Philadelphia Criminal Defense Blog
Goldstein Mehta LLC Challenges PennDOT Policy of Suspending Driver’s Licenses for Drug Convictions
Goldstein Mehta LLC has joined with Equal Justice Under Law, a Washington, D.C. based non-profit to challenge Pennsylvania’s discriminatory driver’s license suspension scheme as it relates to drug possession convictions that have nothing to do with driving. Pennsylvania law requires courts to notify PennDOT whenever a defendant is convicted of a drug possession offense such as Knowing and Intentional Possession of a Controlled Substance, Possession With the Intent to Deliver, and Possession of a Small Amount of Marijuana. Once PennDOT is notified of the conviction, PennDOT is required to suspend the defendant’s driver’s license as follows:
First Offense: Six Month Driver’s License Suspension
Second Offense: One Year Driver’s License Suspension
Third Offense: Two Year Driver’s License Suspension
Obviously, the loss of one’s driver’s license can lead to the inability to work, run a business, or even help family members get to medical appointments. This is particularly problematic when there are many entry-level jobs which are accessible to almost anyone but involve driving such as Uber, Lyft, and delivery services. Further, the driver’s license suspension has absolutely nothing to do with driving as it is triggered only by a conviction for drug possession regardless of whether the drug possession took place in a car.
Although Possession of a Small Amount of Marijuana carries a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail or 30 days of probation, the same conviction can lead to a two-year driver’s license suspension for a third offense. Thus, if someone is caught possessing a few grams of marijuana on three occasions, they will have their driver’s license suspended for two years even when none of the incidents took place in a car or while the person was driving. This two-year suspension is a longer suspension than that imposed even for a third offense Driving Under the Influence conviction.
This driver’s license suspension scheme has an extremely disproportionate impact on poor and minority citizens of Pennsylvania, and it simply makes no sense. Although legislation has been introduced in the state legislature that would eliminate this unfair penalty, that legislation has not yet passed and its prospects are uncertain. This lawsuit could force the state and PennDOT to reconsider this unfairly punitive and discriminatory scheme. Attorney Goldstein is serving as local counsel in the case, which was filed in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The case is Harold v. Richards, et al, 2:18-cv-00115-CMR.
Learn More:
Press Release from Equal Justice Under Law
Speedy Trial Motion Granted in Prescription Fraud Case, Not Guilty Verdict in Domestic Assault Case, and Other Recent Case Results
Philadelphia Criminal Defense Attorney Zak T. Goldstein, Esq.
Our Philadelphia criminal defense attorneys have continued to obtain successful results in the courtroom. In the last two months, our defense attorneys have obtained acquittals and dismissals at trial and in preliminary hearings in criminal cases and successfully defended Protection from Abuse (PFA) Petitions. Some of our notable recent results include:
Commonwealth v. T.T. – Speedy Trial Motion Granted in Prescription Fraud Case Due to Delay in Arresting Defendant.
The client was arrested and charged with Forgery, Identity Theft, Possession With the Intent to Deliver, and related charges for allegedly forging Oxycodone and Percocet prescriptions and attempting to have them filled at local pharmacies. The magistrate judge initially set bail at $100,000, and the client’s family immediately hired Goldstein Mehta LLC. Attorney Goldstein moved for a bail reduction at the first listing of the preliminary hearing, and the Municipal Court judge promptly reduced bail to $25,000. Attorney Goldstein then renewed the bail motion in the Court of Common Pleas, and the Court of Common Pleas reduced bail even further, allowing the client to be released for a bail payment of $670.
Attorney Goldstein then defended the client at the preliminary hearing. At the preliminary hearing, an Agent for the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office testified that she had obtained records indicating that the defendant had attempted to fill forged prescriptions in various names on multiple occasions. However, the Agent had not actually viewed the defendant filling any prescriptions herself. Accordingly, the Municipal Court Judge held the case under advisement to determine whether the agent had sufficient personal knowledge of the allegations or whether the case should be dismissed because the Commonwealth’s entire case at the preliminary hearing was hearsay.
