A conviction means fines, possible jail time, and the obligation to restitute anyone harmed by your actions. You will also have the offense listed on your permanent criminal history, which is public information. Your reputation and career could suffer from a conviction for any crime, but if you receive a felony you will face many restrictions, such as limitations on your rights to vote or to own firearms.
Crimes Against the Public or a Peace Officer
At Fienman Defense, we have experience handling the following types of crimes against the public or a peace officer:
- Disorderly conduct — If you engage in violent, loud, threatening, obscene, or offensive conduct with the intent to cause public annoyance, you could face summary offense charges. But if your disorderly conduct causes substantial harm or if you continue after being asked to stop, you could face third degree misdemeanor charges involving higher fines and a jail sentence.
- Terroristic threats — This offense consists in making a threat of violence with the intent to terrorize that causes an evacuation or a serious public inconvenience. Depending on the gravity of the threats and the extent of the resulting panic, you may face felony or misdemeanor charges. In addition, you may have to pay back the police and fire departments for providing emergency response services.
- Resisting arrest — When the police lawfully place you under arrest yet you resist in a manner that creates a substantial risk of injury to the arresting officer, you may face a misdemeanor of the second degree. If convicted, you’ll face up to 2 years and prison and possible fines reaching $5,000 in addition to whatever penalties you may receive for the crime for which you were originally arrested.
- Impersonating a public servant — This involves pretending to hold a position in a public service with the intent of taking advantage of other people. If convicted of this misdemeanor of the second degree, you could face up to 2 years in prison and/or fines of up to $5,000.
- Perjury and false reporting — You commit perjury, a felony of the third degree, when you knowingly make a false statement of material fact while under oath during an official proceeding like a criminal trial. When you’re not under oath, you may face the second-degree misdemeanor charge of false swearing for knowingly lying to a public servant.
- False reports to law enforcement authorities — It’s a misdemeanor of the second degree if you wrongly tell the police that a person committed a crime with the intent of falsely incriminating that person. Similarly, if you knowingly make a false or fictitious report (but without the intent to frame someone) you’ll face misdemeanor charges of the third degree.
- False identification to law enforcement authorities — When the police ask you for your identification after informing you that you are being investigated for a crime, you have the duty to provide your correct name. If you don’t, you could be charged with a misdemeanor of the third degree.
A Philadelphia Public Crimes Attorney Can Help
Your Philadelphia criminal defense attorney will closely review all of the evidence in the prosecutor’s case, and determine whether any of it was obtained in violation of your rights. Any evidence obtained in this manner may be excluded from the prosecutor’s case if your lawyer acts quickly and decisively.
After ensuring that no illegal evidence is being used against you, your lawyer may take any of the following defense strategies:
- File a Motion to Dismiss — When the prosecutor lacks enough evidence, your lawyer can request the judge to dismiss the charges before your trial starts.
- Take the case to trial — You may obtain a verdict of not guilty after the trial if the prosecutor fails to prove that you committed the offense beyond a reasonable doubt.
- Negotiate a plea bargain — Where a victory at trial seems unlikely because of the strength of the prosecutor’s evidence, it may be in your best interest to plead guilty in exchange for receiving a conviction for a lesser offense.
At Fienman Defense, we work hard to uphold the dignity of our clients when they face the criminal justice system. We strive to give each and every one of our clients the best chances possible of obtaining a good case outcome. If you’re facing charges for crimes against the public or a peace officer, call our offices today at (215) 839-9529 for a free and confidential consultation of your case.