Escaping the Law: Everything You Need to Know About New Jersey’s Escape Statute

Getting arrested or locked up is no fun for anyone. Being deprived of your freedom feels unfair, especially when you know you’re innocent! Still, the law says you gotta stay put until the system lets you out. If you take off on your own, you could be charged with escape under New Jersey statute 2C:29-5.

I know, I know – it sounds crazy that they can charge you just for leaving somewhere you don’t wanna be. But them’s the breaks in Jersey. This law makes it illegal to slip away from any kind of official detention without permission. Let’s break it down so you know what to expect if you ever get the urge to fly the coop.

The Basics: Don’t Split Without Saying Goodbye

The escape law here is pretty broad. It applies any time someone “removes himself from official detention or fails to return to official detention” without authorization.

“Official detention” includes being:

• Behind bars in prison or jail
• Under house arrest
• In a juvenile detention facility
• In custody during a court proceeding
• Detained by the police or court order
• On probation or parole

So anytime you’re supposed to be someplace as part of a legal proceeding or sentence and you leave without permission, you could be charged with escape.

There’s no need to go all Shawshank Redemption, either. Just walking away from a courtroom or your probation officer’s office could count. And it doesn’t matter whether you broke out or just didn’t come back from an approved break – both are illegal.

What’s the Punishment?

A standard escape conviction under 2C:29-5 is a third degree crime in New Jersey. That means you’re looking at:

• 3-5 years in prison
• Up to $15,000 in fines

Not fun. It gets worse if you use force or violence when escaping, like assaulting a guard. Then it becomes a second degree crime with stiffer penalties:

• 5-10 years behind bars
• Fines up to $150,000

The moral is, don’t make things worse by hurting anyone or threatening them to get away. The escape itself will land you in enough hot water!

When Can You Claim Self-Defense?

There are limited cases where you can argue escaping was necessary for self-defense or to prevent harm. If you can show the conditions you were detained in were abusive and you had to flee to protect yourself, the court might let you off.

But don’t get your hopes up – the bar is really high here. Just saying it was a crappy situation probably won’t cut it. You need evidence of serious violations that gave you no choice but to run.

Even then, the escape has to be proportional. So you can’t assault guards or commit other crimes in the process – that kinda defeats the self-defense claim. Basically, slipping out to save yourself might fly. Busting out in a blaze of glory won’t.

When Detention Is Straight-Up Illegal

Okay, so what if the cops or court never had the right to detain you at all? Surely it’s not escape if the detention was bogus from the start?

In a fair world, you’d be right. But Jersey’s law is less forgiving. If your detention was illegal, that can be a defense against an escape charge, but only if:

• There was serious misconduct or rights violations by whoever detained you; AND
• You didn’t use force or harm anyone while escaping

See what they did there? The law still treats escape as a crime even if your detention was unlawful. Talk about an uphill battle…

But it’s not impossible. If you can show the court how your confinement violated the rules and you slipped away peacefully, you might have a shot. Just don’t go in guns blazing – that’ll tank your whole argument.

Bottom Line: Don’t Try Your Luck

I know it seems crazy you can be charged with escape even if they had no right to hold you. But before you pull a fast one, think hard about whether it’s worth the risk. Odds are you’ll just end up with more legal trouble than when you started.

The prosecutors and judges tend to take a dim view of escape attempts even if you have a decent defense. And anything violent will demolish your case quick.

So do yourself a favor – be patient, work through the proper channels, and let your lawyer handle it. Resist the urge to go rogue. I know it’s hard when your freedom’s at stake. But escaping the law usually just leads to more time behind bars.

Let me know if you have any other questions! I’m always happy to chat about the law in plain English. Stay safe out there.