In 2016, our client was arrested for possession of heroin, drug paraphernalia, and driving a motor vehicle with a suspended license. Rather than dealing with the charges then, the man absconded and started a new life in the South.

In the years that followed, the man got himself clean, had a child, and become engaged. In an effort to deal with his legal troubles once and for all, he returned to Delaware County. Unfortunately, when he turned himself in, he was met with a harsh judge and ordered to pay an unreasonable bail amount. As a result, he sat in jail for weeks, until his parents retained attorney Michael Fienman just before the preliminary hearing.

At the preliminary hearing, attorney Fienman made an impassioned argument on the man’s behalf and railed against the logic of taxpayers paying to keep a man jailed for such a minor offense allegedly perpetrated by someone many years ago who has since cleaned his life up and just wants to deal with past mistakes. By illustrating that the sentencing guidelines for his client’s original charges did not carry the incarceration time his client had already served waiting for a preliminary hearing, attorney Fienman had the man’s bail lowered and secured his release.

In the end, the matter was resolved with two years of probation, which was transferred to his new home state, so he could continue to move on with his life.

The outcome of an individual case depends on a variety of factors unique to that case. Case results do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any similar or future case.

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