Bloomfield Drug Charge Attorneys
Handling Disorderly Persons Arrests in Essex County NJ
Were you falsely arrested and accused of a drug offense in Bloomfield? We can help.
The criminal defense team at the Tormey Law Firm recently scored another victory for a client by getting a marijuana case dismissed in the Bloomfield Municipal Court. Under N.J.S.A 2C:35-10 (a), possession of under 50 grams of marijuana is a disorderly persons offense punishable by up to six months in jail, a $1,000 fine, a driver’s license suspension and a permanent criminal record. However, just because you may be charged with possession of marijuana, it doesn’t mean that the State can necessarily prove its case against you. As a defendant charged with possession of marijuana, you are entitled to receive proof from the State that the substance you had was actually marijuana. In other words, the State must provide a laboratory report based on scientific analysis that the substance you possessed, in fact, was marijuana. In the recent Bloomfield Municipal Court case, the State Police failed to provide the lab report within a reasonable time and, accordingly, the Court dismissed the case.
Generally, the State Police laboratory will provide reports within approximately three months of receiving a test specimen. However, sometimes it takes much longer and because in every criminal case the defendant has a right to receive all of the discovery and a right to a speedy trial, the failure to provide a lab report may be grounds to get a case dismissed. In this case, the defendant was charged with possession of marijuana in July and then the marijuana defense attorneys at the Tormey Law Firm appeared at the Bloomfield municipal court four times between August and December of 2016 and asserted the client’s right to have the laboratory report before deciding how to proceed with the case. Ultimately, the judge dismissed the case due to the lack of the State’s evidence being provided to the defendant.
If you are arrested and charged with possession of marijuana and the case eventually gets dismissed, you are eligible to immediately apply to have the arrest record expunged. According to N.J.S.A. 2C:52-6, “wherein a person has been arrested or held to answer for a crime, disorderly persons offense, petty disorderly persons offense or municipal ordinance violation under the laws of this State or of any governmental entity thereof and against whom proceedings were dismissed, or who was acquitted, or who was discharged without a conviction or finding of guilt, may at any time following the disposition of proceedings, present a duly verified petition to the Superior Court in the county in which the disposition occurred praying that records of such arrest and all records and information pertaining thereto be expunged.”
Facing Drug Charges in Bloomfield Court? Contact Us For Help
The marijuana defense lawyers at the Tormey Law Firm are ready to help you fight marijuana possession charges and they are also well versed in expungement law. Thus, if you have recently had a marijuana case dismissed, the expungement attorneys at the Tormey Law Firm are ready to help. Click on the following links to learn more about marijuana crimes in New Jersey, how to fight marijuana charges, and expungements of marijuana charges.