In addition to moving to dismiss the case due to the excessive hearsay, Attorney Goldstein also moved to dismiss the case for a violation of the client’s right to a speedy trial under Rule 600. Rule 600 requires that the Commonwealth bring a defendant to trial within 365 days from the filing of the criminal complaint. However, Rule 600 has a number of exceptions and is often not strictly enforced in cases where the Commonwealth can show that it was not the prosecution’s fault that trial was delayed. Here, the Agents conducted their investigation and filed the criminal complaint in 2014. When they first filed the complaint, they attempted to arrest the defendant, but he was not home. The police then failed to exercise due diligence in trying to find the defendant and bring him to trial, and he was not actually arrested until 2017. Accordingly, Attorney Goldstein moved to dismiss the case due to this pre-arrest delay. When police fail to arrest a defendant within 365 days from the filing of the Complaint, Rule 600 and the case of Commonwealth v. Webb require that the case be dismissed unless the Commonwealth can show that the police executed due diligence in trying to find the defendant and execute the arrest warrant. Here, there was no evidence that the police had diligently attempted to serve the warrant. Therefore, the Municipal Court judge dismissed the case with prejudice at the preliminary hearing for the speedy trial violation, meaning the Commonwealth cannot re-file the charges.
Commonwealth v. A.W. - Motion for Reconsideration of Probation Violation Sentence Granted
The client was found in technical violation of probation for theft and drug possession while represented by a different attorney. The probation judge sentenced A.W. to 11.5 - 23 months in custody. A.W. retained Goldstein Mehta LLC, and our attorneys immediately filed a motion to reconsider the sentence within ten days as required by the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. The client's back judge scheduled a hearing on the Motion to Reconsider, and prior to the hearing, we were able to work with the client's family to locate a drug treatment faciity which she could attend if released. Once our attorneys presented the probation judge with the treatment option, the judge reconsidered the sentence and granted immediate parole to treatment. Our defense attorneys were able to help the client avoid a lengthy jail sentence.
PFA Litigation – Protection from Abuse Petition Dismissed for Lack of Jurisdiction
Attorney Goldstein successfully moved to have a protection from abuse Petition dismissed at trial for lack of jurisdiction. The plaintiff alleged that she had had a sexual relationship with the defendant and that the defendant subsequently threatened her at a party. The PFA Act allows a plaintiff who claims that they were the victim of abuse to obtain an emergency ex parte protection from abuse order which prohibits the defendant from having any contact with the plaintiff. This order can be extremely problematic for a defendant as it can damage the defendant’s reputation, require the defendant to relinquish legally owned firearms, and can even require the defendant to be evicted from a shared residence. Although the initial order may be granted on an emergency basis without a hearing, the defendant has the right to a trial on whether the allegations are true and a final order is necessary. At the trial, the plaintiff must show that the PFA Court has jurisdiction, that abuse occurred, and that a restraining order is necessary to prevent abuse from occurring.
Here, Attorney Goldstein was able to have the Petition dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Although the initial Petition alleged that the defendant and plaintiff had a consensual relationship, the defendant testified on cross-examination that the relationship had not been consensual. Knowing that the Superior Court has repeatedly held that PFA jurisdiction only exists in cases involving domestic partners, meaning household members, family members, and people in consensual, dating relationships, Attorney Goldstein immediately moved for dismissal of the Petition for lack of jurisdiction. The Family Court judge agreed and dismissed the Petition, thereby vacating the restraining order.
Commonwealth v. R.B. – Client was charged with various gun charges, including Violation of the Uniform Firearms Act Sec. 6106, 6108, and 6105. Our criminal defense lawyers successfully moved for the case to be dismissed after the Commonwealth was repeatedly not ready to proceed for the preliminary hearing.
