Arizona Criminal Laws

Importance of Trial Experience in Phoenix

Is it important for a defense attorney to have actual experience in trial? I think it abolutely is. The shear volume of trials that we’ve done has provided us with tremendous experience, however, it’s really quality over quantity is how I look at it.

Both Steven and I have done very specific types of felony trials, misdemeanor trials, all the way down to citations and traffic offenses in our career as prosecutors and that’s translated to the same type of success that we had as prosecutors and now translated as defense attorney as well. When you’re familiar with how a courtroom is run, how juries respond to the type of information that’s being presented to them, that is valuable in not only presenting at trial, but in negotiating a resolution for your client.

One of the things we try to avoid at all costs is going to a trial, because we don’t want to put that decision in somebody else’s hands as to how this case is going to resolve. But, because we know how to do good trial work, we do good pre-trial work and we’re able to get the results we’d like to get after a trial at an earlier stage where the risk is much lower.

By: Jared Allen

Whether or not that you’ll be eligible for probation for a drug offense is going to be dependent on three factors. The type of drugs involved, the amount of drugs involved, and also whether there were any indicators that you had intent to sell the drugs involved. When were dealing with smaller amounts and certain drugs, such as marijuana, you may have a statutory right to probation for a first offense. If we’re dealing with a drug, such as methamphetamine, you’re likely going to be facing a jail term and not be eligible for probation, depending on the circumstances of the offense. Anytime that there’s an indication that there’s an intent to sell, you will not be eligible for probation for that type of offense. That’s why it’s important to have a strong, experienced attorney that has handled these types of cases. If you or a loved one have been charged with a drug offense and you have these questions, feel free to give me a call at (480) 994-8824 or email me.

To find out if you’re eligible for probation on a drug charge in Arizona, please contact an Arizona criminal attorney.

By: Attorney Max Hanson

DUI Litigation Expertise

Steve, at AM Law, what is your experience in handling DUI cases? DUI cases are some of the most common cases that come up in the world of criminal defense. For me personally, while I was a prosecutor I handled hundreds of misdemeanor DUIs as a trial attorney and I finished my career at the Maricopa County attorneys office as a member of their vehicular crimes bureau, where my practice was dedicated solely to cases involving DUIs, or manslaughters, or homicides that involved an impaired driver. So, for me personally, I’ve handled thousands of cases involving DUIs and have focused my training and my practice as a prosecutor in handling those types of cases.

By: Steven Meyerand

Criminal assault in Arizona means that you’ve been charged with either physically injuring someone or even threatening to physically injure someone if they feel their in imminent danger of harm, which means you come up to someone and you draw back with your fist or something else and they think they’re going to be punched, that’s assault under Arizona law. Additionally, you can be charged with assault if you just simply push someone, goat them, insult them, provoke them into action or provoke them into a fight, you can be charged with assault in Arizona. It’s a criminal misdemeanor offense. Maximum penalty, probation is usually available, but maximum penalty can be up to 6 months in jail, so it’s a serious offense that you need serious help with. If you’ve been charged with assault, give my office a call. Talk to one of our experienced criminal law attorneys. Our number is (480) 994-8824. Or you can contact me by my email address.

By: Attorney Max Hanson

What made you decide to switch from being a prosecutor to becoming a defense attorney?

When I left the prosecutor’s office, I had been a prosecutor for almost (6) six years and during that time I had handled every type of case from a low-level misdemeanor offense all the way up to very serious high-level felony offenses. And during my time as a prosecutor, I found myself to be interested in the practice of criminal defense law from the standpoint of working with defendants. Really getting a chance to advocate for the person who stands before the court accused of that crime and I was fortunate enough to work with some excellent criminal defense attorneys during that time, who really demonstrated for me at least the amount you can accomplish for a client who’s facing such a tough situation. So when the opportunity presented itself to begin our firm, it was just natural for both of us to move into the area of criminal defense, since it allowed us to utilize all of the skills, techniques that we had learned as prosecutors, however, to put them to use for individuals who have been charged for these crimes and really deal with the personal aspect of the criminal justice system.

