There are several ways that a savvy Middlesex County defense attorney can obtain a downgrade of a charge. The first opportunity is through a remand. This term refers to the referral of a case that initially involved a first, second, third, or fourth-degree crime to municipal court from the Middlesex County Superior Court. This process is called a “remand” and the importance of the process is the fact that a case goes from one involving a felony crime to a misdemeanor since the municipal courts in Middlesex County only have jursdiction to decide disorderly persons offenses.
The second way a charge gets downgraded is through plea bargaining negotiations. Prosecutors will often reduce the severity of an offense, for example, taking it from a second-degree crime to a third-degree crime, first-degree to second-degree, etc., as the result of an agreement with defense counsel. This allows the state to resolve the case without the risk and cost of a trial and so too the accused. It also gives each side a measure of control over the outcome of the charges.
The third primary avenue for your criminal charge in Middlesex County to be reduced is as the result of some motion or other effort of your criminal attorney. The biggest way this happens is as the result of a motion to dismiss that eliminates a higher degree of crime so that the prosecution can only secure a conviction for the reduced charge. Another form of application that frequently comes into play here is a motion to suppress. This is an application that seeks to eliminate a piece of evidence based on an existing criminal law.
