Temporary Restraining Order Dismissed Prior to Trial in Freehold
Keith Oliver Criminal Law was retained to represent a client that was not only charged with several indictable offenses (felony), including terroristic threats but was also served with a temporary restraining order. The charges stemmed from an incident that took place at his home in Keyport. It was alleged that our client was involved in what started out as a heated, back and forth verbal argument with this then girlfriend. During that dispute, the girlfriend alleged that our client had made several threats on her life in rather graphic detail. However it did not end there, according to his girlfriend, our client then got physical with her, striking her several times as well as throwing several items at her, including a lamp.
The girlfriend called the Keyport Police Department and our client was placed under arrest. Since the incident was classified as an “act of domestic violence” in violation of the New Jersey Domestic Violence Prevention Act he was taken to the Monmouth County Jail so that pretrial services can conduct their investigation. Pursuant to New Jersey’s Bail Reform Act, our client had to remain in custody for at least twenty-four hours until his Central Judicial Processing Hearing (CJP). During this hearing, the prosecution did not file for detention and as such our client was released pending his Pre-Indictment Conference. Had the prosecution filed for detention, our client would have to remain in custody for at least a week until a formal detention hearing could take place. During this hearing the prosecution will be seeking to convince the judge that our client needed to be detained in the county jail, without bail, pending trial.
Our client was formally charged with several criminal charges as well as the temporary restraining order. These are two separate legal proceedings. The temporary restraining order (TRO) is civil in nature and will be litigated in the Chancery Division, Family Part of the Monmouth County Superior Court. Since the criminal charges are indictable offenses (felony) these will be litigated in the Criminal Division of the Monmouth County Superior Court.
What to Look for When Defending a Restraining Order in NJ
After meeting with our client it was evident that the evidence was extremely weak and outside of the victims statements, there was no physical evidence. In addition, our client had made numerous recordings of previous verbal disputes between himself and his girlfriend. It was evident from the recordings that the girlfriends “previously acts of domestic violence” alleged in her temporary restraining order were frivolous. Geared with this information, at our initial appearance at the final restraining order, we advised the court that our client was seeking an adjournment in order to file a counter temporary restraining order against the girlfriend. Following that hearing, the girlfriend agreed to dismiss the restraining order that she had placed against our client. However, things did not end here, we still had to deal with the felony criminal charges.
When we appeared at our clients Pre-Indictment Conference, we were unable to agree upon a resolution and the case was marked for what is known as Grand Jury. The matter was ultimately presented to the Grand Jury and they decided to return a No Bill against the felony charges but decided to remand the disorderly persons offenses (harassment, disorderly conduct, simple assault) charges back to the Keyport Municipal Court for disposition. After several appearances in the Keyport Municipal Court our client was able to secure a dismissal on all of the criminal charges. This was a long drawn out battle for our client but in the end, our client was ultimately vindicated.
Here is what our client had to say about his experience with Keith Oliver Criminal Law
If you need a really good Lawyer, I Highly recommend Mr. Keith Oliver. He will fight for you. He takes the time to look over and Study your Case. If you ever have Questions, he will always get back to you. I would give him more then 5 Stars If i had that Option on here. A+
Restraining Order Attorneys in Keyport NJ
Keith Oliver Criminal Law is a Monmouth County based criminal defense firm that represents those accused of various domestic violence offenses as well those served with a restraining order. If you have unfortunately found yourself being charged with an act of domestic violence like terroristic threats, cyber harassment, false imprisonment, assault or served with a restraining order, we can help. If you would like to speak to one of our criminal defense attorneys today, then please call our office at 732.858.6959. We serve all of Monmouth County, including towns like Hazlet, Middletown, Holmdel, Manalapan, Marlboro, Freehold, Wall Township, Asbury Park, Ocean Township and Red Bank. As always, our initial consultations are free of costs, so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contacting us. As you can see from the case above, these types of cases have a lot of moving pieces and need immediate attention.
R.C. v. J.S. (2018)