Abington Township Criminal Defense Lawyer
Being charged with a criminal offense in Pennsylvania is a heavy burden. The penalties in Pennsylvania for crimes are among the highest in the nation because Pennsylvania doesn’t follow the Federal model penal code. In addition, Pennsylvania is a commonwealth state that pools together its state tax income and evenly distributes it throughout the state. This means that you are not facing laxer regulations and treatment in one cash-strapped country as opposed to a wealthy area with endless resources to prosecute petty infractions.
The fear of being prosecuted for a crime in Pennsylvania is also due to its massive prison system. Pennsylvania has prisons and bed space to fill up all over the state. They have plenty of room to hold new offenders for months, years, or a lifetime and don’t mind writing the orders to do so. Furthermore, you will find that justice is elusive in Pennsylvania because the courts are flooded with legal actions from the high volume of prisoners and their excessive procedural rules.
In most state, you will find that various court actions are governed by just a few rules. In Pennsylvania, you will find that there are entire chapters of rules, statutes, and arcane case-law rulings that altogether make it impossible to maintain any legal defense theory without facing endless loopholes. The law in Pennsylvania is intentionally kept subjective to allow judges to decide however they would like, in each case, with impunity.
The only surefire way to beat the Pennsylvania prosecutors is to hire the best criminal defense attorneys that you can find. It takes years of research and practice to figure out what works and to build a defense against criminal charges. Pennsylvania makes any offense serious by the very nature of their Draconian sentencing guidelines. And because Pennsylvania prisons are full of serial killers and other unscrupulous characters, you don’t want to spend any time in a state prison or county jail.
Abington Township Traffic Citations and DUI
Even DUI and traffic violations can land you in a county jail or a state prison. As appalling as it may seem, even a first-time offense can land you in prison for five years. The legal limit has also been lowered down to 0.08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC). And because so much of the case is built upon the testimony of police officers, they can allege that you were swerving, had slurred speech, and operating the vehicle in a patently dangerous manner to trump up the charges.
You will also be forced to take mandatory rehabilitation classes and will likely have to pay some steep fines. Only a top-notch defense attorney with extensive experience in these types of cases can help you to mitigate the penalties and eliminate trumped-up charges.
Felonious and Misdemeanor Conduct
Being charged with a misdemeanor in Pennsylvania is like being charged with a felony in other states. The sentencing guidelines for a misdemeanor match those for most felony charges. And Pennsylvania is famous for overlapping charges and creating multiple infractions for the same episode by arguing that each has a unique element. By creating multiple elements to what is essentially the same charge, they can make theft another felony if it is also theft using a computer.
You cannot rely on inexperienced attorneys to handle criminal charges. You are the one who pays the consequences if they are overworked with a heavy caseload and negligent. Only the best attorneys will spend time with you and help you to examine the full range of defenses and mitigations available to you. It takes attorneys a long time before they can develop a working knowledge of the contours of many laws and defenses. If you don’t hire the right attorney, it can mean the difference between probation and 36 years in a Pennsylvania state prison.
Contact us to see how we can help you. We feel confident that we can formulate you the best defense because our law firm has such extensive experience. We know the seriousness of the offenses and how to highlight all the factors in your favor to dismiss or deflate charges.