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Bond Hearings in Maryland Federal Child Pornography Cases

Child pornography cases are among the most severely prosecuted sex crimes. The penalties associated with these crimes are often incredibly serious, and can have life-long impacts on the individual accused. Further, there are many things that an individual should know about bond hearings in Maryland federal child pornography cases.

If you are facing child pornography charges, it is important to contact an experienced attorney immediately. A knowledgeable lawyer can craft a defense to help represent you to the highest possible degree.

Bond Hearing Process

Bond hearings in a Maryland federal child pornography case are hotly contested, and most of the time depend on how many images have been discovered, and are alleged to be child pornography. This further depends on if there is any prior criminal history, and can often also depend on the specific prosecutor that an individual is dealing with. It is important to come to court with information that shows that a client has a stable residence, extensive ties to a community, and stable employment.

If that is in fact the case, then a background check may be performed on the individual. This is to show whether the individual has had any prior contact with the criminal justice system, in order to have a proposal to make to the judge to show that the person in question is not going to be a danger to the community.

For example, if an attorney can propose that a client has moved in with a parent who lives in the house and has agreed to remove any sort of access to a a computer from the home, the judge will release the individual to that parent. Normally, it needs to be proven that either no computer exists in the home, there is no wi-fi or internet provider in the home, or any available computers have monitoring software placed on them that can block certain websites from being accessed.

Before the Initial Court Date

Before the first court date, people should know that the prosecutors are going to try to hold that person in jail for the remainder of the case.  They are going to fight very hard for that, and it is something that an attorney must be prepared to deal with.

The important things to think about are the ways to show a judge that the individual can be released, that they do not pose the risk of flight, and that they are not a danger to the community. An attorney will research their client’s background, prior criminal history, and talk to people who can vouch for the fact that the person has a stable background. If an individual has a stable family structure in the area, it is easier to make the case that they are not going to flee.

An attorney will show that the individual in question has a job, has been stabling holding it, and research the person’s background to show that they do not have any criminal history. That goes directly to the argument that the person is not danger. There is a lot of background work that needs to be done before a first court date in either type of case.

Plea Cases

At an arraignment, or when an individual has a first court appearance, they are entering a plea of not guilty. Down the road, most of the time a prosecutor’s going to make a plea offer to resolve the case. At that point, an attorney will need to have investigated their case, and done as much due diligence as possible, so that an attorney can say to a client that they have all the available information An attorney can then make the most educated decision on how to proceed with the trial, based on the options that he or she thinks their client will have.

It is not advisable to enter into a plea deal agreement negotiation without a lawyer. An individual will often end up making statements to a prosecutor that would disclose crucial information about a potential defense.

Common Plea Offers

The type of plea offer that an individual is going to be able to get depends upon the facts of the case. In Maryland, the plea offers tend to be harsher than they are in other jurisdictions. To learn more about what kind of plea you may be able to get, you should consult with a Maryland child pornography lawyer. An experienced attorney can look at the facts and circumstance of your case and help negotiate with the prosecution to get you the best deal possible.

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