Controlled Dangerous Substances (CDS)

Speedy Trial in the District Court of Maryland – Discussion by Baltimore Maryland Attorney

July 10, 2008 | Brian G. Thompson

An Aggressive Maryland Criminal Attorney will always review all criminal cases for Constitutional Violations such as Speedy Trial, Illegal Search and Seizure, Illegal Confessions in violation of a person’s Miranda Rights and, Illegal Traffic Stops. I have a case scheduled for next week in the District Court of Maryland for Baltimore City at the North Avenue location that involves a significant Speedy Trial issue that I believe will result in the dismissal of all charges.

The client allegedly had a domestic violence incident involving his girlfriend at the time, way back in March of 2006. The ex-girlfriend went to the court commissioner and swore out a warrant against him alleging that he had assaulted her in the second degree and repeatedly harassed her and committed telephone misuse by repeatedly calling her with the intent to harass her. The warrant was issued that day but there was apparently never any attempt to serve this warrant on my client until April of this year, over two years after the warrant was issued. This obviously puts the issue of Speedy Trial in play. Speedy Trial is an issue that comes up often in serious felony cases in the Circuit Court, particularly in Baltimore City. In felony cases that are charged in Circuit Court, either by way of indictment or criminal information, Speedy Trial commences upon the filing of that formal charge, not when the original warrant is issued. That is because the original warrant in the majority of circuit court cases is issued by way of a District Court charging document, known as a Statement of Charges, a charging document upon which the defendant cannot be tried.
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Illegal Search and Seizure and other Constitutional violations leading to Suppression of Evidence under Maryland Law

June 23, 2008 | Brian G. Thompson

Maryland Criminal Attorney – Maryland Criminal Lawyer – Baltimore Criminal Attorney – Baltimore Criminal Lawyer In all criminal cases there are basically two types of defenses: legal defenses and factual defenses. Legal defenses are common in possession with the intent to distribute narcotics cases, rape, robbery, murder and burglary cases, as well as driving under the influence (DUI) and domestic violence cases. To determine whether a legal defense exists in a particular case an aggressive criminal attorney will typically ask several questions of the defendant such as: Were you read your Miranda Rights prior to giving the police a statement? Did the police show you a search warrant and leave you a copy of same? Did you consent to the search of your home, car or person? These questions will help an aggressive criminal attorney begin his investigation into whether the police violated the client’s rights either by conducting an illegal search or illegally obtaining a statement.
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Baltimore Drug Cases-Common Themes

June 10, 2008 | Steven D. Silverman

Having been an active Baltimore criminal defense lawyer for 18 years, I have represented over 4000 criminal defendants charged with felony drug (CDS) crimes in Baltimore City Circuit Court. I have come to realize that the vast majority of drug cases in Baltimore fall into three categories: 1) hand-to-hand, 2) dropsy, and 3) search and seizure.
Hand-to-hand cases involve the Baltimore police observing a drug transaction between two or more criminal defendants. When defending these cases, experienced criminal defense lawyers look to see if the alleged seller has any drugs or money on his person. Also, if the “buyer” is not arrested, Baltimore city jurors are very skeptical that a crime has been committed.
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