Commonwealth v. R.T. – Unsworn Falsification Case Dismissed at Municipal Court Trial
The client was charged with Unsworn Falsification to Authorities for allegedly lying to police about being robbed in order to cover up a drug deal gone wrong. The police alleged that the defendant had not been robbed and had instead made up a story about being robbed at gunpoint in order to try to get money back which was stolen in a drug deal. The client retained Attorney Goldstein, who promptly requested all of the discovery in the case, including documents from Cherry Hill. The Commonwealth never successfully obtained the police reports from the other jurisdiction for two trial listings, so Attorney Goldstein moved to dismiss the charges. The Philadelphia Municipal Court judge dismissed the case for lack of prosecution.
Commonwealth v. Z.B. – Detainer Lifted and Client Sentenced to Time Served on Section 17 Detainer.
The client had previously pleaded no contest as part of a Section 17 pre-trial diversionary program to knowing and intentional possession of a controlled substance in Montgomery County. After getting arrested again for the same charge in a different jurisdiction, the probation officer took the client into custody and lodged a probation detainer. The client retained Goldstein Mehta LLC, and our defense attorneys immediately filed a Motion to Lift the Detainer, arguing that Section 17 probation does not give the sentencing judge the authority to lodge a probation detainer. Instead, the judge must schedule a hearing and either continue the probation or impose a judgment of sentence. In this case, the judge had not scheduled the probation violation hearing for months. After receiving the motion and recognizing that the law was unsettled as to whether Section 17 probation gives the authority to lodge a probation detainer, the judge moved the probation violation hearing up by two months. The client then stipulated to the probation violation in exchange for a sentence of roughly time served and was released shortly thereafter. By filing a creative motion on the client’s behalf, our defense lawyers were able to save the client months in jail.
Commonwealth v. J.B. – Probation Detainer Lifted, Full Acquittal Obtained in Domestic Assault Case
The client was charged with Simple Assault, Terroristic Threats, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, and other related charges in the Philadelphia Municipal Court for allegedly assaulting his girlfriend. The client was on probation for similar charges, so the probation officer took the client into custody and lodged a probation detainer. If the client had done nothing, he would have had to stay in jail until the new case was resolved. Fortunately, the client retained Goldstein Mehta LLC, and our defense lawyers promptly filed a Motion to Lift the Probation Detainer with the client’s back judge. By putting together a thorough mitigation packet showing the defendant’s exemplary work record, successful compliance with probation other than the new charges, and extensive family and community support, our lawyers were able to have the client’s probation detainer lifted so that he could fight the case from out of jail.
We were then able to obtain a full acquittal for the client at trial. By cross-examining the complaining witness on the inconsistencies between her testimony at trial and the statement she had given to police and showing that she had a motive to fabricate the allegations, our attorneys were able to convince the Municipal Court judge that the complainant should not be believed. This was particularly true in light of the complainant’s lack of visible injuries and the fantastical nature of her allegations. Accordingly, our defense attorneys successfully had the client’s probation detainer lifted and obtained a full acquittal at trial.
Commonwealth v. V.F. – Possession with the Intent to Deliver Charges Dismissed at Preliminary Hearing
V.F. was charged with Possession with the Intent to Deliver and Possession of a Small Amount of Marijuana. Philadelphia narcotics officers alleged that they observed the client receive money from another person in exchange for small objects, which is the typical testimony that officers provide to describe what they believe to be a drug transaction. When officers stopped the man who handed the money to the defendant, the man had marijuana in his possession. Officers then arrested the defendant and found money, but they did not find any matching marijuana. Attorney Goldstein argued that the felony PWID charge should be dismissed because there was insufficient evidence to show that the defendant had sold the marijuana. Instead, police simply could not say what the defendant had allegedly given to the man who had marijuana on him. Accordingly, the preliminary hearing judge dismissed the felony charge and remanded the case for a trial on the misdemeanor marijuana charge.
