Ocean County Domestic Violence Leads to Attempted Murder

Posted on April 3, 2009 by John Marshall

Local and national news agencies seem to report on incidents of domestic violence everyday.  These incidents often involve actual or threatened violence. Today, the Asbury Park Press reported on another domestic violence occurance, this time in Ocean County, NJ.  The incident involved a Manahawkin man who shot his girlfriend following a domestic dispute. The charges against the defendant include attempted murder.

The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991 is the embodiment of New Jersey's policy on this subject. In this regard, the state recognizes that domestic violence effects all walks of life and is a serious issue. The NJ domestic violence law seeks to combat assault, harassment, threats, and other forms of domestic violence by imposing strict enforcement and penalties. We see the effects of this law almost daily in our criminal defense practice. The honest truth is that while this law has teeth, there are those who attempt to utilize the law for their own benefit. It is abundently important for the Courts to strike a fair balance between the need to prevent domestic abuse and safeguards against utilization of the law to obtain a tactical advantage.  Our attorneys do their best to clarify exactly which strategy is afoot whenever we are defending individuals accused of domestic violence.  

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Belmar Police Chief Cleared of Domestic Assault

Posted on March 30, 2009 by John Marshall

The Asbury Park Press recently reported on the resolution of a temporary restraining order filed in Monmouth County Superior Court against a Belmar officer. His estranged wife had apparently alleged domestic violence and obtained a temporary restraining order. It is unclear from the article as to whether the restraints were issued based on simple assault, harassment, terroristic threats or some other allegation of domestic violence.  The order was subsequently dismissed by the Court and the acting chief has successfully regained his privilege to carry a weapon.

This report serves as an excellent illustration of the type of thing that can happen in NJ when it comes to a final restraining order.  All it really takes to get a temporary restraining order in NJ is an allegation that some incident of domestic violence occurred and that the "victim" is in fear of his or her safety.  The typical allegation is that there was an assault (simple assault or aggravated assault) or that threats were made.  The step thereafter is to conduct a final restraining order hearing where all the evidence, including that of the defendant, is presented.  In this case, the restraints were dismissed at or prior to the hearing.

I happen to know the Belmar police officer who was the defendant in this case and I honestly have a hard time believing that he would ever put himself in a position where a genuine order could be filed.  This very well may have been an instance where someone obtained a temporary restraining order to obtain an advantage in a contemplated divorce case.  While there are certainly more than enough bona fide instances of domestic violence in Monmouth County and elsewhere, this may have been been a situation destined for dismissal from the start. 

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Should We Anticipate More Domestic Violence?

Posted on December 9, 2008 by John Marshall

The slumping economy has apparently resulted in more Divorced Couples Living Together.  One would expect incidents of domestic violence to escalate in New Jersey if this information is accurate.  Arguments are bound to crop up, for example, what happens when an ex-spouse starts dating?  This is obviously the extreme but these types of scenarios will have to be dealt with diplomatically, otherwise, we are going to have a flood of restraining orders and domestic violence complaints.

It is sad that financial stresses have gotten so bad as to mandate divorced couples residing with one another.  Our criminal defense lawyers see the negative effect of forced interaction between estranged spouses almost every day.  We can only hope that the financial realities for continuing to live together temper behavior or families will be further damaged.

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New Jersey Lawyer Getting Out of Control

Posted on November 13, 2008 by John Marshall

I always profess that domestic violence and retraining order issues effect all types of individuals.  We saw this revelation, once again, hold to be true when a prominent Somerville lawyer was reported to have "a dozen charges in three towns" , including alleged violations of a restraining order filed by his wife.  Apparently, this lawyer's wife filed for divorce and things have unraveled quite dramatically with him being jailed for violations of a New Jersey restraining order.  The attorney already had pending charges stemming from a leaving the scene of an accident case and a separate DWI case in another municipality. 

DWI and domestic violence can sometimes have a common thread - excessive alcohol.  This appears to be the case for the lawyer in this case and he certainly is not alone.  New Jersey's DWI laws and domestic violence statutes are some of the stiffest in the Nation but access to a competent defense lawyer probably should not be an issue in this case.  Hopefully, this guy can get it together like so many individuals we represent, and negotiate this mind field without too much impact on his future.

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