Public Defender Clients
Mr. Di Stefano currently serves as the Municipal Public Defender and Conflict Municipal Public Defender in numerous municipalities throughout Ocean County. He is also an independent contractor with the Office of the Public Defender for the State of New Jersey. If you applied and were approved for the services of the public defender your case may be assigned to him for legal representation, at which time you will be informed of his formal appearance on your behalf. Mr. Di Stefano will also be informed of the assigned case by the Court or Office of the Public Defender directly.
Upon official assignment of your pending case our office will receive your case information from the Court and make the proper application for discovery from the applicable law enforcement agency. The discovery is the evidence retained by the State with respect to your pending case and includes but is not limited to police reports, video and tape recordings, lab test results, your statements and/or statements of witnesses. The discovery is important to obtain and review as it is the evidence the State intends to utilize for the purposes of prosecuting the charges against you.
Once our office obtains the discovery Mr. Di Stefano will be in a better position to discuss your pending case and any potential legal defenses you may have with respect to the charges against you. Please be patient as this information is not immediately provided upon request. In fact, it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to obtain discovery for the average municipal court case and may take even longer for an indictable matter.
In the interim, it is likely you will be required to appear in Court for an arraignment or first appearance if you haven’t done so already. If you have not appeared before the Municipal Court Judge to date, our office will enter an initial plea of not guilty on your behalf.
In order to help our office assist you in representing you to the best of our abilities, you should fully cooperate with our office staff. You must appear in Court on the date and time of your Court notice or a bench warrant may be issued for your arrest and a notice may be sent to the Motor Vehicle Commission to suspend your driving privileges. You must advise our office of any change of address or telephone number as it is important we have up to date contact information to keep you apprised of the status of your case.
If you have been assigned the services of our office you and you alone are the client. Our office is under no obligation to discuss your case with any of your family members, friends, significant others, employers, or any other third party unless you expressly authorize in writing. The fact remains that your pending matter may include these individuals or these individuals may be called as witnesses. Discussing pertinent facts of your case may also result in making these individuals potential parties or witnesses in your pending matter if they were not directly involved in the underlying acts that gave rise to the original charges. Therefore, you should advise them not to contact our office to discuss the facts of your case.
Our office understands you may be facing potentially serious consequences due to your pending charges and we will be prepared to defend you zealously throughout all phases of your criminal proceeding. If you have not discussed your case with Mr. Di Stefano by the time of your first Court date after being assigned legal services do not be alarmed as you will have ample opportunity to discuss your case with Mr. Di Stefano before its ultimate disposition. However, you should be reminded that while your charges are pending there are numerous things you can do to help increase the likelihood of successfully resolving your case.
First and foremost, you should refrain from discussing the facts of your case with anyone except with Mr. Di Stefano and/or his legal staff. This includes telephone conversations, e-mails, text messages, and any other form of social media or communication with family, friends, relatives, acquaintances, law enforcement, or any other third party as these statements may be considered admissions and can be used against you in your pending matter. Admissions may be used by the State as evidence against you for the purposes of a trial despite the fact that you have exercised your Constitutional right to remain silent. Therefore, you should avoid making any statements regarding your case to anyone but your lawyer as your lawyer is bound by attorney client privilege, which affords some protection against the use of these statements.
Next, if your pending case includes traffic violations related to having a suspended license, it is strongly recommended that you make every effort to have your driving privileges restored before your next Court date. If you have outstanding traffic violations in other jurisdictions or you are unaware of previous dispositions that may impact your case you may consider obtaining a copy of your driver’s abstract directly from the Motor Vehicle Commission. The driver’s abstract will reflect your entire driving history, which may be helpful to you in getting your driving privileges restored.
Next, if you are currently on probation for another matter in this jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction, involved in a diversionary program in any Court system in this jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction, or your status is not that of a citizen of the United States you should advise our office immediately as it may impact your case and/or your case may have collateral consequences with respect to these issues.
Next, if your pending case includes a controlled dangerous substance offense and you are currently enrolled in a rehabilitation program you should obtain proof of enrollment into the program and forward it to our office prior to your next court hearing. If you are not in a program you may want to consider entering into one as it may have a positive impact on the outcome of your case and/or sentence.
