Conditional Discharge program in NJ?

Your attorney will have to assess whether you have any grounds to fight the arrest. Ignorance of the law does not excuse actions though.

What is “defiant trespassing”?

@marinelife yea I realize that. My problem is when I was given this ban I asked what it entailed and they just said the dorm areas and what-not, not the area that I was in. Its just going to really suck if I get screwed over while being so close to the end here for something thats not drug related at all. Ive done everything necessary for this program and never failed a test. I just dont want to get screwed over something so stupid.

@Trillian I am banned from residential areas, I evidently was in one. So I defied my ban and trespassed.

@uberbatman Well, don’t give up hope. Perhaps the order says the dorms, and you can fight it. Are the conditions written down?

@marinelife not that Im aware of. The only paperwork I was given just said “residential areas”.

First thing you have to ask yourself is this: “Is my P.O. an alright person?” If you answer no to that question you are screwed. I don’t care if you have the best attorney in the world, if your p.o. is an asshole you are screwed. Now, if your p.o. has shown support in the past and really cares for you, then you will be alright, nothing to worry about. As an example, I was on federal probation and left the country for the weekend, came back, tested positive for weed and my p.o. although concerned, she told me that she rather see me going to NA than losing my job over such a trivial thing. On the other hand a friend was sent back to prison for 3 years because he turned in his monthly report 3 days late. It all depends on your P.O.

I’m not an attorney but you may not be completely fucked.

NORML Link

It looks like the court and your probation officer have a certain amount of leeway and discretion in deciding the outcome of this.

hmmmm i actually dont have a probation officer. Odd….

@uberbatman So how are you on probation?

@uberbatman You have to have someone supervising your case. Do you have a “conditional discharge officer?”

@mrmijunte its through the court. I dont have anyone in particular I deal with. I just turn in a drug test every other month and give them money lol. Im sure there is someone there, ive just never spoke with them or had a name mentioned at all

“you must not be convicted of another offense during the probation period. If you fail to complete the probation period for any reason, the Court may (and in many cases will) renew its prosecution of the original charges. ” thats the part that bothers me.

It says “may (and in many cases will)” not “always and in all cases.” You should be worried, but all may not be lost. Just call your attorney asap. Do you have his or her cell number?

@uberbatman Damn. New Jersey is different from what I know. Sorry about your situation, and I hope it turns out well for you.

@lillycoyote nope no cell number. Thatd probably be something useful to have lol. But he’s just been my lawyer for a car accident didnt think id be callin him with something like this ever lol. I realize not in all cases, but i suppose its better to prepare for a nice anal raping and be surprised with being let off then being expecting to be fine and get raped outta no where :P

@mrmijunte thanks :)

That is one of the problems with probation. You can be violated for almost anything. Do you have a good relationship with your PO? Our family friend was violated for getting within some distance of the “victim”. They do not tell him where she lives. Suddenly he got a call from the PO screaming at him “You are in violation! Get out of the red zone!” “What? Where? What did I do??” He was driving in a car and the main road impinges on the no fly zone. The PO confirmed “Oh I see you were moving at 40 mph.” But still violated him.
Here’s another one. He is not permitted to have contact with other felons. Makes sense. But the state PO schedules the weekly rehab class with 8 guys all in the same position, all class E felons. Therefore he had contact with felons. And the PO has ankle bracelet proof.
One more and I’ll stop. It took him to the Motor vehicle bureau to get some registration work done on a trailer. We had to go to the police station to get a lost tag slip. The PO called that “contact with the police” . No details, just contact with police.
My friend is writing everything down in a notebook he carries with him. date, time, witnesses. You should do the same.

After seeing how the system works and how easy it is for a vengeful PO to cause problems, it seems the line separating the people on both sides of the desk is fine indeed.

@worriedguy makes sense, but like I said above, I have no clue who my PO even is.

@uberbatman I know you’re a little stressed out here, but do you have your attorney’s business card? The cell number might be on it. :-)

@lillycoyote no, I dont actually. Im full of fail :(

@worriedguy Yes, p.o’s can get on a mean power trip. Specially for state cases because they have so many “clients” that they are looking for any reason to send you back to prison, not only that, their superiors demand a certain number of inmates the p.o has to send back because like you probably know, is a great business. I know that to be a fact in Texas at least.

@uberbatman I don’t do that kind of thing anymore but a justice system that jails people for possession of weed for personal use or even the sale of small amounts is what’s full of fail, IMHO. Check your pms

Whatever you do, don’t do anything else stupid thinking you’re already screwed. First of all, you said “you must not be convicted of another offense during the probation period” Arrested and convicted are two different things. Getting hold of your attorney on Monday is critical, if only to make sure that the court date for this arrest is pushed out past the end of your probation. Were you not given anything that spelled out where specifically you weren’t supposed to go? Were you outside of the buildings?

@BarnacleBill yea thats a good point on the arrested/convicted thing didnt think about that. i was just given a paper saying I was banned from all residential areas, thats it. I was probably 200–300 yards from the dorm buildings on a trail by a lake when i was arrested

Just an update for everyone . Spoke with my lawyer today on the phone. He said I have a good fighting chance with this and shouldnt get screwed over. I’ll have more details when I speak with him face to face tomorrow.

Good luck. Keep us posted!

UPDATE!!!!

Ok sooo spoke with my lawyer last week, he contacted the courts to let them know he was representing me. My case was pushed back to December in lieu of this. From talking to him, he seems to think I have a good chance of beating this as I said above. One of the really good things about it getting pushed back though is when I go to court now, I will be down my CD program (though not off the official probation period) So my lawyer will be able to argue the fact that while on CD I never ever missed a payment or failed a drug test or anything like that. I didnt get arrested for a drug charge, just happened to be somewhere I shouldnt have been that I didnt really even know about. I realize lack of knowledge doesnt make it ok but its better than me knowing and just sayin fuck it :P

Ill let ya guys know what happens with everything after my case.

Wish me luck and all that other good shit :P

Yeah but… so have we better defined where you can and can’t go? Do you have a crtain person that you can call for questions?
Damn skippy, good luck.

Yea I talked to them about that. Evidently anything thats not a class room is considered residential area. Go figure…

Glad to hear that it looks like everything is going to work out, most likely. Good Luck!

And BTW, how exactly do they expect you to get from classroom to classroom? Teleportation? :-)

the main campus is all connected. but they mean anything outside of that big building is considered residential . even some of the parking lots next to the schools and I cant go in a cafeteria thats right next to the school either. :(

ALLLLRIGHTYYY good news everything. I had court this morning. I brought a copy of the thing from the school saying where I couldnt be and showed how it neglected to say I couldnt be in the place where I was arrested. I was trying to get it dismissed out right but it ended up getting dropped to a noise disturbance. Sooo good news is no criminal charge and my conditional discharge will still be ok. (im actually completed it now) Bad news is it carries a 500 dollar fine. Take the good with the bad I suppose. Over all though im happy about it.