Hire an Exceptional Criminal Defense Attorney

Drug offenses are fascinating crimes for criminal defense lawyers, because they almost always involve questions of search and seizure, the US Constitution and the Pennsylvania Constitution. These cases are also often heartbreaking as the person alleged to have committed the drug crime may be an addict. For these people, incarceration is wrong; treatment is the better path.

The most serious drug offenses involve dealing drugs. Presently, opioids, such as many prescription drugs and heroin, are the most commonly abused drugs. Dealing in these drugs is a very serious matter because: the sentencing guidelines disfavor dealing of these drugs, the country is dealing with an “epidemic” of opioid abuse, and too many people know someone that died from an overdose. Accordingly, drug delivery cases involving opioids cause the greatest risk of lengthy incarceration, with the length of the sentence generally dependent on how much drugs were at issue.

Typically, drug dealing cases involve a person selling (or even giving) drugs to an informant, growing or manufacturing drugs (i.e., making meth or growing marijuana), or possessing so much of a drug that it can be inferred that the drug was to be sold.

Defending Drug Cases

ALL of these cases can be defended, especially the last type of case. As a former District Attorney, I know well how the Commonwealth attempts to build a case alleging an intention to distribute drugs based on the quantity of the drug and other factors, such as the presence of scales, empty baggies, etc.

Drug possession is also a crime, a misdemeanor. Typically drug possession cases don’t result in jail time (unless the person has had many, many prior convictions), but they DO cause substantial trouble because conviction of a drug possession offense – even possession of marijuana – will trigger a loss of license for at least 6 months (even if there was no vehicle involved in the case).

Most drug possession cases turn on questions of police conduct: could the police search the area where drugs were found? These issues change constantly, as the law frequently evolves with new appellate court opinions.

Any criminal attorney defending your case must be alert to recent changes in the law and must know, or anticipate, what the Commonwealth will argue in its case. And, along with fighting a vigorous defense, if a person is charged with drug delivery or possession, and if they are an addict, it is important to get that person help immediately. Many times, a life depends on it.

Drug cases are to forfeitures as viruses are to fevers: a virus causes a fever and a drug case will almost always cause a forfeiture. So, what is a forfeiture?

In drug cases, usually drug dealing cases, the Commonwealth will attempt to use various laws to obtain title or ownership to the property used in the illegal activities. For example, if Tom Logan is selling heroin bags from his BMW and the police catch him in the act of doing it, then the Commonwealth can seize his BMW and attempt to get title to it by filing a forfeiture petition. And, if Mr. Logan has $4,000 in cash on him, in small bills, they will also try to get that too.

What’s to be done? Well, the law does allow some defenses to a forfeiture action. For example, what if Mr. Logan were using his brother’s BMW in the example above, and the brother knew NOTHING about the drug activities. In that case, the brother can assert an “innocent owner” defense and the BMW stays in the Logan family.

Or, consider the cash Mr. Logan is in possession of. What if it can be shown that Mr. Logan had just received an IRS refund check, cashed part of it, and withdrew the remainder 2 hours beforehand, all in small bills? In that instance, the Commonwealth cannot prove that the money came from drug sales. Instead it came from the U.S. Treasury as a tax refund.

There are other instances where a forfeiture can be resisted, but they are too many to list here. And there is other property that the government can try to get by forfeiture, particularly houses. In those instances, much work must be done to try to avoid a loss of the home.

How do you know property you have is subject to forfeiture?

You will get a notice in the mail. These notices look strange and sometimes say: “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. $4,000 U.S. Currency”. The reason for the strange notice is complicated, too much for this space. But IMPORTANT DEADLINES TO RESPOND TO THE NOTICE APPLY. FAILURE TO RESPOND TO THE NOTICE IN A TIMELY FASHION CAN CAUSE ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES.

What should you do when you get a forfeiture notice? Contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Bucks County, PA, especially if you have any interest in keeping the property.

Theft is as old as people. Everyone knows it means taking something that does not belong to you. Some thefts are more complex than others, and the law recognizes that by making distinctions between theft by extortion, theft by deception, theft by unlawful taking, etc.

The crime that immediately follows any theft is receiving stolen property. This happens when one receives, retains, possesses or disposes of property that one knows or should know is stolen. Not surprising, theft and receiving stolen property are typically charged together.

