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Why Do I Have A Criminal Record If I Was Not Convicted?

arrest
Photo Credit flickr.com

Court proceedings and your criminal record are public record. Do you feel the need to prevent potential employers, family, friends or the public from viewing court records that include your criminal records?  Being arrested and charged with a criminal offense leaves a permanent record that can show up on employment and housing background checks. This record exists regardless if there was a conviction associated with the arrest.
An expungement is not a pardon. However, under most circumstances it does allow a person to legally say that they have never been arrested or convicted of the expunged offense.  
If you were arrested in New Jersey, you may be eligible for expungement of your NJ arrest record if certain conditions are met. You can have records expunged for arrests that you were found innocent of as well as arrests that you were convicted of municipal ordinances and certain misdemeanors and felonies. However, not all records can be expunged and New Jersey only allows criminal records to be expunged once.
An expungement can take four months or more to move through the court. In addition, there is a waiting period before any expungement petition related to a conviction can be filed:

  • Six months for an offense involving a conditional discharge program
  • Two years for a violation of a municipal ordinance
  • Five years after a misdemeanor conviction that is eligible for expungement
  • Ten years after a felony conviction that is eligible for expungement

It is possible for a lay person to seal their records. However, an attorney can be contacted about sealing court records. Find a lawyer that practices in the area of law that represents your case in court. Sealing or expunging a record is a complicated process with many rules so it is best to consult with a lawyer who is familiar with and understands the procedure. At Aretsky & Aretsky, in Bergen County, New Jersey, we have significant experience helping people get arrest records and some criminal convictions expunged. 3 University Plaza Drive, Suite 207, Hackensack, N.J. 0760, Phone: 201-580-3411

Prenuptial Agreements Protect Both Spouses

The state of New Jersey recognizes prenuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, and domestic partnership agreements when considering the distribution of assets and awarding alimony. If you are getting married in the state of New Jersey and have questions about a prenuptial agreement, please contact Aretsky & Aretsky.  We work closely with our clients to gain a complete understanding of their circumstances and concerns. Our attorneys know the legal requirements necessary to draft prenuptial agreements that will be binding in the event that the marriage fails. Some of the prenuptial agreements we have drafted included clauses addressing:

  • business assets

Don’t Let The Courts Decide Who Has Custody of Your Child!

If parents can’t come to an agreement on the custody of their child/children or the New Jersey courts deem it NOT in the best interest of the child they will step in and make that decision.  The New Jersey law cares most about the children. The course of action laid out by the court can take months to complete, yet it is very clear that the courts are seeking the best interest of the child.

Aretsky & Aretsky Attorneys in Bergen County, New Jersey can bring some clarity to your divorce and child custody issues.  If you are seeking an alternative way to help your family get through the divorce process, our collaborative attorneys in Bergen County have the answer. Collaborative law is a non-adversarial process that allows you and your spouse to work out a mutually agreed-upon plan to handle child visitation schedules, child support, alimony payments, asset division, and any other details necessary to finalize your divorce. The collaborative law process enables you and your spouse to control the outcome of your divorce rather than a court and helps preserve good familial relations for the benefit of your children.

Courts told Sicari to choose between doling out puns or punishment.

Vince Sicari a judge in South Hackensack has resigned his position to continue his career as a comedian and actor.  It is no joke, the courts ruled that the two careers were not compatible and that a judge who was a comedian could not be taken seriously.

Read the below article form Yahoo News for all of the details.



One Bad Tweet Could Land You In Jail

texting
Photo Credit Flickr.com

According to MahaloLearnMore.com “In January 2012, Youtube was hitting over 4 billion views a day, more than double the number of daily views they had just 18 months prior. According to its press statistics, YouTube receives approximately 800 million unique visitors each month, with more than 4 billion hours of video watched monthly. In terms of social media, Facebook users watch 500 years of YouTube videos daily.
One of the reasons for Youtube’s popularity is that it makes everyone a filmmaker; anyone at all can create a user account and upload to youtube, and anyone with internet access can watch video content for free, with or without a login.”
Singers have gotten their big break, anamials have made us laugh and we can look up how to do almost anything on Youtube.  And now Youtube can be used as evidence in criminal charges. 
Social Media is the newest form of criminal evidence. Information gleaned from Facebook postings and other social media communications have been allowed as evidence, providing a judge believes the information is directly relevant to a case and not a blatant violation of someone’s privacy. Even if you are not knowingly the subject of a criminal investigation you should be aware that your Facebook postings are not private. Obviously whoever you have “friended” is privy to your postings depending on your privacy levels. Any of these people may easily take a screen shot of any posting you make. The same is true for text messages. The textee can take a screen shot of your text message and it is no longer yours to control. Postings on other social media networks such as Twitter are similarly subject to criminal prosecution if the content is deemed threatening or otherwise suspected to be of a criminal nature.
Last week USA TODAY reported the following story about Matthew Cordle who confessed to vehicular homicide on You Tube. To see the entire article and view the confession click here.
Matthew Cordle, 22, admits getting drunk and driving the wrong way on I-670 near Columbus, crashing into a jeep and killing its driver.
“My name is Mathew Cordle and on June 22, 2013, I hit and killed Vincent Canzani,” Cordle says in the video posted Friday. “This video will act as my confession. When i get charged, I will plead guilty and take full responsibility for everything I’ve done to Vincent and his family… I won’t dishoner Vincent’s memory by lying about what happened.”
Cordle says in the video that after the crash he spoke with “some high-powered attorneys” who told him that it might be possible to get his blood test thrown out. He said they told him of “about similar cases where the drivers got off. “All I would have to do is lie. I won’t go down that path.”

