Montgomery County Criminal Justice Trends and Problems

If you live or travel through Montgomery County the following is what you should know about developing trends and problems within the criminal justice system according to a Montgomery County criminal lawyer. To learn more, or to discuss a case, call today and schedule a consultation with an attorney.

Trends in Montgomery County Criminal Cases

While there may not be anything too unique about defending cases in Montgomery County, Montgomery County is a very big county. There are two district court buildings and a very large circuit court building within the county and there are many cases that are heard in these court systems on a yearly basis.

Actually what is different about Montgomery County from most other counties is that there is a sense of community within the legal profession. Most of the prosecutors and other defense attorneys that have worked with me in Montgomery County over the years are people that, a defense attorney, I see almost every day, people that are in the county on a regular basis and do not have commitments that usually go beyond their criminal cases. They are committed to the area, they know the police officers well, they know the probation agents well and the attorneys all know each other as well as the judges, and there is a good working relationship between all the people here.

Issues in The Montgomery County Justice System

One of the problems in the Montgomery County justice system is that there is not enough evaluation of what actually took place on a case by case basis taken into account. There is too much relying on the sentencing guidelines, mandatory minimums that don’t necessarily take into account that every criminal defendant does not come into the case on equal footing, that every situation is unique and every situation has its own particular nuances. These nuances might warrant a different kind of treatment for one case versus another.

There are many prosecutors and many judges in the county that do take those things into account and have gotten very good at making sure that criminal defendants are not treated the same just because they committed the same offense. It is a controversial topic because many people believe that they all should be treated the same and it does not matter what brought them to the place that they are at when they have committed a particular criminal offense. So that is probably the biggest problem, that there is not as much individual tailoring on how cases are handled or taken into account on a case by case basis.

Most Common Mistakes in Montgomery County Criminal Cases

The most common mistake people make is giving a confession when they are arrested by a police officer. Police officers are law enforcement agents but their goal also is to try and have a successful investigation. So when an individual is arrested and asked questions by police officers, the police officers are asking those questions in an effort to elicit criminal responses and make their investigation more successful.

While an individual may think they are being cooperative when they are being questioned by a police officer, what they are doing is telling the police officer what is ultimately going to be used against them in the criminal court. So it is important for that individual to remember that they do not have to tell the police. They should in fact not tell the police anything until they have an attorney present and should let the officer know in the politest way as possible that they wish to speak to counsel before saying anything further.