Harassing/Trespassing Neighbor Filed Charges Against Me

[ellpell]

My question involves criminal law for the state of: NJ

I am at my wits end and need some guidance. Due to a falling out about 2 years ago, we do not speak with our neighbors on the one side of us. These neighbors have always been noisy, rude and slobs. Keep trucks without wheels up on blocks in their driveway and various other pieces of garbage in their front and back yards.

My problem is this - they have two little shitzu dogs that are allowed to roam free in their unfenced front yard. People walking past their house have to cross the street in order to avoid having these dogs yapping all up in their face. I was expecting a UPS delivery one day and when the truck pulled up in front of my house, I walked out to meet the driver. This woman starts walking across my front lawn, with her two dogs behind her to speak to the driver. Once the dogs saw me coming out of the house, they ran towards me and up on my porch. They jumped up on my front door and were barking at my dogs through the glass. I told her to get her <expletive> dogs off of my property or I would get a broom to shoo them away. She responded by telling me they aren't bothering anybody and that she would call the cops on me if I came near her dogs with a broom. Told her again to get them off and she told me to <expletive> off and walked back to her house.

Fast forward to later that afternoon, she called my husband at work, all drunk. She left a rambling voicemail, telling him that she won't stand for my behavior and that she's gotta do what she's gotta do but she still 'loves' him.

About a week later, I received a citation for harassment, with the purpose being to annoy and alarm. I never filed counter charges and went to court on the date provided. The judge recommended that we participate in mediation, which we both agreed to. We've also installed a 6 ft privacy fence between our house and theirs in order to end their constant garbage on our property, as well as limiting the contact.

Here is my dilemna - the mediation is in approximately 2 weeks and this woman will not stop harassing me. No contact is initiated by me or my husband, yet she continues to text me with harassing messages, telling my son things to tell me, and now accusing me of stalking her because I drove past her in the neighborhood while she was walking her dogs.

I feel like a sitting duck, since I know that if the mediation is not successful, we will go back to court and I am the only one with pending charges. I'm now so stressed out about this constant badgering by her that I also made an appointment with an attorney for this week.

Sorry for the long post, I really do hope someone can give me some guidance on whether this woman even has a leg to stand on, considering it is she that is the harasser.

[viol8te]

You have pending charges, but you also have correspondence from her of an antogonistic nature. Keep your voicemails and text messages. Take pictures of her free roaming nuisances(dogs.) Prove your case in court. And stop talking to the lady! If her dogs intrude on your property, politely request that she curbs her dogs. Don't swear at her. Document everything!

[ellpell]

Thanks for the quick response.....haven't responded at all to anything she has texted, etc. That's my point, the more I don't respond, the more aggressive she gets. Also, the voicemail is gone, it was deleted when my husband's workplace upgraded their phone system. The texts I do have, though. I'm assuming too much time has gone by for me to press counter charges (?) and would that only appear that I am doing it to retaliate against her for the ones that she filed against me?

[viol8te]

Yes. My experience is that each time the defendant tries to press counter charges, they have been shut down. To you benefit she's been amping up her aggression. Maintain your temper and continue to document everything. That way, when you go to court, you have ample evidence to support your position.