Commonwealth v. T.C. – PWID Charges Withdrawn at Trial after Seizure Analysis Showed Marijuana Fake.
AWARD-WINNING PHILADELPHIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
If you are facing criminal charges, we can help. Our Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers have successfully defended thousands of clients at the trial level on appeal. We offer a complimentary 15-minute criminal defense strategy session to anyone who is under investigation or facing criminal charges. Call 267-225-2545 to speak with an experienced and understanding defense attorney today.
PA Supreme Court: Parole Agents May Frisk You Even If You Are Not On Parole
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has just decided the case of Commonwealth v. Mathis, holding that a parole agent may detain and frisk a non-parolee visitor to the parolee’s home while performing a routine home inspection if the parole agent acts on reasonable suspicion that the visitor is engaged in criminal activity and armed.
Commonwealth v. Mathis - Can a Parole Agent Search Someone Who Is Not On Parole During a Routine Home Visit?
In Mathis, parole agents conducted a routine check of a parolee’s home which was located in a high crime area in Dauphin County. When they arrived, they immediately recognized the strong odor of marijuana throughout the home. As they walked through the house, they observed the defendant, Mathis, receiving a hair cut from the parolee who they were there to check up on. The parolee identified the parole agents to the defendant, and the agents then questioned the parolee as to why the house smelled like marijuana. The agents also found an ashtray full of marijuana roaches in the front room, but they did not see anyone smoking marijuana.
While one of the agents questioned the parolee, the other agent monitored Mathis. Mathis repeatedly got up from his chair and walked to the kitchen, apparently checking text messages on his cell phone. The parole agents asked him to stop using the cell phone while they were there because he seemed nervous. They asked him to leave until they finished speaking with the parolee. Mathis began to leave, and as he gathered his belongings, one of the agents noticed that he picked up his jacket as if holding it up to his body like a football or a baby. Mathis appeared to try to put his body in between the agents and the jacket, and he continued to hold it in a strange manner. The agents also noticed a bulge coming from the jacket which was roughly the size and shape of a gun.
The agents became concerned for their safety, so they asked Mathis if they could pat him down. He refused, but one of the agents reached out and touched the jacket. The agent immediately felt what he believed to be a firearm. They then handcuffed Mathis, patted him down, recovered a bag of marijuana from between his feet, and recovered a handgun from the jacket. Because Mathis was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to his prior criminal record, the agents called the police. The police arrived, recovered the gun, and charged Mathis with gun charges, marijuana charges, and possessing drug paraphernalia.
Motion to Suppress
Mathis filed a pretrial motion to suppress the gun, arguing that the parole agents had no right to search him because he was not on parole. The trial court denied the motion to suppress, found him guilty of drug possession and gun possession, and sentenced him to thirty-two to sixty-four month’s imprisonment. Mathis appealed, and the Superior Court affirmed.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reviewed the case and upheld the decision of the Superior Court. The Court concluded that parole agents may conduct a Terry frisk under these circumstances for their own safety. Although parole agents may not act as police officers with respect to non-offenders or private citizens, they do have the right to protect themselves.
Parole agents are required to supervise offenders in part by conducting routine, unannounced home visits, thus risking exposure to a variety of potentially dangerous unknowns. Interactions with non-offenders are often going to occur during home visits, and parole agents have an obligation to make sure that the parolee is not living or associating with people who have been convicted of certain criminal offenses.
Parole agents are also legally classified as “peace officers,” giving them the power to make a lawful arrest upon reasonable suspicion of a felony and the authority to use deadly force to protect themselves and carry firearms. Because a parole agent has the authority to use deadly force for the protection of himself or herself and others, the agent has the authority to prevent the need for deadly force in the first place by conducting a Terry frisk when necessary.
