The well-known bars and clubs at the Jersey Shore hosts many visitors during the Summertime. Shore towns like Belmar, Asbury Park, Point Pleasant Beach, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, and more, are popular places for young adults to go out. At popular bars—like Bar Anticipation or D’Jais in Belmar, New Jersey—it is easy for people to lose self-control after having too much to drink. Bouncers have the authority to escort people out of the bar, and often, highly intoxicated and upset individuals try to sneak back into these bars with the hope of not being detected. While this may seem like a clever plan at the time, a single attempt to regain entry into a Bar in New Jersey is considered defiant trespassing.
Trespassing can be performed through a variety of actions and the statute, N.J.S.A. 2C:18-3b states that a person will be considered a defiant trespasser:
“[I]f, knowing he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place as to which notice against trespass is given by: . . . actual communication . . .or . . . [a] posting prescribed by law or reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders; . . . or fencing . . . enclosures manifestly designed to exclude intruders.”
The example of the notification in this scenario is the bouncer expressly telling the person to leave the bar. However, another example includes a sign telling trespassers to stay out.
Trespassing is a petty disorderly offense. It is, however, a serious matter. If you are convicted of defiant trespassing, you could receive up to 30 days in jail and a fine of $500.00. Further, being convicted of a disorderly person’s offense creates a criminal record that will show up on background checks. Background checks are inescapable among employers, and individuals applying for jobs will be screened for even the most minute convictions. If you are a skilled professional, your professional license can also be at risk. Those seeking employment will have to answer questions about the time they drank too much and got removed from a Jersey Shore Bar—not the greatest interview topic. What began as a rash decision can also affect you in the long-term, so it is essential you contact a New Jersey Criminal Defense Attorney immediately after the incident.
Our firm has handled Municipal Court criminal cases throughout the Jersey Shore, in the Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold, the Ocean County Superior Court in Toms River, and the Atlantic County Superior Court in Atlantic City, New Jersey, for over thirty years. We have a proven track record of excellent results for our clients. Please contact us in any one of our convenient locations, including our Monmouth County office, located in Eatontown (at the Jersey Shore), our Essex County office, located in Livingston, our Union County office, located in Linden, or our Middlesex County office, located in East Brunswick, to discuss your case. You may call the experienced criminal defense attorneys of Schwartz & Posnock at 732-544-1460 or email us at info@schwartzposnock.com.