car+accident
Photo Cridit Flickr.com

Canzani’s ex-wife, Cheryl Oates, told fox6now.comthat Cordle’s remorse appeared genuine and that she was encouraged that he took responsibility for his actions. Still, the mother of two sons said she felt Cordle should spend some time in prison. “It’s gut-wrenching coming from a mother looking at that young boy, and he just doesn’t understand the damage that he did,” she told the website.
George Breitmayer III, a Columbus lawyer representing Cordle, told The Columbus Dispatch that he was unaware his client was posting the confession. “This video he released demonstrates his character, bravery and integrity, and I know he fully intends to cooperate with law enforcement and Franklin County prosecutors throughout the course of any future criminal proceedings,” Breitmayer told the Dispatch. Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien told the Dispatch he watched Cordle’s video three times. “It’s the most compelling video I think I have seen. He strikes me as remorseful and sincere,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said he will ask grand jurors on Monday to indict Cordle on a charge of aggravated vehicular homicide. The second-degree felony carries a prison sentence of two to eight years.
O’Brien told fox6now that the video has not influenced him to recommend a lighter sentence.
“We had a case against him based on the evidence as I know it before the video was filmed,” he told the website.
Breitmayer said the video was not posted in an effort to gain a shorter prison sentence. On the recording, Cordle says he “can’t bring Mr. Canzani back. I can’t erase what I’ve done,” but says “I beg you, and I say the word beg specifically, I’m begging you, please don’t drink and drive.”
John Bacon, USA TODAY
When you are in need of a criminal defence attorney, in Bergen County, New Jersey, Aretsky & Aretsky Attorneys at Law are equiped to defend you. They have successfully prevented charges from being filed, negotiated for lesser charges, and obtained acquittals in a wide range of criminal defense matters. From cases involving DUIs, traffic violations and driving while suspended, to cases involving drug offenses, shoplifting, and assaults, their criminal defense attorneys have the skill, experience, and tenacity necessary to secure positive outcomes for their clients. Aretsky & Aretsky Attornenys can be reached at the Ridgewood Office 257 E. Ridgewood Ave., Suite 303 Ridgewood, NJ 07450, Phone: 201-445-5856 or https://www.aretsky-law.com/https://www.aretsky-law.com/.

How Much Will A Divorce Cost Me?

The two biggest concerns of those seeking a divorce are child custody issues, and how much it will cost. At Aretsky and Aretsky they know that divorce is painful, stressful, emotionally debilitating and dehumanizing.  Their goal is to help you minimize the negative effects of divorce on you, your children, and others affected by the divorce. They have over 40 years of combined experience in helping families deal with the many complex legal issues arising from separation and divorce.

If you are looking for a divorce lawyer in Bergen County visit Aretsky & Aretsky at Aretsky-law.com or contact them at 3 University Plaza Drive, Suite 207, Hackensack, N.J. 07601

Why Start-Up Companies Need a Lawyer!

Starting a new business can be difficult to navigate and very costly.  If not done properly it can cost even more, often times to the point of closing the business. The following article from Forbes last month points out some realistic reasons as to why all start up companies need a lawyer in order to get going in the right direction.

Brett Nelson
Brett Nelson, Contributor

George Zimmerman’s Wife Files For Divorce
Turbulence continues in the lives of George and Shellie Zimmerman. Although George Zimmerman has been acquitted of the murder of Trayvon Martin, the Zimmerman’s are still in the news.  Shellie Zimmerman is now in the spot light.  In August she was sentenced in perjury charges, she filed for a divorce, last week, and this week she called 911 for domestic violence.

police+lights
Photo Credit Flickr

On the heals of divorce fillings, Shellie Zimmerman made a call to 911, accusing her estranged husband, George Zimmerman, of threatening her with a gun and punching her father in the nose. She later changed her story and decided not to press charges. Prosecutors could still press charges based on the videos from the home, and the squad cars that responded to the call. You can read more about the 911 call in the Associated Press article dated September 9.
Click here for the full article.

Chances are we have not heard the last of the Zimmerman family.
According to an Associated Press articles on September 5, “George Zimmerman’s wife filed for divorce Thursday, less than two months after her husband was acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin and a week after she pleaded guilty to perjury in his case.
Shellie Zimmerman made the decision because of “disappointment,” her attorney, Kelly Sims, wrote Thursday in a short email to The Associated Press. The 26-year-old Zimmerman told ABC’s “Good Morning America” last week that she was having serious doubts about remaining married.
The interview came just after she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor perjury charge for lying during a bail hearing following her husband’s arrest for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in February 2012. Her husband, who was acquitted on second-degree murder and other charges in July, wasn’t in the Sanford, Fla., courtroom as she was sentenced to a year’s probation and 100 hours of community service – even though she supported him and lied about their finances.”

Click here for the full article.
If you are interesed in reading about George Zimmerman’s recent encounters with the police over speeding, click here.


You Typically Only Have Two Years From the Date of Injury

PIThe law is very specific about time limitations when it comes to personal injury cases. You typically only have two years from the date of your injury to file a claim for personal injury damages. If you fail to file your claim within the statute of limitations, you lose your right to seek compensation from the responsible party or parties.

But let’s say you didn’t realize right away that you were hurt because it wasn’t until you visited the doctor five years later that your doctor discovered a few irregularities. What then? Do you not have any recourse?

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