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Maryland Criminal Law Questions & Answers
1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: If a warrant was issued for an arrest, do the police have to provide you with the warrant and/or inform you why you're a

If a warrant was issued for an arrest, do the police have to provide you with the warrant and/or inform you why you're arrested

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Aug 7, 2019

Once they serve you with the warrant, you’ll receive a copy of the warrant and statement of charges (or indictment if charged that way). That will tell you all you need to know. If you know a warrant has been issued for you, hire counsel now. They can call to find out the details and arrange a... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law and Traffic Tickets for Maryland on
Q: If a person's license has been suspended due to an unpaid fine and the person is pulled over can they be arrested?

Essentially my question is, is driving with a suspended an arrestable offense if the drivers license is suspended due to an unpaid fine?

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Aug 5, 2019

Not if the officer correctly identifies the reason for the suspension. Suspended for unpaid tickets is not a jailable offense. However, they don’t always confirm the correct reason, and if you’re cited for the more serious version, you could be arrested (although ordinarily you’d just be... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation and Civil Rights for Maryland on
Q: If I was detained for 8 months for a crime I didn’t do, do I have a lawsuit chance?
Gary Kollin
Gary Kollin
answered on Jul 30, 2019

Was there probable cause for your arrest? If so, regardless of outcome, you generally do not.

However, are you simply going to rely on an answer here?

Of course not. So why have you not been contacting attorneys directly?

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law and Communications Law for Maryland on
Q: Can my boyfriend's parents put a restraining order against me for dating there son a being gay

There really homophobic and i never did a thing to them

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jul 20, 2019

Unless you’re 4 or more years older than your boyfriend, and he’s 15 or younger, then no, they cannot get a restraining order under the law.

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law and Domestic Violence for Maryland on
Q: family member currently in custody 90 days now for a violation of parole & probation. how can we get a writ served?

this violation is based on a new arrest. The probation warrant came from judge in PG County & his current lawyer isn't much help at all.

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jul 13, 2019

He is as on parole and probation as well? If he was on parole (early conditional release from a prison sentence) and he was re-arrested on a new charge, parole is automatically revoked and he returns to prison to serve his existing sentence. Release on bond in that situation is rare. Even if he was... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Civil Litigation and Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: My friends and I pulled into our hotel in ocean city Maryland, and without even having any of our alcohol in sight, a...

cop approached us as we were outside of the van, first asking how old we all were, and then claimed that she knows we have alcohol in the vehicle. She stated that we could make it easy and just get the alcohol out and dump it, or that they could take a different route. My friend driving the van is... View More

Cedulie Renee Laumann
Cedulie Renee Laumann
answered on Jul 12, 2019

The post states that the 6 underage people (all of whom were under 21 and some of whom were under 18) actually had alcohol, though seems to think there was "no possible way" an officer could have known. Perhaps this doesn't give the officer enough credit. The post does not seem... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: I e been charged with unsafe backing up as well as dwls

The accident happened at my employer parking lot. I was moving the company van from in front of a garage door to a spot directly behind. Another vehicle was not paying attention and ran into me.

Is there a leg to stand on to plea not guilty?

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jul 9, 2019

It is unclear on your facts whether the accident was your fault or not--generally speaking, if you were backing up, it is more likely your fault, but that is really irrelevant to your bigger issue, which is being charged with driving while intoxicated or--if this is what you mean: driving without a... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: Whats my defense if my friend loaned me his car but his guardian of power list it as stolen?
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jul 6, 2019

A person can be a court appointed guardian of a minor or mentally incompetent adult, or can be named as an agent for someone under their written power of attorney. No such thing as “power of guardian.” Depending on which one is in effect, your defense may change. If your friend had the legal... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: What is offense code 27.26 for maryland mean?
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jul 5, 2019

It is not a current criminal code reference. Therefore, it either refers to a pre-2002 criminal offense under repealed Article 27, Section 26 (juror tampering or intimidation), or its a reference to a county or municipal code infraction (in which case you need to specify the jurisdiction). Or... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law and Federal Crimes for Maryland on
Q: I am being blackmailed for private photos of myself in exchange for 650$ what do I do? They are from another country
Gary Kollin
Gary Kollin
answered on Jul 1, 2019

Pay them and hope it works

Or

Do nothing and hope nothing hapoens.

