Baltimore Criminal Defense Lawyers

person behind bars

Have you been charged with a crime in Baltimore or across Maryland? If so, it’s time to get serious about hiring attorneys who are both proactive and aggressive in their efforts to protect your legal rights — and we at Greenberg Law Offices are here to help.

For over 60 years and three generations, our law firm has been fighting for residents in Baltimore and throughout Maryland. As criminal attorneys in both Federal and Maryland state courts, we recognize what is at stake for each and every client.  We have firsthand insight needed to build innovative legal strategies to fight for the best possible outcome for our clients.

Beyond even the potential for incarceration and a permanent criminal record, our distinguished criminal law lawyers understand the possible consequences that a criminal allegation or investigation can cause in an individual’s life. With that in mind, we implement strategies throughout the process aimed at protecting your livelihood, career, and future. Through our extensive experience in the criminal justice system, we are prepared to do whatever it takes to protect your rights and interests, just as we’ve done for countless Marylanders who’ve found themselves in situations like yours.

Don’t wait another moment. Contact the Greenberg Law Offices today for a confidential consultation with a Baltimore criminal defense attorney, and let our family help your family.

How a Criminal Attorney in Baltimore Can Help You

A criminal defense lawyer can help you face charges and pursue a better outcome for your case by:

  • Independently investigating your charges to find evidence beyond the prosecution’s case file that can help us build a compelling defense strategy
  • Evaluating the facts and evidence to identify defenses and other legal solutions available to you
  • Helping you understand your charges and the potential outcomes of your case to empower you to make informed decisions
  • Recognizing that a criminal record may affect your ability to gain employment, apply to schools, and even find an apartment.
  • Treating you like family and vigorously contesting every aspect of the prosecution’s case to fight for the best possible outcome, just as we would for our nearest and dearest
  • Pursuing a favorable resolution to your charges given the circumstances of your case, even when that means going to trial

Why You Need a Lawyer When Facing Criminal Charges

Although you have the right to represent yourself during a criminal case, you can best protect yourself by working with an experienced criminal defense lawyer from Greenberg Law Offices.

A good lawyer has extensive knowledge of the applicable criminal laws, which they can combine with their case experience to identify potential legal strategies to pursue. A criminal law attorney will also have experience with the rules and procedures in criminal cases to effectively represent your interests in court and at trial. From filing pretrial motions to weaken the prosecution’s case to negotiating for plea bargains as appropriate, an experienced defense lawyer from our law firm can explore numerous avenues for achieving the result you deserve.

Types of Criminal Cases We Handle

An experienced Baltimore and statewide Maryland criminal lawyer with Greenberg Law Offices can help you face charges involving offenses including the following:

  • Homicide – Our firm has the experience and skills to defend the rights and interests of clients charged with some of the most serious offenses under Maryland criminal law, such as murder, manslaughter, and other homicide offenses.
  • DWI/DUI – We advocate for drivers charged with driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated in Baltimore and Maryland, helping them minimize the potential consequences of an arrest or conviction, which may include a driver’s license suspension, ignition interlock requirement, jail time, and fines.
  • Drug Crimes – Our firm handles all types of drug crimes, ranging from simple possession to more serious offenses involving possession with intent to distribute or drug trafficking.
  • Weapons Crimes – Maryland law has multiple gun charges, which fall into three categories: possession, use, and illegal distribution. These categories vary in severity of potential penalties, depending on whether the charges are a felony or misdemeanor.
  • Assault/Domestic Violence – We defend individuals in Baltimore and across Maryland who are charged with violent offenses such as assault or kidnapping, as well as domestic violence crimes like harassment, stalking, false imprisonment, or sexual assault.
  • Theft – Our firm assists clients facing theft-related offenses such as larceny, robbery, shoplifting, embezzlement, or receiving/dealing in stolen goods.
  • White Collar Crimes – White-collar offenses include (typically) non-violent crimes where the perpetrator attempts to secure money or other benefits for themselves. Examples of white-collar crimes include money laundering, bank/mortgage/insurance fraud, securities fraud, bribery, and embezzlement.
  • Violation of Order of Protection – If someone takes a peace or protective order out against you, it is a crime if they claim you knowingly violated those orders. Like all court orders, violating an order of protection is a serious matter and could result in your arrest.
  • Sex Crimes – Examples of sex-based offenses in Baltimore and Maryland include rape, sexual offense, solicitation of a minor, sexual abuse of a minor, and possession or distribution of child pornography.
  • Leaving the Scene of an Accident – Our firm represents clients accused of a “hit and run,” and it is important to work with the attorney quickly to determine the facts surrounding the allegations.
  • Reckless Driving – People arrested or ticketed for reckless driving don’t realize that they are facing potentially serious charges. It is imperative to understand that any conviction for reckless driving could mean a permanent record, which could have a permanent negative impact on one’s future and ability to drive.
  • Driver’s License Suspension – Our firm represents clients facing suspension of their driving privileges due to offenses such as DUI/DWI, drug offenses, or other crimes where the court may suspend a defendant’s driver’s license as a sanction for their offense.
  • Drug Distribution/Manufacturing – We defend the rights and freedom of clients charged with serious drug offenses involving alleged distribution, trafficking, or manufacturing of illicit substances.
  • Violation of Probation – A violation of probation in Maryland can result in a bench warrant, revocation of probation, or jail time. You need a lawyer to represent you at a Violation of Probation hearing to possibly argue that a violation didn’t occur, or, if it did, against jail, conviction, civil judgment, and impact on your criminal record.
  • Post-Conviction Expungement – Our firm also assists clients convicted of crimes with pursuing expungement of their eligible criminal records, allowing them a fresh start free of the social burdens imposed by criminal records.