Variations of Theft

Though a simple crime, theft is fascinating because of how many different variations exist, as well as how muddy the waters can become between a theft and no theft. For example, no theft occurs when a person gives you permission to take their phone. A theft only happens when there is no permission. Between these extremes are instances of mistake as to permission, uncertainty as to permission, a time when a person previously was permitted to use the item and assumed that permission was continuous, etc. If there is doubt that there was no permission given, there is no crime of theft or receiving stolen property.

Also important in theft cases is the value of what is taken. This will affect whether the crime is graded as a felony or a misdemeanor. Another important consideration in theft cases is whether a person can make restitution. This can be critical in cases that cannot be won but where a good negotiated result can happen.

Qualified Criminal Defense Attorney – Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Theft is a crime everyone knows. There is a stigma associated with being a thief. Mindful of that, a good criminal defense attorney will try to steer a theft case to the much less stigmatizing receiving stolen property, or try to get the charges reduced so that they can eventually be sealed from public record.

As a District Attorney, Mr. Logan was assigned to the arson and economic crime unit. He knows these cases very well and is perfectly at home going through many pages of bank records, payroll deposits, and the like to defend a case. It’s hard work going through paperwork and putting a defense together; but with a client’s freedom at stake, nothing less should be tolerated.

When I was a District Attorney, I spent a great deal of my time prosecuting employee thefts. In fact, it became so routine that I would have at least ten cases going on at any given time.

Employee thefts or thefts from people that are in a close relationship to the alleged victim are commonplace. Typically, they are motivated by financial distress, alcohol or substance abuse, or gambling. Most attorneys despise these cases because they involve large piles of documents – bank and credit card statements, cancelled checks, powers of attorney, employment agreements, and the like. So distasteful are these cases, in fact, that only certain detectives in each police department investigate them and only certain District Attorneys prosecute them.

Defending these cases is just as specialized a matter as prosecuting them. It takes a lot of time to go through the documents assembled by the prosecution and it takes careful examination of them to defend a case. And, if a case cannot be defended, there are important sentencing strategies to use to minimize time in prison. Only experienced criminal defense lawyers should handle these cases; a clumsy and inexperienced attorney will not be aware of what course of action should be followed to obtain a best outcome for a client.

In Pennsylvania, a criminal case is usually started with the filing of a Criminal Complaint by the police. For serious crimes, an arrest warrant is issued and the person must be detained, processed, and then see a judge for bail to be set. If bail cannot be posted, the person will stay in jail until the bail can be reduced or the case ends. If bail can be posted, the person remains free during the course of their case. For less serious crimes, a police officer will file the complaint and a summons directing the person charged to appear for court. Meantime, the person will be ordered to appear at a local police station for processing (photographing and fingerprinting).

Except in Philadelphia, complaints are filed in District Courts that are peppered all over a county. The District Court exists to set initial bail and also to hold Preliminary Hearings. At a Preliminary Hearing, the Commonwealth is required to prove to the satisfaction of a judge that more likely than not a crime occurred and the accused is the person that did it. The burden of proof at such hearings is very low. Guilt or innocence is NOT decided at this hearing, and the judge of the District Court cannot accept guilty pleas. Instead, the sole decision of the judge of the District Court is whether the Commonwealth has enough evidence to send the case to the higher court, the Court of Common Pleas.

Court of Common Pleas

Every county in Pennsylvania has a Court of Common Pleas. Criminal cases are generally assigned to a judge, except in Bucks County, which has its own unique system. The judge will schedule the case for a Pre-Trial Conference and then for trial. Meantime, the District Attorney will provide to the attorney for the accused a copy of the police reports, criminal histories, witness statements, and videos of traffic stops.

The case may resolve with a guilty plea or with a trial. A trial may be to a jury or a judge. In a trial to a judge – called a waiver trial – the judge decides guilt or innocence, the same as a jury. If a person is acquitted, they are discharged and may seek expungement of all records concerning the matter. If a person is convicted of an offense, then they stand for sentencing.

All along this process are myriad issues: the 5-day rule, unconstitutional behavior by police, DA misconduct, self-defense or justification issues, speedy trial rights, and so much more.

It is impossible to explain EVERY issue that arises or can arise in a case. In my experience as a District Attorney and an attorney for criminal defense, what separates a bad, good, and great attorney is being able to spot issues or weaknesses in the Commonwealth’s case, how and when to exploit those weaknesses, and, if there are no weaknesses and the case must be a guilty plea, giving good advice prior to sentencing about completing drug or alcohol treatment, mental health treatment, and the like.