Then learn a lesson about sending photos over the internet

Or claim they are photoshopped

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: My martial privilege has been invoked. There is another charge were I have to testify. What are my options? Maryland
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jun 11, 2019

You only get to exercise the privilege once when the crime victim is your spouse. Otherwise, in situations where the spouses are not crime-defendant and crime-victim, but are either (1) crime-defendant and crime-witness or (2) a party in a civil case and a non-party witness, the spousal privilege... View More

Q: After you have fulfilled all parts of a plea agreement on time, does the state have the right to breach this deal?

Promised early expungement, but new States Attorney doesn't want to grant. Plea deal was reached in Harford Circuit Court, and all components of deal were met in full and on time with no additional problems.

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jun 3, 2019

If you can prove the terms of the plea deal to specifically include early expungement (which all the state can do is agree not to object to it, or consent to the request, because it is up to the judge to grant such a request), then yes, you can enforce the plea agreement and block the State from... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law and Traffic Tickets for Maryland on
Q: I have been charged with TA-16-101(a1), for not having a valid driving license, however, I showed my Indian license.

I encountered a police officer yesterday night, who charged me with 1M00JJH with Article TA-16-101(a1). Which states that I was driving without required license and authorization. Also charged me with 1LZ0JJH , TA-16-112(c) article, which states Failure of Individual driving on highway to display... View More

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Jun 1, 2019

Hire a lawyer. The offense carries the potential for jail time, although that is very unlikely; however, a conviction carries points, which could ultimately add up with other tickets to cause your privilege to be suspended. There are a number of defenses to this charge, and depending on how long... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: When a judge denies a defendant home detention monitoring release can the prison override the judge decision

My husband served 13months before his trial date and at his psi hearing the judge denied home detention and ordered him 2 yrs incarceration but he is seeking to get home detention through the prison. Will he be able to get approved or classified for release although judge denied him home detention... View More

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on May 30, 2019

Once a defendant is committed to the bureau of prisons, they may place the defendant in whatever facility is permitted by law to house prisoners within their system, and pay consider and grant any early release option provided for under the law, such as a halfway house, etc. if home monitoring is... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: When a judge denies a defendant home detention monitoring, can the prison can override the judge decision

My husband served 13 months before his trial and after his psi hearing the judge denied home detention and he is seeking to get home detention after she gave him 2yrs at his psi hearing for police officer impersonating,being found guilty by the jury case 118065003

Gary Kollin
Gary Kollin
answered on May 26, 2019

This is a run-on sentence. I am not sure what you are asking

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law and Federal Crimes for Maryland on
Q: This is regarding a federal agency being hacked.

I am a consultant for a legal firm representing the complaintive agency in one case against suspect foreign cyber Security Company. I represent the same suspect foreign cybersecurity company in a case against the U.S. cybersecurity company. Can I legally represent both companies? If Not what laws... View More

J. D. A.
J. D. A.
answered on May 16, 2019

Criminal liability in a situation like this might result from defrauding one of the parties- e.g. obtaining something of value (your fees) from them under false pretenses (perhaps that you are not using the confidential info obtained from them in one matter against them in the other matter).... View More

1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: I have 2 Charges in MD TA.17.110 &TA.17.107. Is there a statue of limitation?What are the penalties?

I live out of state and had a FTA. I wrote the judge and got the warrant recalled and a new trial date set.

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on May 13, 2019

17-110: maximum penalty is 1 year, $1,000, for a first offense; 2 years for a subsequent offense under the same section. Conviction carries 12 points, which will trigger revocation of your license.

17-107: same maximum penalty. Conviction carries 5 points.

Jail is not common for a...
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1 Answer | Asked in Criminal Law for Maryland on
Q: My husband has life with parole. How do we go about requesting a parole review? It's been 27 years and he's never been.
Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on May 9, 2019

It depends. He or his lawyer may need to review what all of his sentences are, because he could have multiple sentences that were imposed consecutively, and for violent crimes, he must serve 50% of the aggregate sentences before he is eligible, so it depends. So, if he has multiple sentences that... View More

3 Answers | Asked in Criminal Law and Real Estate Law for Maryland on
Q: I just became aware that my Siblings forged my name on a deed of a in 2007. I am unsure re SOL.

I had been told house was being rented. We owned the property jointly.

House in MD; I live in AZ

Mark Oakley
Mark Oakley
answered on Apr 28, 2019

Maryland follows the “discovery rule” for purposes of the statute of limitations, meaning the three years SOL for suing for fraud would begin from the time you discovered, or should have discovered, the fraud. Now that you know of the fraud, you must act diligently to protect your rights. That... View More

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