Maryland Criminal & Immigration Lawyer Blog

Case Summary: DUI Accident, No Jail – PBJ given

March 19, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Recently, our office represented a criminal defendant who had been charged with 8 traffic citations: driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI), driving under the influence of alcohol per se (DUI per se), driving while intoxicated by alcohol (DWI), failure to reduce speed on a curve, negligent driving of a vehicle in a careless and imprudent manner endangering property, life, and person, failure to obey designated lane directions, unsafe lane change, and failure to control vehicle speed on highway to avoid a collision in Montgomery County, MD.

Our client had caused a very serious accident on the capital beltway when his vehicle crossed the center line, striking another vehicle with such a high rate of speed that the other vehicle flipped over and came to rest on its driver’s side. Both occupants in that vehicle were injured as a result of the collision. When police arrived at the scene, a breathalyzer test was conducted and our client blew a .16 – two times the legal limit. He was facing up to one year in jail for each of the DUI citations, 60 days in jail for the DWI citation, and a total of $3,300.00 in possible fines.

When he came to our office, he was panicked, stressed, and worried not only about the severity of the citations, but also the potential immigration consequences a conviction would have. He was 38 years old, originally from Peru, and had just recently become a legal permanent resident (green card holder). He was scared to death that this one mistake would jeopardize everything he had worked so hard for.

Maryland Criminal Case About DNA Will Be Ruled On By Supreme Court

March 18, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

In April 2009, Alonzo J. King, Jr. pointed a shotgun at some people. One of them told the police and King admitted his guilt. He was arrested in Wicomico County. Police then swabbed skin cells from inside his cheek. They tested the DNA, even though he admitted his guilt in the case for which he was arrested. They entered the DNA into the Maryland DNS database and the FBI national database CODIS. His DNA was compared to evidence in unsolved crimes and matched a sexual assault case.

Charged with felony assault, he ultimately pled guilty to a misdemeanor for pointing the shotgun at the group. However, because of the DNA testing that occurred when he was only an arrestee, King was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the unsolved sexual assault. Later, CNN reported that the Maryland Court of Appeals agreed that suspects have a higher expectation of privacy than a convicted felon. The government took King’s case to Supreme Court and it was heard last month.

Courts do permit the DNA of convicted felons to be collected. Conviction means forfeiting some rights. However, Maryland and more than half of the states allow the police to collect DNA from people who have only been arrested and not convicted. This fishing expedition allows the police to look for evidence of past crimes and keep the DNA on file in case of future crimes. Continue reading

Marijuana law is being reformed in Maryland

March 17, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

Marijuana law reform is underway in Maryland. There are currently three medical marijuana proposals before the state legislature. Two of these will institute a state-run commission for research. The third bill—House Bill 302—requires the state Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to oversee the regulation of dispensaries. If it passes, patients will be allowed to grow up to six ounces and twelve plants. It also repeals the criminal provision that permits judges to fine people found to use or possess marijuana. According to the Huffington Post, the bill is now backed by Maryland’s Health Secretary Joshua Sharfstein who opposed a similar measure last year.

In addition to medical marijuana reform, ordinary marijuana possession laws have recently changed. Governor Martin O’Mally signed two new laws relating to marijuana in 2012. On October 1, 2012, the maximum penalty for simple marijuana possession of 10 grams or less was reduced to 90 days in jail and a $500 fine. On January 2nd, 2013, a new law took effect that requires that people charged with certain nonviolent criminal offenses, like marijuana possession, face only a citation, rather than jail time.

On top of all these reforms, there’s a new bill on recreational marijuana use as well. House Bill 1453, if passed, would legalize up to 1 oz. of raw cannabis, 5 grams of hash, and 3 marijuana plants for adults. Continue reading

Maryland Judges May Condition Probation On No Contact With Domestic Violence Victims Even Against Victims’ Wishes

March 14, 2013 | by Anthony A. Fatemi, LLC

The Court of Special Appeals in Maryland recently considered an interesting question of criminal law: whether a trial judge may condition probation on no direct contact between a defendant and his victim, even when the two are married and want to be together.

Lambert v. State arose in 2009, when James Lambert and his wife were arguing over a lockbox. Lambert pushed his wife and she fell down stairs hurting her head and abdomen. According to Lambert, he was just pushing her away from the lockbox and didn’t intend for his wife to fall. However, he pled guilty to second-degree assault and at his sentencing hearing admitted several prior assaults on his wife.

The wife didn’t show up at the hearing, but did write a letter saying she wasn’t afraid of Mr. Lambert and wanted to go to counseling and reconcile with him. The trial judge sentenced Mr. Lambert to three years of confinement. This confinement was suspended while he remained on three years of supervised probation. Noting a pattern of assault between the two that he had seen in a case in his own career as an attorney, the trial judge conditioned probation on the defendant having “no contact” with his wife during probation. Continue reading