In the State of Maryland, the Legislature determined that there are two degrees of assault, First Degree Assault and Second-Degree Assault. The Legislature codified what constitutes each and what penalties a person can face if found guilty of assault. Here are three situations in which the crime of second-degree assault may arise: A woman pulls [...]
In the 2022 General Assembly session, the Maryland Legislature expanded the law of Stalking. In response to decisions in the courts and to public sentiments against stalking behavior through electronic devices, Maryland lawmakers added a new provision to the Stalking law, which included cyberstalking as a potential basis for the criminal charge of stalking. Maryland [...]
Marijuana laws in the United States are currently an ever-changing patchwork. Bills have been introduced in Congress to legalize marijuana and a number of states have legalized medical marijuana (37 states & DC) and recreational marijuana (18 states & DC). While Maryland has a medical marijuana law, generally marijuana is still considered contraband in the [...]
If you find yourself as a witness or party to a case in court, adopting the suggestions we offer may improve the strength of your testimony. This article offers you several skills to employ. It is not a substitute for more intensive preparation offered by a skilled trial lawyer: 1) Dress neatly and conservatively. While [...]
In Maryland, victims of crime have important rights. Maryland Criminal Procedure Article § 11-1002 offers guidelines for helping victims of a crime, declaring that they should be treated with “dignity, respect, courtesy, and sensitivity”. Unfortunately, due to heavy caseloads, crime victims are sometimes lost from the view of those who are responsible for prosecuting their [...]
When you’d like to stop someone from harassing you with annoying or dangerous conduct, the law requires that you first tell them to stop before you can file a peace order against them. An effective and relatively inexpensive way to do this is to send that person a cease and desist letter. What is a [...]
If you are charged with a felony in the State of Maryland, the general rule implies that you are facing at least one year of potential jail time for the charge, while misdemeanor charges usually carry a maximum in jail of one year or less. However, due to changes by the Maryland General Assembly, some crimes no longer fall within the general rule and some misdemeanors carry longer sentences than felonies.
With the legalization of marijuana in places like Colorado and its decriminalization elsewhere, more marijuana is now being shipped through the U.S. mail than in recent years, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, whose seizures of marijuana parcels have increased by more than 400 percent since 2007.
The creation of body cameras has added a new and helpful additional weapon to law enforcement as well as criminal defense work. No longer will any of us have to rely solely upon witness accounts of criminal activity. Learn More.
On June 23, 2016, the Supreme Court decided the case of Birchfield v. North Dakota. As we described in our previous blog on criminal law, the Court in Birchfield took up the issue of whether under the United States Constitution, a state can punish someone by suspending their right to drive simply because they refused to take a blood or breath. Learn More.
