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Philadelphia Probation Violation Attorney

Pennsylvania Probation Violation/Detainer Attorney

Douglas P. Earl, Esquire will go see the Judge as soon as you or a family member contacts him. Mr. Earl will file a Motion to Lift the detainer and fight for your release from jail so you do not have to spend weeks or months in jail.

Oftentimes the public defender will agree to have a detainer remain in place and a probation hearing continued or postponed until the new arrest is resolved in the court system.  When a family member hires Mr. Earl as a result of a detainer the first thing Mr. Earl does is get a report from the probation or parole officer, then Mr. Earl goes is to the prison and visits the client.  Then Mr. Earl will go to probation or parole judge seeking the release of the client.

Douglas P. Earl, Esquire obtained the release of a client in four days in Lehigh County when he was told that it would be over two weeks before the client could see the Judge. In Lehigh County, judges often have probation and detainer hearings one day a week. Mr. Earl immediately visited the client in prison after he was hired. Mr. Earl was told by the probation officer that he did not agree with the detainer being lifted. Mr. Earl contacted the Deputy District Attorney. The Judge lifted the detainer the same day Douglas P. Earl, Esquire spoke with the Deputy District Attorney.

Do you remember the case of the rapper Meek Mill? Meek Mill was caught in the Pennsylvania Probation/Detainer trap. His probation was supposed to be an alternative to incarceration. He could not visit his son in New Jersey without the permission of the probation officer. Several times, Meek Mill was incarcerated or brought before the Court since his case originally started in 2008. If he did not have an attorney he would be in State Prison right now. Douglas P. Earl, Esquire will fight for you or your loved one. Mr. Earl will fight an unjust probation/detainer system.

If you are placed on probation due to being convicted of a crime, it is important to understand the terms of your probation and how to adhere to the guidelines set in place for you. It is even more important that you retain an experienced lawyer in the event that your probation officer is going to ask your back judge to issue a detainer (or has already obtained a detainer on the basis of a new arrest or the probation officer’s claim that are in violation of the terms of your probation or have already committed a probation violation.

At the Law Office of Douglas Earl LLC, we can help you deal with a variety of probation and parole issues that may arise. Our attorney Douglas Earl has over 29 years of experience handling these types of cases. We can assist you in fully comprehending the terms of your probation and how to fulfill them, or defend you in the event that there is an accusation of probation violation.

Technical violations of probation are allegations by your probation officer that terms of your probation or parole to have been broken. Some examples are a “hot” urine or positive urine test result, allegations that you were not reporting to probation regularly, allegation violations of house arrest convictions.  Sometimes there is confusion when probation officers change or the person on probation thought it was okay to do something. or there is a question about whether or not probation was actually completed. Direct probation violations oftentimes involve a new arrest.

A Daily News Article titled, “They Don’t seem to want to let go” by Samantha Melamed and Dylan Purcell, states: “Detainers are one way that probation, designed to keep people out of jail, often ends up doing the opposite in Pennsylvania, where the overall rate of correctional control is the second-highest in the nation. It’s a system that’s largely unchecked by law or state court rules, allowing probation officers and judges to impose their own versions of justice, and leaving those under supervision in a state of constant fear and uncertainty…Compared with those awaiting trial, people locked up for alleged probation violations enjoy few constitutional protections: They have no right to bail. And while they theoretically have a right to a speedy hearing, there are many permissible reasons for delay and no specified deadline.

Most will remain incarcerated for weeks or months before they have the chance to see a judge and argue their cases, which often involve minor, nonviolent infractions such as positive drug tests or failure to complete required programs. And by the time they get that chance, many won’t both to argue – instead accepting any new sentence, often time already served, as long as it means quickly getting out of jail. Any time you have someone held in custody, they’re going to be far, far more likely to plead guilty to an open matter, said Nyssa Taylor, a lawyer with the ACLU of Pennsylvania. They’re going to be more likely to sign an agreement to waive counsel. Incarceration is by its very nature coercive.

In Pennsylvania, where 250,000 people are serving sentences of county probation or parole – sentences designed to help them remain lawfully in the community – the number incarcerated on violations has risen rapidly in recent years. In Philadelphia, the number of warrants to detain accused violators nearly doubled over the last decade – exceeding 20,000 a year in 2017 – a reality that has hampered officials’ efforts to slash the jail population in half. When the city embarked on that goal in 2015, 51% of people in jail at any stage of the legal process had some type of detainer preventing their release. Today, its 61%…

Delaware County aims to hold the preliminary hearing within 14 days. In Lancaster and Bucks Counties, a few weeks or a month are standard. In some counties, where jail stays of 60 or 90 days are the norm for probation violations, the hearings are rarely held at all.

People jailed in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility for probation violations remain there an average of three months before they receive a preliminary hearing, an Inquirer analysis of 1,841 violations from the last three years found. It’s no coincidence, then, that 95% of them waived their rights at that hearing, accepting agreements to be released with time served, plus additional probation or parole. Those who did not waive their right to that first hearing ended up incarcerated an additional two months, on average…The problem is that Pennsylvania has set no rules governing detainers or detainer hearings. So courts have arrived at starkly divergent answers to questions like: What is “prompt”? And what’s a “hearing,” really? “This lack of clear procedural protection means sometimes people are held for two weeks or three weeks or four months, and it’s hard to get recourse for that,” the ACLU’s Taylor said. “We see very few counties conducting robust [preliminary] hearings.” When hearings do occur, the basic rights that should accompany them – to hear the evidence against you, to be represented by an attorney – are, in many parts of Pennsylvania, only theoretical.”

The issue is not only whether there is a violation of probation or parole. Many times a judge may find you to be in violation of probation or parole and reinstate probation or parole as part of the sentence.  It is important to prepare for probation or parole hearings with letters of employment, attendance at a program, or any other information which will help in determining whether you will be ordered to serve any period of incarceration.

Fighting a detainer is also very important.  Actual case: Client was on parole for an Aggravated Assault conviction. New arrest caused the client to have a new detainer lodged against the client.  Client was imprisoned.

Contact a Pennsylvania probation violation attorney at the Law Office of Douglas Earl LLC today. Attorney Earl can help you further understand the types of probation violations and how to effectively address these matters. Let us stand beside you and aggressively fight for your rights.

Judges make up their own mind about probation and parole violation matters. Have an experienced and knowledgeable lawyer on your side to ensure that your rights are preserved.

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Phone: (215) 627-5970.  Telephone is answered 24 hours a day.  Available all hours when there is an emergency.