Posted on August 11, 2009 in Federal Crimes & White Collar Crimes

I recently wrote a blog about the recent and dramatic change in the federal DOJ policy regarding the disparity between federal sentencing guidelines for crack and powder cocaine. https://www.marylandcriminalattorneyblog.com/2009/06/the_disparity_between_federal.html On May 1, 2009, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) released a Memorandum to all U.S. Attorney’s Offices instructing all federal prosecutors to inform sentencing courts “that the Administration believes Congress and the Commission should eliminate the crack/powder disparity . . .” and that prosecutors should not object to variances in sentencing to achieve that result.

The new DOJ memorandum gives federal criminal defense lawyers a powerful new tool to fight the draconian sentences that clients have faced for federal crack cocaine offenses.

Most recently, I convinced a federal judge in Maryland that the new DOJ Memo not only reduced the sentencing “regular” 2D1.1 guidelines for crack cocaine offenses, but it also reduced the Career Offender Guidelines under section 4B1.1. I argued that the DOJ Memo applied across the board to all disparity between crack and powder cocaine. Because my client was charged with conspiracy to distribute more than 50 grams of crack, the maximum possible punishment for the offense was life under 18 U.S.C. §841(b)(1)(A). The maximum possible penalty, however, for a similar offense involving powder cocaine was only 20 years under §841(b)(1)(C). This difference caused the career offender guidelines to drop from level 37, to level 32 because the career offender guidelines are keyed directly to maximum possible sentence for the charged offense.

In my recent case, the client was facing – after acceptance of responsibility – a sentencing guideline range of 262-327 months. Because the Judge agreed with my argument regarding the applicability of the DOJ Memo, he reduced the guidelines by five levels, to a range of 151-188 months – an immediate reduction of almost 12 years incarceration!

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 Posted on August 09, 2009 in Personal Injury

On Tuesday August 4, 2009, a wonderful man named John "Jack" Yates (age 67) was killed, while safely operating his bicycle, by a hit and run driver at the corner of Maryland Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Baltimore City, Maryland. The hit and run driver was operating a nondescript white box truck.

Jack Yates was a loving grandfather, father and husband. He spent his entire professional life helping troubled youth in Baltimore City. He deserves better. If anyone has information as to the identity of the truck and driver, please contact the Baltimore City Police or send a confidential email to ssilverman@silvermanthompson.com. Thanks, Steve Silverman

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 Posted on August 05, 2009 in Criminal Defense

Baltimore Maryland Criminal Lawyer. I blogged last week about cases in which narcotics detectives essentially manufacture felony drug cases by asking defendants caught with prescription drugs if they intended to give or share the pills with someone else and if they answered in the affirmative, charging them with possession with the intent to distribute a controlled dangerous substance (CDS). In that blog I posited the question, "are the police really looking to make progress in the war on drugs or just stat to further their own careers?" I was retained in case recently that caused me again to think the detective’s goal may be the latter.

In this case the police arrested an individual for possessing illegal prescription drugs. Instead of just charging the individual and moving on to the next case they chose to make him an informant and offer him the opportunity to "work off his charge". I certainly don’t have a problem with what the police did up to this point. Informants are an essential investigative tool that have been used by law enforcement since the beginning of time. The problem I have is the way in which they used this informant which was to get him to set someone up who was otherwise not predisposed to sell drugs.

This individual called my client whom he has known for many years. He knows that my client has very serious medical problems to include having suffered a serious spinal injury that rendered him paralyzed for a few months and has led to multiple surgeries and fusions of vertebrae. He cannot walk without the use of a walker or crutches and has been deemed totally disabled by Social Security. The informant knows that my client is in chronic pain and is prescribed numerous pain killers to help him combat the pain from this injury as well as his other ailments.

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 Posted on August 04, 2009 in Personal Injury

The Baltimore Sun is reporting that a cyclist was struck by a motor vehicle and killed in downtown Baltimore today. The accident occurred on the corner of Maryland and Lafayette avenues. It is unclear whether the cyclist was wearing a helmet.

Our firms personal injury department has successfully handled several accidents involving bicycles and automobiles. Interestingly enough, the rules of the road apply the same to cyclist as they do to automobiles. For more information, please contact us for a consultation.

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 Posted on August 03, 2009 in Medical Malpractice

The Maryland Court of Appeals has issued a new decision on the law of informed consent in Maryland medical malpractice cases. According to the court, doctors must inform patients not only of the risks of procedures but also the potential consequences of forgoing a medical procedure. The decision is a victory for patient’s rights.

