Attorney Thomas Huth brings with him more than 30 years of criminal law experience as a former New Jersey county prosecutor to his aggressive criminal defense practice at the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall. As a skilled Essex County criminal defense lawyer and Monmouth County DWI attorney, Mr. Huth leverages his insider knowledge of how prosecutors think to protect client rights and defend against serious charges.

Before joining the Marshall law firm in 2018, Mr. Huth devoted his entire career to N.J. criminal law as a prosecutor in Essex and Monmouth counties. In addition to trying hundreds of criminal cases to verdict, he has also held top supervisory and administrative positions in both offices, training and mentoring and developing longstanding relationships with many prosecutors in those offices. This both sides experience gives him unique insight into prosecution strategies, enabling him to challenge evidence, negotiate favorable plea bargains, and litigate complex cases with proven success.

Growing up in Essex County, Mr. Huth knew from an early age that he wanted to be a trial lawyer. He studied history and political science at the University of Connecticut and received his undergraduate degree in 1983. That fall, he enrolled at Seton Hall Law School. After receiving his J.D. there in 1986, Mr. Huth completed a prestigious judicial clerkship, clerking for Essex County Superior Court Judge Charles E. Villanueva for a year before joining the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. Admitted to practice in New Jersey in 1987, he is a licensed and qualified attorney with decades of courtroom experience.

Initially, he worked in the office’s juvenile section and then moved to the adult trial section before joining the homicide squad in 1993. For the next six years he focused on homicide cases, many of them involving high-profile crimes. As a homicide specialist, he handled complex felony prosecutions including manslaughter and fatal accident investigations.

One of his most noteworthy cases from this period, State of New Jersey v. Alberto Scabone, resulted in the conviction, following extradition from Uruguay, of a man charged with committing a triple murder 12 years earlier. After an Essex County jury returned its verdict, the judge sentenced Mr. Scabone to an aggregate of 80 years in prison for murdering his wife, mother-in-law and sister-in-law.

In all, Mr. Huth tried more than 20 homicide cases to verdict while in the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office. His trial-tested abilities include witness cross-examination, evidence presentation, and jury trial advocacy—skills he now uses to defend clients and pursue acquittals.

In 1998, Mr. Huth and his family moved to Monmouth County and he began working in the prosecutor’s office there. He joined the Adult Trial Section and again had numerous high-profile cases. In one of them, State of New Jersey v. Eldridge, the defendant was found guilty of two counts of vehicular homicide for driving while intoxicated and crashing her car into a tree. This experience prosecuting DWI and drunk driving cases gives him critical insight into breathalyzer procedures, field sobriety test administration, and DUI defense strategies—knowledge he now uses to represent people accused of DWI and challenge prosecution evidence.

In time, Mr. Huth was promoted to an administrative post as head of the office’s Special Operations Bureau, which has jurisdiction over all Monmouth County police officers. In that position, he oversaw all internal-affairs matters involving police officers. His leadership in investigating arrest procedures and police conduct provides valuable perspective when filing motions to suppress evidence obtained through improper investigation.

In 2007, Mr. Huth was promoted to head the Asbury Park satellite office, a trial and investigative unit responsible for all cases out of Asbury Park. While there, Mr. Huth became deeply involved in the community in 2011 as founder and co-chair of the Asbury Park Community Development Initiative, a coalition of law enforcement, faith-based organizations, and educational and nonprofit entities located in the greater Asbury Park area. As a local attorney with deep community ties, he understands the concerns of families facing criminal charges and the importance of protecting reputation and career.

The purpose of the coalition was to better coordinate services to the community by creating a large umbrella that would focus on effective communication among member organizations to avoid or reduce duplication of services.

Meanwhile, within the prosecutor’s office, Mr. Huth was promoted to director of the Major Crimes Bureau in 2013. With decades of criminal trial experience, he became the office’s Senior Litigation Counsel, retiring in 2015. Afterward, Mr. Huth took on new challenges and accepted an invitation to join the New Jersey Governor’s Office, as an assistant chief counsel providing oversight of the state’s independent authorities for a time.

In joining the Law Offices of Jonathan Marshall in 2018, Mr. Huth is again taking on a new role.

“I’ve spent my entire career involved in criminal litigation,” he says, “and based upon my vast trial and investigative experience, it was a natural progression for me to continue my work in this area on the defense side. I like to engage with people and I like to help them in their time of need, whether they are crime victims or accused of crimes. I understand the fear of ‘Will I go to jail?’ and concerns about employment consequences, professional license impact, and background check concerns. My goal is to provide personalized representation, explain the legal process clearly, and help clients understand what to expect at every stage—from arrest and arraignment through bail hearings, discovery, motion practice, and trial or plea negotiations.”

Mr. Huth’s practice is focused primarily on Superior Court matters including criminal charges related to homicides, auto fatalities, robberies, white-collar defense, sexual assault, and narcotics. He also handles DWI cases, drug charges, theft, fraud, embezzlement, and misdemeanor offenses. Whether you’re a first-time offender or repeat offender facing felony charges, Mr. Huth provides zealous and compassionate legal representation. He will use his extensive experience as a prosecutor and criminal litigation experience to advocate on behalf of clients who are facing serious charges. His former prosecutor advantage means he knows how prosecutors think, knows local judges and their tendencies, and has court familiarity that enables him to seek case dismissal, pursue charge reduction, advocate for probation instead of jail, negotiate reduced sentences, and work to avoid conviction while minimizing penalties. His track record includes successful defense outcomes, not guilty verdicts, and helping clients protect their future.