Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyers

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Second Degree Assault for Threatening with Sword

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A Maryland man was sentenced to 18 months in jail on a second degree assault charge, after threatening a group of people with a sword.

Via the Herald-Mail and washingtonpost.com, This strange story is the result of a heroin drug problem. The defendant was supposedly high on heroin at the time of the assault, and the rational for the assault was an attempt to collect money from a previous drug sale.
The man brought the sword thinking the men at the house were armed with guns.
Clearly, this was not a well thought out plan.
A significant jail term is unusual with assault and battery charges where ultimately no one was injured, but certainly the unusual circumstances, the drug abuse, and the potential for severe injury, it is not completely surprising.
Under Maryland law, the maximum penalty for second degree assault is 10 years in prison.

Maryland Man Almost Serves 14 Additional Unwarranted Years in Prison

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Just how much can one clerical error cost? Well, for one man in Maryland, a simple error nearly cost him 14 years of his life. One entry into the state’s criminal records database meant the difference between 6 years and 20 years behind bars.
According to the Baltimore Sun, the man didn’t have a clean record when he faced federal weapons charges in 2006 but he didn’t have the kind of record that officials thought he did.
The problem arose when a charge he faced in 2000 was entered into the system as a conviction. It would have been his third felony distribution charge for the man and would have qualified him for a enhanced sentence for the federal weapons charge. And because that’s the way it was entered in the system, he was sentenced to 235 months in the federal prison system as opposed to the 77 he should’ve faced.
Under federal laws, the third conviction would have deemed him a career criminal, the type of person the courts want to keep off the streets. But this particular defendant knew he was right and knew he wasn’t convicted in the 2000 drug distribution case. So he fought.
He filed appeal after appeal and even petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case. They rejected him and Appeals Courts upheld the sentence. He finally petitioned to have his sentence corrected.
The burden was on the defendant to prove to the courts that he had never received that 2000 conviction despite what their computer system showed. He had the paperwork to back his claims and won. The defendant was recently resentenced in a rare case of a clerical error with nearly disastrous effects.
The Court’s skepticism for this man’s claims is no doubt based on hearing numerous baseless appeals every single year. And according to the Sun, the Maryland U.S. Attorney stated this was the first case that he had personally heard of where the information within the state clerk‘s records were incorrect.
When you face criminal charges, this is the exact kind of thing that can put undue stress on you. It’s bad enough to be looking at a lengthy prison sentence or even a few months in jail. But, when you have to worry about whether or not everyone involved in your case is doing their job, it becomes nearly unmanageable.
If you are facing criminal charges and in need of an advocate on your side, call our offices today. We will give you a free consultation on your case and some valuable legal advice.

Ten Baltimore Residents Face Serious Drug Charges

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The Baltimore Sun is reporting several raids this week in the Northeast Four-by-Four neighborhood. Eight locations and 150 officers led to 10 people being indicted on federal drug charges. This area has apparently been overrun with drugs and violence over the past several years.
The raids included federal and local officials interested in cleaning up the neighborhood and the “clandestine operation” controlling the drug trade there. The alleged ringleader of the operation is said to have a violent past including several previous convictions for assault and drugs and being a suspect in four unsolved murder cases.
Weapons and drugs, officials say, were kept in the homes of neighbors and conspirators in the neighborhood and even around the homes. Although this investigation was led by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and has resulted in charges that will be addressed in federal court, the suspects could just as easily be facing state criminal charges.
A single charge of possession with intent to distribute a Schedule I drug like cocaine or heroin can result in up to 20 years in prison. If this isn’t your first offense, you will likely be mandated to spend a minimum of 2 years behind bars, regardless of the drug in question.
If the charge you are facing is a drug possession charge rather than a distribution charge, the penalties you may be up against are a little less severe. Posession of cocaine carries a maximum sentence of 4 years in prison.
If, however, this is your first charge there’s a good chance you won’t serve any time at all. Depending on the facts of the case, you may be eligible to serve probation instead. This is based on your criminal history, your charges, and the likelihood of you succeeding on probation.
The bottomline is, you don’t have to be involved in a gang or a huge drug operation to face serious charges. Charges like possession and even possession with intent to distribute can be levied even against recreational drug users. Knowing just how to handle these charges in a court of law, however, is the business of your attorney.
If you are facing drug charges and unsure of your options or what kind of time you may be facing, call me today. I can give you a free consultation on your case and provide some valuable legal advice.