Last week, I had a Disorderly conduct citation dismissed by Judge Farmer in Oxford District Court in Chester County. I wanted to write about the strategy used to get this citation thrown out. This same strategy can be applied to Pennsylvania Simple Assault cases at preliminary hearings. The facts are as follows*: my client, a prevalent executive at a marketing firm, was cited for Disorderly conduct stemming from an incident that occurred while he was picking up his daughter from her boyfriend's house. The short version of the story is that the boyfriend's father was drunk and shouting obscenities at my client's wife who was sitting in the car. My client approached the boyfriend's father, pushed the father, the two shouted obscenities back-and-forth and eventually got the boyfriend's father in a choke hold before being jumped by other members of the family. The boyfriend's father and my client were cited for disorderly conduct. I was prepared to take this case to trial based on the premise that my client was defending his wife. Just as you are allowed to defend yourself in a self-defense case, you are allowed to use the same force to defend 3rd parties from harm. My client stated that the boyfriend's father was pointing at his wife and "going after her." His daughter and her boyfriend told police that this was not true. The attorney representing the boyfriend's father approached me in the hallway and we decided to request a cooling off period to have the charges dismissed. I spoke to the Pennsylvania State Police Trooper and he was alright with this disposition to the case. My client was obviously happy that the charge would be dismissed. Rather than going through a trial, my client agreed to this disposition.
"Cooling off" periods usually work as follows, the case is continued for 60- 90 days and if there are no further problems between the parties the citation can be dismissed. It can also work the same way in district court for preliminary hearings involved misdemeanor charges such as Simple assault. For instance, if two adults get into a fight or physical altercation and are charged with Simple assault, you may be able to work out a deal where the cases is continued for 60-90 days for the "cooling off period," and if there are no further problems between the parties, the prosecutor will plead the case down to a lesser charge such as summary Disorderly conduct or summary Harassment. Some counties have variations on this model. They may make you perform community service or attend anger management during the "cooling off" period.
The 60-90 continuance can also be done in some domestic violence situations where the husband is accused of assaulting the wife. I have had success doing this in Delaware County District Courts. The last case I had out of Linwood, the deal worked as follows: I got a 90 day continuance, my client had to enroll and complete in anger management classes and aat the end of 90 days he was able to plead guilty to Disorderly conduct in lieu of Simple assault. This can also be accomplished in Chester County but it is a little tougher to accomplish. As a former Assistant District Attorney in Chester County, I know that the DA's interns have strict marching orders, to RARELY make summary plea deals in domestic violence situations at district court. Only in extraordinary circumstances are the interns allowed to plead down domestic cases and they will have to call and get approval from an intern supervisor. It is possible to get these deals, especially in situations where the victim does not wish to testify. If you can convince the DA intern to work out an "agreement" as they call it in Chester County, you will be required to enroll in a domestic violence program, have the case continued for 60-90 days and plead guilty to a summary offense such as harassment or disorderly conduct.
If you or someone you know is facing summary Disorderly conduct or harassment charges or has a pending simple assault case in district court, contact Jason R. Antoine, Pennsylvania Criminal Lawyer. Our office may be able to have your charges reduced or dismissed altogether.
***Please note that some of the facts in the above case may have been changed to preserve client confidentiality.***