Finally, the Court noted that the purpose of the Terry frisk is not to conduct an investigation or find evidence; instead, it is merely to check for deadly weapons so that the officer can do his or her job without fear of bodily injury. Accordingly, the Supreme Court concluded that a parole agent may conduct a frisk for weapons so long as the agent has reasonable suspicion to do so. Reasonable suspicion requires “specific and articulable facts” that criminal activity is afoot, and the authority to frisk also requires that the officer or agent have reason to believe that the suspect is armed and dangerous.
There Are Still Limits On Probation and Parole Searches
Unfortunately, the Mathis Court's decision serves to eliminate important privacy rights for anyone who associates with someone who is on state parole. If someone has the bad luck to be present at a parolee's residence when agents show up to conduct an unannounced search, that person will now be at risk of being searched by parole agents despite the fact that they are not even on parole. This is particuclarly true for anyone who lives with someone who is on state parole; that person will now have substantailly reduced privacy rights just by virtue of who they live with. However, some protections remain in that the parole agents are still required to have reasonable suspicion and cannot conduct a search for general investigatory purposes. Therefore, motions to suppress will likely still be brought in many of these cases.
Facing criminal charges? We can help.
Goldstein Mehta LLC Criminal Defense Attorneys
If you are facing criminal charges, we can help. Our Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyers have successfully defended thousands of cases. We offer a free, 15-minute criminal defense strategy session to any potential client. Call 267-225-2545 to speak with an experienced and understanding defense attoreny today.
PA Superior Court Continues to Struggle With Meaning Of "Stop"
Motions to Suppress in Gun and Drug Cases
The first line of defense to criminal charges like gun possession or drug possession is often the Motion to Suppress. If the police stopped or searched you or your belongings without reasonable suspicion or probable cause, it may be possible to have the evidence suppressed. Once the evidence is suppressed, the Commonwealth would not be able to proceed to trial in a case involving a possessory offense, and the case could be thrown out. In cases involving illegal stops or searches of pedestrians, the first thing that the defense must typically show is that the police actually stopped or “seized” the defendant under either Article I Section 8 of the Pennsylvania Constitution or the 4th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
What makes a stop a stop?
As recently as three months ago, in the case of Commonwealth v. Morrison, the Pennsylvania Superior Court concluded that when a police officer says stop, that means stop. Thus, a reasonable person would not feel free to leave, and the encounter rises to the legal level of a Terry stop. In the case of Commonwealth v. Newsome, a different panel of the Superior Court has reached a different conclusion. In Newsome, the Superior Court held that the mere use of the word “stop” does not necessarily transform a police encounter into a Terry stop requiring reasonable suspicion or probable cause. Instead, whether police conduct rises to the level of a stop depends on the totality of the circumstances and the specific facts of each case.
Commonwealth v. Newsome
In Newsome, the defendant was arrested in Philadelphia and charged with various Violations of the Uniform Firearms Act (“VUFA”). The defendant moved to suppress the evidence, and the court held an evidentiary hearing on the motion to suppress. At the hearing, a Philadelphia Police Lieutenant testified that he received an anonymous radio call that a group of males were outside on the 2000 block of Croskey Street passing around a gun. The officer drove to the scene. When he arrived, he saw a group of men huddled together. Two of the men left the group and walked to the other side of the street.
The defendant was one of the two men who crossed the street and began to walk southbound down Croskey street. The officer exited his marked patrol car and asked the defendant to “come here” so he could talk to him, but the defendant refused and continued walking. The officer began to radio for backup to stop the defendant when he observed the defendant reach into his waistband, remove an object that looked like a gun, and place it in a nearby flowerpot. Although the defendant discarded the gun in view of the officer, the gun could be suppressed if the defense could show that the defendant discarded the gun only in response to some sort of unlawful illegal police activity or seizure.
A different police officer recovered the firearm, and the police arrested the defendant. On cross examination, the officer testified that he approached the defendant and the other men because he believed that they may have been violating Philadelphia’s 10:30 pm curfew. He also testified that he had not seen the defendant with any bulges or weapons on his person and that the defendant did not make any suspicious movements prior to putting the gun in the flowerpot.
