New Jersey Criminal Lawyers
The New Jersey criminal lawyers at Helmer, Paul, Conley, & Kasselman, P.A. possess more than 200 years of combined experience handling criminal cases in New Jersey. Based on this experience, this page provides advice to individuals who are arrested on criminal charges in the state of New Jersey. This page should not be considered to be a substitute for a professional legal consultation.
What to do after an arrest
If you can make bail, which is money used to secure your release from police custody, you will be released from jail if you have no other holds.
A hold is a detainer placed on you by a government agency. If a hold is in place against you, the police must keep you in custody until that hold has been cleared. For example, if you have unpaid traffic tickets, you may have had a hold placed on you. You would have to pay these tickets or serve them out with jail time before you could be released from jail.
If you cannot make bail, or if you do not qualify for pretrial release, you remain in custody while your case is pending. At this point, you may hire a criminal defense lawyer in New Jersey or, if your case may lead to incarceration, have one appointed to represent you. If you cannot make bail and are indigent (that is, you require a lawyer be appointed), the court appoints your lawyer within 24 hours of your arrest. However, you may not actually meet the lawyer until a case is filed, which may take up to 72 hours.
Assuming you are able to make bail, the court expects you to hire an attorney to represent you.
A special consideration involves those who are arrested who are not American citizens. In these cases, the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) normally places a hold on you. Your criminal case directly affects your resident status, and you should discuss this with your attorney.
Get help from criminal lawyers in New Jersey
If you have been arrested and face criminal charges in the state of New Jersey, contact the New Jersey criminal defense firm of Helmer, Paul, Conley, & Kasselman, P.A. as soon as you can. We understand the nuances and protocols of the criminal court process in New Jersey, allowing us to guide our clients through the potentially hazardous maze of New Jersey criminal law.
