Legal Question in Criminal Law in Maryland

Hi. My son who is 19 was charged with theft of less than 100 dollars in Worcester County, Maryland. We line in PA. \nHe was given the option of community service. He had to request an extension since the paper work for the community service arrived late. He looked over the paper work once it arrived. In reading it he realized that he had to complete 40 hours of community service and pay a fine of 60 dollars. He felt like this was unfair since he isn\'t guilty. He then decided to not do the community service. He showed up in court without a lawyer. The judge withdrew the option for community service and rescheduled his court date recommending that he get a lawyer. As he is a FT college student he couldn\'t afford a private lawyer and so he secured a public defender. This lawyer informed him, since the judge was harsh, that he would be definitely going to jail somewhere between 30 to 120 days. I do not understand why he would not have to pay a fine or get probation when the purpose of jail should be rehab and here you have a college student trying to better his life. Why ruin it? \nMy son put on a 25 dollar sweatshirt from a boardwalk store, walked outdoors by the outdor racks, and was charged with this crime. When questioned he stupidly said he paid for the sweat shirt when he hadn\'t it and this lead to the charge. He spent 9 hours in a holding cell and now all this. He is a collegiate soccer player heading off to preseason Aug.10 and his court date is Aug 7. Is he going to jail? What can and should we do? And why is he guilty before even hearing his side?\n


Asked on 7/30/09, 8:44 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
William Welch William L. Welch, III Attorney

The offer of community service and a fine was to avoid prosecution and possibly a conviction and jail entirely. When your son decided not to do the community service and pay the fine, he effectively rejected the offer of compromise in favor of exercising his right to defend himself in court with the risk of conviction and jail. It may not have been his intention, and he may now regret his decision, but that is now water under the bridge.\n\n Likewise, the right to a lawyer is supposed to be mentioned in the papers he received after arrest. Either a private lawyer or a public defender could have evaluated his case for him and advised him of the possible consequences of his decision and the likelihood of success. A lawyer may still be of assistance, but the lawyer probably could have helped him get a better result had your son consulted one earlier in his case and before he began making decisions with far reaching consequences.\n\n While it is clear that you love your son and want the best for him, the law prescribes that for theft under $100 the court may impose a sentence of up to 90 days incarceration and a fine and for theft uner $500 a sentence of up to 18 months and a fine, even for a first time offender who otherwise has a bright future.\n\n He may go to jail, and he may lose student loan assistance too, if he is convicted. He may lose the student loan assistance, even if the court enters probation before judgement, because the federal government that guarantees student loans treats \"pbj\" as a conviction.\n\n You should make sure that your son has representation by a lawyer with whom he is comfortable. While he may not have had his trial at which guilt or innocence will be decided yet, the prosecution and the court are free to agree or disagree with the defense side of things.

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Answered on 7/31/09, 7:16 am


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