Middletown
Criminal Defense Lawyer
Disorderly Conduct
The catchall criminal offense that is often all over the calendar of the municipal court in Middletown is the charge of disorderly conduct. This not to be confused with the term disorderly persons offense which is a description of a grade of criminal charge that covers numerous offenses, disorderly conduct being one of them. Although disorderly conduct is not a felony, it nevertheless will results in a criminal record and other consequences. If you choose to retain our firm, you stand an excellent chance of avoiding a conviction as we are able to obtain a downgrade or dismissal in most Middletown disorderly conduct, simple assault and resisting arrest cases. We are former prosecutors from Monmouth County and are ready to serve you from our Tindall Road Office.
Middletown NJ Disorderly Conduct Charge
If you have been charged with disorderly conduct, your guilt or innocence will hinge on whether you violated N.J.S.A. 2C:33-2. This law provides that:
2C:33-2. Disorderly conduct
a. Improper behavior. A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense, if with purpose to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof he
(1) Engages in fighting or threatening, or in violent or tumultuous behavior; or
(2) Creates a hazardous or physically dangerous condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor.
b. Offensive language. A person is guilty of a petty disorderly persons offense if, in a public place, and with purpose to offend the sensibilities of a hearer or in reckless disregard of the probability of so doing, he addresses unreasonably loud and offensively coarse or abusive language, given the circumstances of the person present and the setting of the utterance, to any person present.
“Public” means affecting or likely to affect persons in a place to which the public or a substantial group has access; among the places included are highways, transport facilities, schools, prisons, apartment houses, places of business or amusement, or any neighborhood.
A conviction under N.J.S.A. 2C:33-2 is a disorderly persons offense that can have significant ramifications. An individual may be fined $1,000, incarcerated in the county jail for six (6) months, and subjected to other sentencing including community service, probation, etc. It is clearly foolish to take a disorderly conduct charge too lightly.
Disorderly Conducts Attorneys, Middletown NJ
Disorderly conduct is one of those offenses that can sneak up on you. If you do not have a criminal record, a conviction will instantaneously cause you to have one. Conversely, if you have priors on your record, it is a huge leap to find yourself in the county jail or being subjected to a probation with drug testing, etc. These risks are, in most cases, totally needless as this charge is frequently downgraded to an ordinance violation, something that negates any criminal record and other 2C:33-2 penalties. Our attorneys are able to reach outcomes like this in an extremely high percentage of Middletown cases involving disorderly conduct. Call our office on Tindall Road Office for immediate assistance from a skilled Middletown NJ Criminal Lawyer. Initial consultations are complimentary.