As you may already know, in Pennsylvania, the ARD program is a pre-trial diversionary program designed so that first time offenders or low level offenders that finish the program, leave with no criminal record. I think the program is great. I know from experience that a criminal record will haunt a person for the rest of their life. A criminal record will inhibit the person from becoming a productive member of society and finding lawful employment. However, I see certain low level offenders being denied the program due to mainly political agendas. I think this is unjust and unfair.
I will give you an example. I represented a lady in Chester County that was charged with Furnishing Alcohol to Minors. In short, she had a party at her house and bought beer for her 16 year old son and his friends. She made sure that her son and his friends were staying the night and not driving. The party ended up getting out of hand. The boys had girls over and they snuck hard alcohol into the party. One of the girl's parents called police and my client got busted. She had an impeccable record. She was in her 50's, had no prior criminal history, possessed an advanced degree, managed a large company, and even spent weekends volunteering her time for Chester County. I explained all of this to the District Attorney's Office but she was nonetheless denied the ARD program because minors were involved in the crime. DA's are elected officials and play it extra safe with any case involving minors. Obviously, I think this can be a good thing, but not for situations like this. Everyone has a lapse in judgment from time to time and 16 year old kids are going to drink beer regardless of what parents do.
Some parents are under the impression that they are not doing anything wrong by letting the kids drink in the comfort of their home and keeping the off the road. Wrong! They will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law in Chester County and even deny you the ARD program. I know all crimes are serious, but I think in the scheme of things, serving alcohol to minors is a relatively low level crime. I don't think there is any reason this woman should have been denied the ARD program. She was denied because of a political pressure and the fear of bad press. DA's are concerned about elections. And if a reporter were to find out something happened to a minor, bad press will follow. In this case, I think the DA's office did the easy thing but not the right thing. My client thought she was doing a good thing by keeping the kids off the road and safe.
In contrast, let me tell you about a case I had in Delaware County. I represented a woman charged with over twenty counts of theft. She was a prostitute and heroin addict. She had a prior summary theft. She was admitted to the ARD program in Delaware County.
The point to my story is this: justice is not equal in Pennsylvania. It is the luck of the draw. Your fate depends upon which county you are prosecuted in, which judge you are in front of, and which DA you are assigned. There are lot of different factors involved in determining whether or not you will receive a fafair and just sentence.
Contact, Jason R. Antoine, Chester County Criminal Lawyer my if you or someone you know has been charged with a crime.
Disclaimer*** Some of the details of each factual scenario may be changed or modified in order to protect client confidentiality.
