College Student Caught With Drugs and Paraphernalia After a Traffic Stop

My question involves criminal law for the state of: New Jersey

My girlfriend and I were on our way from PA to NY traveling through Northern New Jersey. We were stopped in Morris County for speeding where the officer observed marijuana in plain sight. We denied ownership and were arrested on the spot for possession of marijuana under 50 grams, 2C:35-10A (4), and possession of a pipe, 2C:36-2. This would be our first offense. She is a recent college grad who just started her professional career. I am a graduating senior in the process of applying to law school. Is there anyway to get these charges dismissed? My girlfriend will be fired if this shows up on her record and I believe this will hinder my chances of being accepted into law school. Thank you in advance for your help.

What makes you think you need to accept ownership? Ownership has squat to do with possession. "That's not mine" is not a defense.
A criminal conviction will make it very hard to pass the bar and any sane law school will not enroll a student who can't qualify (though some of the private student-loan exploiting places may very well happily take your money for a useless degree).

Frankly, if you have any illusion of becoming a lawyer you should have known two things by now:

1. DON'T COMMIT CRIMES.
2. IF CHARGED, GET A LAWYER.

Your lawyer can work the best prospects for you. Since both the possession under 50 and paraphernalia are DP offenses, there's no PTI available. Your best bet is likely a conditional discharge. What happens there is that you will be essentially a period of probation in which your case is held in abeyance. Typical is a year, but it will never be longer than three years. If you keep your nose clean, you'll not have a conviction on your record at the end of it. You can even have the arrest itself expunged after time. Of course, if you have been previously convicted of a crime (and conveniently forgot to mention that), that may not be on the table.

Call a lawyer, in the county you were arrested in.

Those darn Leprechauns. Sneak out from under bridges and do the strangest things.

For first offense simple possession of marijuana, you should see if you qualify for a deferral; if you get a deferral and successfully complete probation you'll avoid a conviction.

It's called a "conditional discharge" in this case. No PTI in this case.