The trial court found the officer’s testimony credible, but it granted the Motion to Suppress. The trial court concluded that by saying stop and asking the defendant to come talk to him, the officer had stopped the defendant and legally seized him. Thus, the officer was required to have reasonable suspicion in order to make a stop, and the officer did not have that level of suspicion because he did not observe the defendant doing anything suspicious. Further, it is well-settled in Pennsylvania that an anonymous radio call cannot provide the basis for reasonable suspicion or probable cause, and even accepting the radio call as true, the radio call did not identify the defendant as the person with the gun.
The Superior Court’s Decision On Appeal
On appeal, the Superior Court reversed the trial court’s decision and concluded that the officer had not legally stopped the defendant. Instead, the officer had attempted to have a mere encounter with the defendant, and a mere encounter need not be supported by any articulable level of suspicion. In determining whether the officer conducted a stop, the court noted that it must evaluate all of the circumstances “evidencing a show of authority or exercise of force, including the demeanor of the police officer, the manner of expression used by the officer in addressing the citizen, and the content of the interrogatories or statements.” Courts must also consider the number of officers present, whether the officer accuses the citizen of criminal activity, the officer’s demeanor and voice, the location and timing of the interaction, the visible presence of weapons on the officer, and the questions asked. Where a reasonable person would not feel free to leave due to the behavior of the officer, the encounter rises to the level of a stop and requires at least reasonable suspicion.
Here, the Superior Court found that the officer had not stopped the defendant and reversed the decision of the trial court. The Superior Court found that it was only a mere encounter because the officer simply exited the vehicle and asked the defendant to come here so he could talk to him. Although he was in full uniform and in a marked car, he did not engage the lights and sirens, display his weapon, or tell the defendant that he was not free to leave. He also did not block the defendant from moving in any particular direction. He did admit asking the defendant to stop two or three times, but he did not threaten any consequences for non-compliance or use an authoritative tone. Further, the defendant clearly felt no compulsion to stop because he continued walking away. Only after the defendant discarded the gun did the police arrest the defendant. Therefore, the defendant was not seized and officers were not required to have any level of suspicion.
THE EVIDENTIARY CONSEQUENCES OF AN ILLEGAL STOP
Motions to Suppress guns can be difficult to win, but police are required to follow the law. Although judges may be reluctant to suppress illegal firearms and large amounts of drugs, it remains the law that police must have reasonable suspicion or probable cause prior to making a stop or conducting a search. When the police stop or search someone illegally, the Fourth Amendment requires that the evidence be suppressed, meaning that it may not be used at trial. However, it is critical that the defense establish that the police conducted a stop or a search in order to win a Motion to Suppress. Clearly, the Superior Court’s decision in Newsome conflicts with recent precedent in which the Court held that the use of the word stop transforms an encounter into a Terry stop. Therefore, the question of whether a defendant is stopped for purposes of the Fourth Amendment remains highly fact specific. In many cases, a successful motion to suppress will require skillful cross examination by the defense in order to establish that based on the totality of the circumstances, a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would not have felt free to leave. This is particularly true in cases involving “Forced Abandonment” in which a defendant who has been illegally seized discards a gun or drugs prior to being physically restrained by the police.
AWARD-WINNING PHILADELPHIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYERS
Goldstein Mehta LLC: Philadelphia Criminal Defense Lawyers
If you are facing criminal charges, we can help. Our Philadelphia criminal defense lawyers have successfully defended clients against gun charges, drug charges, and other possession of contraband cases in preliminary hearings, pre-trial motions to suppress, and at trial. Call 267-225-2545 for a complimentary 15-minute criminal defense strategy session with one of our award-winning defense attorneys.
Read the Opinion: Commonwealth v. Newsome