Upper Marlboro Criminal Defense Law Blog

The use of electronic monitoring devices doubled between 2005 and 2015, according to the Pew Charitable Trusts. These devices use GPS to monitor a person whether he or she is in Maryland or any other state. They are considered to be more humane than simply locking an offender behind bars. For those who have been required to use an ankle bracelet, however, it is often described as akin to being incarcerated.

Since a person's every move can be monitored, it is possible that his or her rights may not always be respected. One person was taken into custody after an issue with his GPS signal caused it to report incorrect information about his location. In some cases, simply removing the device to relieve skin irritation can result in criminal charges. Individuals may also not be able to remove the device to get an MRI or an X-ray scan. This is true even if the alleged offender wearing the monitor hasn't been convicted of a crime yet.

Black defendants may face racial bias in Maryland and across the country at bail hearings regardless of the race of the judge involved. This is the conclusion of a study conducted in Philadelphia and Miami that examined over 250,000 court cases in which bail was at issue. Both black and white judges were, according to the study, more likely to detain black defendants until their court hearings, a step that can have a negative impact on the perception of the defendant and the likelihood of conviction. In addition, black defendants were charged an average of $7,281 more for bail than white defendants.

The study's authors said these figures indicate that bail judges may be relying on racial stereotype in order to estimate the risk of release for particular defendants. The bail process is supposed to identify which defendants are more likely to commit another crime or leave the area if released. However, despite black defendants being denied bail more frequently, white defendants were actually more likely to be rearrested while released on bail. Referencing other research into racial bias when setting bail, the study noted that it is likely that judges rely, even unconsciously, on racial stereotypes when evaluating the risk factors associated with a particular defendant.

Police can have quite the commanding presence. So much, in fact, that many people think officers have more rights than they actually do. This leads to far too many people just letting police come to their homes and search around, without a legal search warrant. 

Two men were taken into custody by authorities after a traffic stop that took place in Salisbury, Maryland. A vehicle driven by a 34-year-old was stopped at about 11:20 on July 4 on the 1100 block of S. Division Street. The vehicle was stopped because it had an expired registration, and officers observed signs of illegal substances in the car.

This lead to a K-9 unit being sent to the scene to search for controlled substances. A police dog eventually found an odor of drugs that were determined to be crack cocaine and heroin. The search also turned up a syringe and another object used to smoke the substances found. Although both men claimed that the items weren't theirs, they were both charged with possession of heroin, cocaine and drug paraphernalia.