What is the difference between and pardon and amnesty?

What is the difference between and pardon and amnesty? When someone has been prosecuted and convicted of a crime, if they want to remove the conviction, they must seek a pardon. In state court their are exceptions to this rule, like exungements for summary offenses, but in federal court, you must get a pardon to remove a conviction.

Amnesty is where a person or group of people are told that they will not be prosecuted for a particular offense if they comply with terms of the amnesty, or simply admit to their role in the alleged crime. For example, the government can say that on a certain day all citizens who possess illegal firearms can turn firearms in to a police station and they will not be prosecuted. The idea that people are possessing the illegal weapon, but the government agrees not to prosecute, is a form of amnesty.

Always remember, the state and federal governments are separate sovereigns, so you can be prosecuted in one court even if you are granted amnesty in another.

DUI DUI, Nieves is bad law!

DUI update. We have been asked so many questions regarding DUIs where the person gets a second DUI arrest before being convicted of the first. Our answers have been all over the board with our strateies, but the basis for my answers was that a case called Nieves prevented a consolidation of DUIs as two first DUIs. We had all kinds of strategies to minimize the poor law set in Nieves.

The wait is over. On October 23, 2009, in Commonwealth v. Haag, Justice McCaffery wrote for a unanimous Court, overruling Nieves and its progeny. You must be CONVICTED of the first DUI before the arrest of the second, otherwise, you have two first DUIs.

As an aside for any legal scholars, the cases specifically overruled are Misner, Nieves and Stafford.

Cheers to the Supremes!

Is my record expunged after I complete ARD?

After I complete ARD (Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition) is my record expunged automatically?

NO! Your record is not expunged automatically upon completion of ARD. If you were on ARD and you successfully completed ARD and paid all of your fines and costs, the record of your arrest was NOT erased. Feel free to contact our office for help.

Do I have a right to plea No Contest or Nolo Contendere?

The District Attorney is offering me one year reporting probation. My lawyer tells me that if I go to trial and lose I will get one to two years up state. While, I didn't commit the crime, I really don't want to go to jail for something I didn't do. Do I have a right to plea no contest or nolo contendere?

No contest and nolo contendere are the same thing. The idea of a nolo plea means that you are not contesting the charges, not because you did it but because you do not wish to face the prospect of going through a long costly trial and/or going to jail.

However, you do not have a right to plea no contest. The district attorney must agree to a nolo plea. There are many goods and bads about a nolo plea. The main issue with a nolo plea is that you are not admitting that you did anything wrong. The bad part about not admitting that you did anything bad is that at sentencing you cannot argue to the judge that you should get a break at sentencing for accepting responsibility for your actions. For many judges, from both sides of the aisle, this is the single biggest factor in applying the sentencing guidelines.

The good part of the no contest plea is that if the case is a sex offense or a theft offense, the conviction cannot be used against you if you testify at a future court proceeding because your answer is simply that you did NOT admit to anything.

Sometimes, if you plea no contest to a sex offense, the probation department will make you go to sex classes where you will be pressured to admit that you in fact sexually assaulted someone. A no contest plea allows you to deny the charges. This can get sticky, but the subject of probation violations is an entirely different question.

Public Urination Disorderly Conduct

I was pissing in the parking lot of a sporting event and a liquor control board (lcb) officer gave me a ticket for disorderly conduct--its a summary offense. I wasn't doing anything wrong; I was quite discrete about the whole thing. This is NOT in Philadelphia County. How do I beat this?

On the ticket plea not guilty and ask for a hearing. Appear at the hearing and see if the LCB officer appears. If the officer does not appear, the case will get continued or discharged. If the officer appears, tell your story to the judge and apologize for your behavior.

If it was in Philadelphia, you should get night court. If you have a night court question, write a comment to this post and I will respond with an answer.

Gun in the House, convicted felon, gun not mine. Help!

I am a convicted felon. I do not have a gun. I understand that I am not allowed to possess a gun because it is illegal under 6105. My wife owns a gun. I want to know, can she bring the gun in the house and store it in the house if I am living there?

No. Keep the gun out of the house. Regardless of the case law, if the cops say that you are anywhere near the gun, or that you have any thing to do with the gun at all, regardless of the type of possession, it is VUFA 6105, if the cops can articulate facts that show that you were in any type of legal possession of the gun. The sentencing guidelines on 6105 are atrocious, so DO NOT live in any house where there is a gun. Move, separate, divorce, just stay away from guns.

Lying Witness

I am being charge with a crime. I am going to trial before a jury. The only witnesses are three cops. They are all liars. If they continue to lie at the trial, can the judge throw out the case before it gets to the jury?

Not really. The purpose of a jury trial if for the jurors to decide who is lying or not lying. Your job, or your lawyers job is to convince the jury that the cops are liars. The DA's job is to convince the jury that the cops are telling the truth. That is the whole purpose of the jury system.