Next, if your pending case includes an act of domestic violence and you have been evaluated for or you are receiving anger management therapy you should also provide proof of your participation with our office. You may also consider voluntarily seeking an anger management evaluation prior to your next Court date, which may be helpful in resolving your case. Often times, the State may be satisfied that your charges were in connection with an isolated incident unlikely to happen again if you seek and successfully complete anger management counselling.
Next, if your pending case involves a victim of any kind, you should have absolutely no contact with that victim either personally or through a third party. Contact with a victim may result in additional criminal charges and penalties. If there is a temporary or final restraining order in place this contact may result in additional penalties and/or a mandatory term of imprisonment. Therefore, you should avoid any contact until your pending matter is resolved even if the victim has expressly authorized or initiated the contact.
When you appear at your Court hearing you do not have to check in with the Municipal Prosecutor. Mr. Di Stefano will likely be in conference with the Municipal Prosecutor and/or Judge on other cases. Upon completing these conferences, he will address each matter individually. You should be aware of the fact that your case will not likely be the only matter listed for the Public Defender calendar on the date of your Court hearing. Please be patient and remain in the Court room until your name is called and you have discussed the case. If the Judge calls your case prior to your individual conference, you should enter a not guilty plea and advise him you are represented by the Public Defender. The Court will be aware of this representation and will address your case if you have not yet been formally assigned.
Finally, Adjournments/Postponements! If you have a scheduling conflict or an emergency situation it may be possible to adjourn or carry your case to a later date. However, any and all adjournment requests must be granted by the COURT! Our office has no power or authority to grant you an adjournment despite your reason or proof of same. Our office will make every attempt to accommodate your adjournment requests but can not guarantee your request will ultimately be granted by the Court.
Please be advised that adjournment requests are rarely granted the day before or the day of Court. If you have a scheduling conflict you should address the conflict immediately and well in advance of your scheduled hearing. If you are unable to attend Court for medical reasons, you will likely be required to provide documentation for the medical emergency. Please be further advised that our office can not guarantee a bench warrant will not be issued or that you will not face sanctions if you fail to appear for any Court hearing even if you have documentation or valid reasons for not attending. If a warrant is issued you will have to address the bail status directly with the Court. It is highly recommended that your keep our office apprised of your potential non-appearance so it can be properly addressed with the Court.
Upon official assignment of your pending case our office will receive your case information from the Court and make the proper application for discovery from the applicable law enforcement agency. The discovery is the evidence retained by the State with respect to your pending case and includes but is not limited to police reports, video and tape recordings, lab test results, your statements and/or statements of witnesses. The discovery is important to obtain and review as it is the evidence the State intends to utilize for the purposes of prosecuting the charges against you.
Once our office obtains the discovery Mr. Di Stefano will be in a better position to discuss your pending case and any potential legal defenses you may have with respect to the charges against you. Please be patient as this information is not immediately provided upon request. In fact, it can take anywhere from 4-6 weeks to obtain discovery for the average municipal court case and may take even longer for an indictable matter.
In the interim, it is likely you will be required to appear in Court for an arraignment or first appearance if you haven’t done so already. If you have not appeared before the Municipal Court Judge to date, our office will enter an initial plea of not guilty on your behalf.
In order to help our office assist you in representing you to the best of our abilities, you should fully cooperate with our office staff. You must appear in Court on the date and time of your Court notice or a bench warrant may be issued for your arrest and a notice may be sent to the Motor Vehicle Commission to suspend your driving privileges. You must advise our office of any change of address or telephone number as it is important we have up to date contact information to keep you apprised of the status of your case.
If you have been assigned the services of our office you and you alone are the client. Our office is under no obligation to discuss your case with any of your family members, friends, significant others, employers, or any other third party unless you expressly authorize in writing. The fact remains that your pending matter may include these individuals or these individuals may be called as witnesses. Discussing pertinent facts of your case may also result in making these individuals potential parties or witnesses in your pending matter if they were not directly involved in the underlying acts that gave rise to the original charges. Therefore, you should advise them not to contact our office to discuss the facts of your case.
