Criminal Law
Whether you are facing the most serious of felony charges that can carry possible long jail or prison sentences or less serious misdemeanor ones that might only result in a fine if you are convicted. All of these matters, no matter how serious or minor, can have profound effects on your future. We regularly defend people in cases involving everything from complicated insanity defenses in murder cases to Domestic Violence charges which can strip clients of their rights to ever possess firearms again to property crimes from large-scale thefts to simple shoplifting charges. If you are convicted of any type of criminal charge, that conviction will remain on your record for as long as you live and can have long-term effects on everything from your ability to get employment, or to travel to Canada or to do a variety of things that we all take for granted.
If you are charged with a criminal offense the best advice is to make sure you do not speak to anyone about those charges until you can find a good criminal defense lawyer you have confidence in. We rarely charge legal fees for your initial consultation in a pending criminal case. And if your case is over and you feel you have been unfairly convicted, we also do appeals to Maine’s Supreme Judicial Court seeking to overturn conviction.
OUI and Other Driving Charges
If you are charged by the police with Operating Under the Influence of alcohol (OUI) or any other motor vehicle offenses, you actually have two separate problems. The first involves the court charges you are facing and trying to make sure you get the best possible result when you go before a judge or a jury. The second problem most people are less aware of, but it can be just as significant. It occurs after your court is over and the Secretary of State’s Motor Vehicle Division in Augusta receives the paperwork related to your court conviction. Many people are caught by surprise after they walked out of court with a result in their criminal case that they thought they could live with, only to learn several weeks later that they will be getting an administrative license suspension much longer than the one they may have been given in court. An experienced lawyer can help you deal with all of these issues so that you do not have any unpleasant surprises along the way.
At Sanders, Hanstein & Carey for many years we have aggressively been defending people charged in Maine courts with OUI offenses as well as virtually every other motor vehicle crime from Vehicular Manslaughter charges down to basic speeding offenses. We do not charge prospective clients for initial consultations in OUI and other driving charges, and because we all live in the Farmington area none of our clients need to tell us how important it is for them to keep their driving licenses so they can get to work and take care of their families.