By: Steven Meyerand

Free Case Evaluation in Phoenix

Jared, at AM Law, what is a free case evaluation? That’s a good question. We have people ask that all the time when they call in to talk to us. They want to know, “Is free really free?” and the answer is absolutely yes.

At AM Law, we will talk to any individual, any prospective client that calls us about a criminal matter, or some type of legal matter that we’re able to help them with. We’ll sit down with them, or we’ll talk to them over the phone, whatever’s convenient for them and we’ve met whether it be at our office, or a Starbucks, or a potential client’s home, we’re willing to do that and talk to you about your case and look at any information you may have already been given, whether it’s a police report, or a citation and try to give you an idea of how the case is going to proceed from that point and the type of work that we can do in a case like that and especially the type of experience we may have in a case like that and talk a little bit about the value and the benefits of having an attorney on your case at various stages of a pending matter. So, when we talk about a free case evaluation at AM Law, we are absolutely talking about time that you do not have to pay for.

By: Jared Allen

If you are convicted of assault, a criminal misdemeanor in Arizona, you could be facing up to 6 months in jail, you could be facing fines totaling over $2500, especially if we consider all of the assessments, jail cost, mandatory fees owing to the court. Plus, you could be responsible for restitution to the victim for any out of pocket costs, medical expenses or otherwise that resulted from the assault and you can face significant restrictions upon your future employment. If you’re a teacher, if you’re a doctor, a realtor, someone with professional certification and licensing, that licensing could be effected by the nature of your conviction for assault. If you or a loved one have been charged with assault, you need to call an attorney today. Feel free to call me at (480) 994-8824 or contact me by email.

If you’ve been convicted of assault in Arizona, visit a profile and complete a contact form.

By: Attorney Max Hanson

If you are convicted of aggravated assault, this is a serious felony offense that you will not be eligible for probation upon conviction. You will face a significant prison term that can range anywhere between three to twenty-one years in prison. You will also face the possibility of paying fines up to $150,000 and it will have lasting significant impact on you, even upon release from prison as to your right to vote, as to your right to possess or use firearms and as to any future employment. Your employment will be limited by the fact that you have been convicted of a serious and dangerous felony offense. If you or a loved one are facing charges of aggravated assault or have been convicted of charges of aggravated assault and need help, please feel free to contact me at (480) 994-8824 or email me.

By: Attorney Max Hanson

Trial Cooperation

If witnesses refuse to cooperate with the police, will the case be dismissed? That’s a good question. I’d say it’s an urban legend that if a witness doesn’t want to prosecute, or doesn’t want to testify in a trial setting, then that case is going to be dismissed and we hear that at AM Law from clients in not just domestic violence cases, but cases in general.

We try to educate our clients based on our experience as prosecutors having had those difficulties in getting witnesses to trial, or getting witnesses to the interview prior to a trial. If you’re counting on that as your 100% sure fire way to get your case handled, then your most likely going to be disappointed with the result. We talk about the experience we had as prosecutors, because the power of the state is significant.

Court Subpoena

They can subpoena and compel witnesses to appear in court and that can be as aggressive as going out and arresting the individual that has said that they don’t want to come and testify or that they don’t want to prosecute the case and bring them before the court to testify more or less against their will. So, we try to explain to our clients that we want to build a defense that isn’t dependent on luck, or circumstances that are outside of our control.

Allen & Meyerand

We want to do what we can control here within these four walls. That involves using our experience to talk with prosecutors about potential results that would be beneficial for both parties and we see in domestic violence a lot of times that it is beneficial to have a counseling, or an anger management, or even a familial type of counseling resolution in lieu of having a conviction. That, often times, is enough for the behavior to not be repeated. And then obviously if the behavior is repeated, then there are more serious consequences down the line for those types of offenders.

By: Jared Allen