Our office understands you may be facing potentially serious consequences due to your pending charges and we will be prepared to defend you zealously throughout all phases of your criminal proceeding. If you have not discussed your case with Mr. Di Stefano by the time of your first Court date after being assigned legal services do not be alarmed as you will have ample opportunity to discuss your case with Mr. Di Stefano before its ultimate disposition. However, you should be reminded that while your charges are pending there are numerous things you can do to help increase the likelihood of successfully resolving your case.
First and foremost, you should refrain from discussing the facts of your case with anyone except with Mr. Di Stefano and/or his legal staff. This includes telephone conversations, e-mails, text messages, and any other form of social media or communication with family, friends, relatives, acquaintances, law enforcement, or any other third party as these statements may be considered admissions and can be used against you in your pending matter. Admissions may be used by the State as evidence against you for the purposes of a trial despite the fact that you have exercised your Constitutional right to remain silent. Therefore, you should avoid making any statements regarding your case to anyone but your lawyer as your lawyer is bound by attorney client privilege, which affords some protection against the use of these statements.
Next, if your pending case includes traffic violations related to having a suspended license, it is strongly recommended that you make every effort to have your driving privileges restored before your next Court date. If you have outstanding traffic violations in other jurisdictions or you are unaware of previous dispositions that may impact your case you may consider obtaining a copy of your driver’s abstract directly from the Motor Vehicle Commission. The driver’s abstract will reflect your entire driving history, which may be helpful to you in getting your driving privileges restored.
Next, if you are currently on probation for another matter in this jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction, involved in a diversionary program in any Court system in this jurisdiction or any other jurisdiction, or your status is not that of a citizen of the United States you should advise our office immediately as it may impact your case and/or your case may have collateral consequences with respect to these issues.
Next, if your pending case includes a controlled dangerous substance offense and you are currently enrolled in a rehabilitation program you should obtain proof of enrollment into the program and forward it to our office prior to your next court hearing. If you are not in a program you may want to consider entering into one as it may have a positive impact on the outcome of your case and/or sentence.
Next, if your pending case includes an act of domestic violence and you have been evaluated for or you are receiving anger management therapy you should also provide proof of your participation with our office. You may also consider voluntarily seeking an anger management evaluation prior to your next Court date, which may be helpful in resolving your case. Often times, the State may be satisfied that your charges were in connection with an isolated incident unlikely to happen again if you seek and successfully complete anger management counselling.
Next, if your pending case involves a victim of any kind, you should have absolutely no contact with that victim either personally or through a third party. Contact with a victim may result in additional criminal charges and penalties. If there is a temporary or final restraining order in place this contact may result in additional penalties and/or a mandatory term of imprisonment. Therefore, you should avoid any contact until your pending matter is resolved even if the victim has expressly authorized or initiated the contact.
When you appear at your Court hearing you do not have to check in with the Municipal Prosecutor. Mr. Di Stefano will likely be in conference with the Municipal Prosecutor and/or Judge on other cases. Upon completing these conferences, he will address each matter individually. You should be aware of the fact that your case will not likely be the only matter listed for the Public Defender calendar on the date of your Court hearing. Please be patient and remain in the Court room until your name is called and you have discussed the case. If the Judge calls your case prior to your individual conference, you should enter a not guilty plea and advise him you are represented by the Public Defender. The Court will be aware of this representation and will address your case if you have not yet been formally assigned.
Finally, Adjournments/Postponements! If you have a scheduling conflict or an emergency situation it may be possible to adjourn or carry your case to a later date. However, any and all adjournment requests must be granted by the COURT! Our office has no power or authority to grant you an adjournment despite your reason or proof of same. Our office will make every attempt to accommodate your adjournment requests but can not guarantee your request will ultimately be granted by the Court.
Please be advised that adjournment requests are rarely granted the day before or the day of Court. If you have a scheduling conflict you should address the conflict immediately and well in advance of your scheduled hearing. If you are unable to attend Court for medical reasons, you will likely be required to provide documentation for the medical emergency. Please be further advised that our office can not guarantee a bench warrant will not be issued or that you will not face sanctions if you fail to appear for any Court hearing even if you have documentation or valid reasons for not attending. If a warrant is issued you will have to address the bail status directly with the Court. It is highly recommended that your keep our office apprised of your potential non-appearance so it can be properly addressed with the Court.