Being charged with a crime in Maine is stressful and can feel overwhelming. Whether you are facing a misdemeanor, aggravated assault, or a felony, Webb Law Firm provides the experience of criminal defense lawyers in my area who understand the Maine courts. Our attorneys have represented clients in a wide range of criminal cases and know how important it is to act quickly when your future is at stake.
Being arrested for Operating Under the Influence (OUI) in Maine is a serious situation. It can affect your job, your driving record, your license, and even your freedom. Many people feel overwhelmed after a DUI arrest, unsure of what steps to take next. Working with an experienced Maine OUI lawyer gives you the legal counsel you need to protect your future and navigate Maine’s strict OUI laws.
Most criminal defense attorneys in Maine offer an initial consultation. Some charge a fee to interview you but our criminal lawyers in Maine do not do that.
Our goal is to provide an accused citizen an immediate overview of her or his pending criminal case because in some cases (e.g., OUI-DUI defense) these drivers need IMMEDIATE assistance in dealing with Maine’s strict implied consent laws for operating under the influence arrests.
About 45% of all our Firm’s clients each year need our help as Maine DUI lawyers. Your arresting officer likely used our state’s acronym, O-U-I, for operating under the influence. Also, with recent changes to weed laws, we often are asked to be marijuana lawyers in Maine for clients.
When you or a loved one faces misdemeanor or felony criminal charges in Maine, the stakes are high. Whether it’s a minor misdemeanor, a serious felony, or a complex OUI (Operating Under the Influence) case, the outcome of your legal situation can have a profound impact on your future. This is why securing a skilled Maine criminal lawyer is essential. This comprehensive guide is designed to answer your most pressing questions about criminal defense in Maine, covering everything from how to afford legal representation to understanding the differences between various charges and how to find the best attorney for your needs.
Understanding the criminal justice system in Maine can be overwhelming, especially if you’re unfamiliar with legal procedures and terminology. Whether you’re searching for information on the cost of legal services, the state’s public defender system, or the best OUI lawyers in Maine, you’ll find it all here. This article also provides practical advice on how to afford a criminal defense attorney, what to look for when selecting a lawyer, and what to expect throughout the legal process.
By the end of this guide, you’ll have a clearer understanding of your rights, options, and the steps you should take to protect yourself or your loved ones when facing criminal charges in Maine.
Criminal mischief in Maine is a property crime involving intentional, knowing, or reckless damage to another person’s property.
Title 17-A, §806 of the Maine Revised Statutes defines criminal mischief in Maine. A person commits criminal mischief if they:
John Scott Webb, a Southern Maine Criminal Defense Lawyer in Saco and Portland, Explains
The key differences between reasonable articulable suspicion (RAS) and probable cause (PC) in Maine are:
Reasonable Articulable Suspicion (RAS): If you are cruising down the road in Southern Maine and you commit a traffic violation like running a red light, a Southern Maine police officer has the legal right to briefly stop and detain you. The officer can also pull you over if you are driving recklessly, for example weaving between lanes, or going 20 miles over the posted speed limit. The officer must articulate specific facts that led to their suspicion. Common factors that can establish RAS include the police officer observing traffic violations, erratic driving, or other suspicious behavior.
The State of Maine updated its laws is a new way to classify crimes. Instead of just misdemeanors and felonies, there are now five different classes of crimes in the Pine Tree State. In most places, criminal offenses are classified as either felonies or misdemeanors. But in Maine, the State uses a different structure of criminal punishment.
Our state’s criminal offenses are divided into five classes: A, B, C, D, and E.
Each class of crime has its own maximum punishment. Class A crimes bring the most severe punishments. For example, A, B, and C crimes are felony offenses, with C class crimes being the least punitive of the felony classification crimes. Crime classes D and E are misdemeanor crimes, with potential jail sentences capped at 364 days. This means there are more options for a wide variety of punishments. It’s important to know which class your charges fall into and what penalties you could face. An example would be an arrest for possession of marijuana which is a serious criminal charge that one of our Saco and Portland criminal lawyers can handle for you. Or you may be facing an operating under the influence of alcohol charge (OUI-Alcohol) even if you blew under a 0.08 on the breathalyzer machine.
By Webb Law Firm, With Law Offices Near Me in Portland Maine and Saco ME
No other nation besides the United States has the Fourth Amendment protections that require a police officer to have information of a crime having been committed before “seizing” a person. When a driver is on the highway, the act of a government law officer seizing that person happens by signaling with emergency lights, using siren or even hand signals, to pull over.
Since the US Supreme Court clarified the issue in 1961, in Mapp v. Ohio, the federal constitutional rule applies to both state and federal officers. Many of the nation’s best criminal cases have been appeals from DUI lawyers near me made after an officer acted on a hunch, and did not have reasonable suspicion.
By Maine OUI Lawyer John Scott Webb Serving Saco and Portland ME
OUI roadblocks near me are sobriety checkpoints where police officers stop every vehicle—or a certain number of vehicles at random—to search for intoxicated drivers. These DUI roadblocks appear more frequently around holidays, when driving under the influence is more common.
This legal article explores a driver’s right to not pass through these license checks near me. So long as no traffic crime is committed, a citizen can opt to not wait for the line of drivers to be checked, and depart in the opposite direction.
In Maine, your income makes no difference in how much your ticket will cost. The fine scale is predetermined and applies evenly to everyone, which seems reasonable. But is it really fair? That all depends on who you are and how much money you make. For some, a speeding ticket could be devastating and for others, it could be nothing more than a slight annoyance.
Lets say that you are driving on the interstate with a speed limit of 60MPH and you get a ticket for going 75MPH. The cost for this tickets will likely be around $200. According to datausa.io, the median household income in Maine is around $55,000 a year. That means that this ticket would be 4.36% of your household income for the month. This would perhaps be a difficult hit, but at the end of the day, would not be the end of the world. It would probably be a good incentive to be more careful and to drive slower in the future. This is exactly the hope of the law makers who set the fee scale for the ticket.
But now lets say that the NFL commissioner gets the same $200 ticket while he is at vacation house in Maine. His income, according to USA Today, is around $40,000,000 a year. That would mean the same ticket would be 0.006% of his monthly income. That type of punishment would be the equivalent of the person making $55,000 a year getting a ticket for around 28 Cents. Is there really any incentive there to follow the speed limit? There are other penalties such as possible license suspension that come with enough points on your license. But if your income is high enough, paying a driver a full time salary would be a realistic option. That is obviously not an alternative for the average Mainer.
Southern Maine Criminal Lawyer Blog