What Steps You Should Take If You Have Been Arrested

You can protect yourself and your rights by taking the following steps after an arrest:

  • Exercise your right to remain silent by informing the arresting officers or investigators that you do not want to answer questions about your charges or provide a statement. Do not say anything else. Otherwise, you could create more issues for yourself.
  • Invoke your right to legal counsel as soon as possible by asking the officers to speak with a criminal defense attorney. After you request an attorney, do not say anything else to the police, as they could claim that you waived your right to a lawyer.
  • Begin gathering relevant evidence following your release after an arrest, including noting the names and contact information of witnesses who may have helpful testimony.
  • Refrain from discussing your charges with family/friends or on social media. Prosecutors may seek to use your statements against you at trial. If you get locked up, the state listens to every phone call, so do not talk about the case. If you do, those statements can and will be used against you!

Penalties You Could Face for Criminal Convictions in Baltimore

A criminal conviction in Baltimore and throughout Maryland can significantly affect your freedom, finances, family, and future. First, a conviction will result in the trial court imposing a criminal sentence that may include penalties such as the following:

  • Probation
  • Incarceration in jail or prison
  • Fines
  • Restitution obligations, which require defendants to reimburse their victims for the financial losses caused by the defendant’s crimes

In Maryland, the potential sentences that a court may impose for a criminal conviction will depend on factors such as the specific crime type and the offense’s grading. Serious offenses, including those involving severe injury to or the death of victims, can result in prison terms lasting several decades or a life sentence. However, less serious offenses, including those graded as misdemeanor offenses, still can have maximum sentences of jail time and substantial fines, depending on the grading of the offense.

Criminal convictions can have other collateral consequences for convicted defendants beyond a criminal sentence. For example, certain convictions, including felony, domestic violence, and drug convictions, can result in a defendant losing various rights or government benefits, such as driving privileges or firearm rights. Some offenses can also disqualify individuals from pursuing specific jobs or licenses. A sex conviction may also result in a defendant having a sex offender registration obligation, which requires an offender to report to law enforcement periodically to update their personal information for the sex offender registry.

Finally, a criminal conviction will result in a record that can impose a long-lasting effect on convicted defendants. When criminal records appear during background checks, defendants can find it challenging to pursue employment, housing, educational, or financial opportunities due to the stigma of their conviction.

The possible penalties and consequences of a criminal conviction in Baltimore and throughout Maryland make it critical to seek experienced legal counsel from a Baltimore criminal defense attorney to protect your reputation, freedom, family, and future from the potential outcomes of an arrest or conviction.

Potential Defenses to Charges You Are Facing

Defendants may have defense strategies available to fight the prosecution’s case against them. Some of the most common include the following:

Many criminal offenses under Maryland law require an offender to have acted with a specific level of criminal intent, such as willfully, knowingly, or recklessly. A defendant may fight a criminal charge by arguing that the prosecution’s case fails to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they acted with the required criminal intent.

A defendant may deny having acted with criminal intent by alleging they made a mistake of fact. For example, a defendant charged with theft may allege they took an item they believed belonged to them.

Defendants may contest the reliability of a victim’s or eyewitness’s identification by highlighting factors that could have adversely affected the victim’s/witness’s view of the crime or its perpetrator or by arguing that police used improperly suggestive identification procedures with a victim or witness that spurred them to mistakenly identify the defendant.

Our attorneys have fought hard to convince courts across Maryland that our client can plead not criminally responsible if they had a mental disorder or intellectual disability when they committed a crime. This plea is not an acquittal, but rather an acknowledgment that the defendant committed the crime but should not be punished. The rules are strict, and you need an attorney who has experience dealing with such disorders. This defense is different than someone who is not competent to stand trial, but it can be used after a defendant is no longer incompetent to stand trial.

A defendant may deny having committed the charged crime by presenting alibi evidence to prove they were elsewhere when the crime occurred.

In cases involving drugs, weapons, or other contraband, a defendant may deny having had actual or constructive possession.

Defenses of consent may apply in charges involving sex or theft crimes. For example, a defendant charged with a sexual battery offense could claim that the alleged victim validly consented to sexual activity. A defendant charged with a theft-related offense may claim they took the property with the owner’s consent.

In assault and homicide cases, a defendant may claim they acted in self-defense or defense of others to defend against an imminent threat of violence from the alleged victim.

Defendants may challenge the reliability of forensic evidence or chemical testing supporting the prosecution’s case, such as DNA, fingerprint, ballistics, or drug/alcohol testing, by highlighting problems with testing methods or equipment or breaks in the chain of custody of testing samples.

A defendant may file motions to exclude evidence from the prosecution’s case by claiming that investigators obtained evidence or statements/confessions through a search or interrogation that violated the defendant’s rights.