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When you are arrested and charged with a criminal offense in New Jersey, specifically an indictable or felony offense, you will most likely be making your first appearance in a court called the central judicial processing court or CJP as it is known in some other courts. It is important to realize that if you have an attorney prior to this court date it is likely that you will not have to appear at this court because the appearance can be waived. But if you don't have an attorney you will have to appear.
Some counties call this process the central intake court, but it is the same thing.
Examples of the kind of charges that would wind up at this first appearance setting are aggravated assault, distribution of CDS, weapons and gun possession charges, theft offenses, prescription drug crimes, heroin possession, domestic violence cases, and credit card fraud related offenses.
Each County, including Union, Hudson, Somerset, Hunterdon, Essex, Morris, and Monmouth counties all have a central intake or Central judicial processing Court.
There is no resolution of your case at the central intake or Central judicial processing Court. Most of the time it is simply a gathering of information, a recitation of the charges against you, and in some instances a plea of not guilty. Even if you wanted to plead guilty to the offense these courts won't allow it in most instances. It must go through the criminal process which will include other court dates.
In some instances if you are interested in applying for a public defender they will give you an opportunity to do so at this point. Occasionally, even if you are charged as a more serious offender cases can be downgraded with the assistance of counsel at this court setting. However this does not happen frequently but a private attorney can certainly assist in this possible scenario.
The important thing to remember is that it is not advisable to appear at any court appearance without an attorney no matter how trivial the court appearance may appear to be.
We have been assisting clients for years in thousands of matters involving situations where first appearance and intake process comes into play. These dates usually are given to you either directly on the charging document, which is typically called the complaint or on a separate sheet of paper. It is important that you don't miss these dates.
If you have any questions at all about this process you should contact our office and we will be able to provide you with all the information for the county that you are in and how the cjp or Central intake process will affect you. Lubiner, Schmidt & Palumbo is a recognized and respected criminal defense firm that is appeared and successfully defended clients in All Counties throughout the state of New Jersey.
If you are facing criminal charges and have questions about penalties you face and the process that the courts use when adjudicating disposing of criminal matters we absolutely will be able to answer all your questions.