is entered. However, pretrial release may be denied if the court finds that no amount of monetary bail or conditions of pretrial release would assure the appearance in court (when required) or to protect the public safety, or to prevent the accused from obstructing the criminal justice system. Generally speaking this means that upon arrest, or issuance of a criminal complaint the court could require that the accused post a monetary bond, i.e., BAIL NJ, as a condition of being released from jail prior to trial. If the accused then failed to appear at any future required court proceeding, the bail would be forfeited, a new arrest warrant issued, and a greater amount of bail required to be posted (anew) to obtain continued release from jail.
New judicial procedures for setting bail (PRETRIAL RELEASE FROM DETENTION, JAIL, PRISON) now require that if a felony “crime” is charged, the accused will be taken into immediate custody for 48 hours before a hearing is held to determine the appropriate amount of bail to be set and/or the CONDITIONS OF PRETRIAL RELEASE. When a police officer submits a criminal complaint to the court charging the accused with commission of an offense, a municipal court ‘JUDICIAL OFFICER”, i.e., a municipal court clerk, municipal court judge, (in the municipality in which the criminal physically occurred) must determine whether the criminal complaint must be issued on a SUMMONS or on a WARRANT. The significance of this is that if the offense is determined to be a traffic matter or a disorderly persons offense, the matter would typically constitute a SUMMONS offense, and bail can be initially set by the judicial officer, allowing the accused defendant to avoid PRETRIAL DETENTION WHILE AWAITING TRIAL. However, if the offense is a more serious indictable offense, i.e. CRIME under the 2C Code, the complaint would constitute a WARRANT offense and an arrest warrant would immediately issue without the possibility of setting bail before serving 48 hours of jail time in the County jail.
The new Legislation now requires that the accused (in PRETIRAL DETENTION, i.e., jail) is entitled to a hearing 48 hours (after arrested) to set bail and conditions of PRETIRAL RELEASE to be determined by a judicial body referred to as “PRETRIAL SERVICES”. This means that each accused for which an ARREST WARRANT issues on a WARRANT COMPLAINT must now serve 2 days in prison waiting to learn whether, or on what terms, he or she will be released from jail or detention while waiting for trial. That means virtual mandatory 48 hours of detention for all persons accused of an indictable offense.
Notwithstanding the harsh impact of the new Law, there are good arguments your New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney can make on your behalf to ensure you are released on reasonable bail, or even no bail, i.e., on your own recognizance (known as R.O.R.) and upon reasonable conditions.
Please contact me for competent representation in navigating these difficult new Law(s) and Rules imposed by the courts.