A number of years ago, the Maryland Court of Appeals held that informed consent only applied when there was some physical contact with the patient. The Court’s new decision, however, removed that limitation.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I have handled a large number of informed consent cases. In any medical malpractice case, it is always important for a lawyer to ask whether the patient was properly informed of risks, alternatives, probabilities of success and failure and other considerations that bear on what was important to the patient. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here.

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 Posted on August 03, 2009 in Medical Malpractice

A Montgomery County jury has awarded $1.85 million to the parents of a baby who died three days after delivery from complications of internal bleeding caused by the method of delivery. The women arrived at Frederick Memorial Hospital for a scheduled, induced labor 41 weeks into her pregnancy. She pushed for three hours early the next morning, but the baby’s head was too large to pass through her pelvis, a condition known as cephalopelvic disproportion. The baby could have been safely delivered by c-section, but the obstetrician twice tried to forcibly pull the baby through the birth canal using a vacuum extractor. This injured the baby and caused his death.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I frequently handle medical malpractice cases in Baltimore, Maryland and other places involving obstetrical mistakes. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here . In fact, I handled one of the first cases in Maryland to successfully argue that it was malpractice to use a vacuum extractor on a premature infant.

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 Posted on August 03, 2009 in Medical Malpractice

A jury has awarded $1 million to a New Mexico man who alleged a surgeon committed medical malpractice in repairing a colon perforation after a colonoscopy. The patient suffered a tiny bowel perforation during a colonoscopy. The surgeon then operated in order to repair the hole, but the surgeon did not see any hole and therefore failed to repair it. Because the surgeon didn’t see the perforation, he assumed it had sealed itself, but the surgeon failed to use procedures he could have used – such a dye test – to locate the perforation. As a result, the man’s bowels continue to leak feces into his man’s abdomen for eleven days causing massive infection. The infection resulted in severe scarring in his abdomen, which has required thirteen operations.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I frequently handle medical malpractice cases in Baltimore, Maryland and other places involving surgical mistakes. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here .

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 Posted on August 03, 2009 in Medical Malpractice

A New York man has been awarded $19.2 million in a medical negligence case against a hospital in New York City. The man was admitted to the hospitalcomplaining of severe back pain. The hospital’s staff negligently failed to diagnose a spinal abscess, which is an infection on the spinal cord, which quickly led to his permanent paralysis. Apparently, the hospital did not conduct an MRI or CAT scan until two weeks after thje man was admitted, when the damage had already been done. A neurosurgeon tried to reverse some of that damage, but it was too late. The man has been paralyzed from his chest down ever since.

As an experienced Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice lawyer, I frequently handle medical malpractice cases in Baltimore, Maryland and other places involving paralysis. To see some of the cases I have handled, click here .

In a case like this, it is important to prove violations of the standard of care and that the violation caused the person’s paralysis. In such cases, we frequently use neurosurgery experts, neuroradiology experts, infectious disease experts, etc. One of the most frequent reasons for people to sue in such a situation is to obtain compensation that allows them to obtain better medical care than they or their health insurer otherwise would provide, and to gain independence. That is exactly what happened in this case. A copy of the article regarding the case can be found here.

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 Posted on July 30, 2009 in Criminal Defense

https://www.silvermanthompson.com/lawyer-attorney-1300820.html As a Maryland Criminal Lawyer/Attorney I often have cases that make me wonder what it is exactly that the police are attempting to accomplish. Are they really attempting to win the so called war on drugs or is their strategy (or lack thereof) more cynical than that? Is it just to make as many felony drug arrests as possible regardless of whether the people arrested are really involved in the actual distribution of narcotics in order to give the false impression of progress? I have had several cases recently that have reluctantly made me think that it is the latter.

I have had several cases recently that have followed a very similar pattern:

In these cases, the police get tipped off by a pharmacist that someone is attempting to pass a phony prescription for pain killers or other controlled dangerous substances. The person attempting to pass the prescription is told that the prescription will take an hour or so to fill and asked to return later. By the time the person comes back to pick up the prescription the narcotics detectives are waiting and watching the pharmacy counter. As soon as the person picks up the prescription, he or she is arrested.

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 Posted on July 29, 2009 in Criminal Defense

As a Maryland Criminal Attorney I am often confronted with cases in which a white police officer stops an African American (usally a man). In many, if not most, of these cases the person stopped believes that he was racially profiled or that at the very least, his race played a part in the officer’s decision to stop and/or arrest him.

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