Criminal Defense
It is easier than most people think to end up accused of a crime. Maybe after a night out you were sleeping it off in your car to avoid driving drunk (this is called physical control and law enforcement can use it to charge you with a DWI even if you never even turned the engine on while drunk). Or you happened to be riding in a car with someone who had weed or pills in their backpack (this is called constructive possession and law enforcement can use it to charge every single person in the vehicle for possession of the same drugs). Maybe you got pulled over 37 days after moving to a new town and the DMV hadn’t had an appointment available soon enough to get your car registered yet. And all of these assume you actually did something technically illegal.
Between the picky, easily broken rules which don’t line up with normal people’s social expectations, the ever-present threat of being misidentified as the perpetrator of someone else’s crime, and the harshness with which the law treats people accused of crimes, most people are a lot closer to having their lives turned upside down than they think. The paper prisons initiative’s 50 state study reported a conviction rate of 87% for Pennsylvania. That means that when a case like this is brought against you, the power is overwhelmingly concentrated in the prosecutor’s hands.
I have seen every version of these cases there is to see, from minor, technical misdemeanors to major life-altering felonies. I have learned to negotiate with prosecutors in ways they understand and respect, and to fight these cases well when fighting them is needed. Unlike personal injury work, where I am paid a percentage of what I win, I handle criminal cases on a flat fee basis. You will exit your first meeting with me knowing exactly what you are going to pay for my services if we negotiate a plead before trial, and exactly how much more it will cost if we have to go to trial. I will use every strategy and technique I know to give you the best chance possible at the best outcome available in your case. Because criminal cases require much more frequent in-person court appearances than civil cases, I restrict my criminal defense practice to Centre County, Pennsylvania and the neighboring counties (Blair, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Mifflin, and Union). If my services are not available in your area, I may be able to help you find someone I would trust with my own case who is.
