Jason S Dunkle’s Answers

If the blood alcohol level remains under .10%, then your husband would be charged with a violation of section 3802(a)(2) of the Vehicle Code, which is in the lowest tier of DUI penalties but would still result in a mandatory minimum sentence of 6 months probation and a $300.00 fine. If the blood alcohol level was .10% but less than .16%, then he would be facing a charge of 3802(b), which is in the middle tier of DUI penalties and carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 48 hours incarceration, $...

Under PA law, prior offenses do include convictions or preliminary disposition in other states if the offense in the other state is substantially similar to PA's DUI law. It is highly likely that a DUI in another state would be substantially similar to PA's DUI law. The next issue is whether the NJ offense appears on your criminal background records. If the NJ DUI is not on your records, then the DA would not know about the offense, and this could be treated as a first offense. It is not...

I believe that appropriate answer is "it depends." Presuming you had a condition that prohibited you from leaving the state without permission, you clearly violated the terms of your probation. Issues you have: 1) will your probation officer discover the violation; 2) if so, will he/she ignore the violation or proceed with a probation revocation; 3) if there is a revocation, what is the probation department and/or DA going to recommend as far as a punishment for the revocation; 4) what is the...

The prohibition is based upon the maximum sentence and not the sentence that was actually imposed. As your charge was an M1, the statutory maximum is 5 years. Under 18 U.S.C. 922 and 921, you are prohibited under Federal law from possessing a firearm. Jason S. Dunkle, Esquire D & H Law Group, P.C. State College, PA 16801

Under section 1532(c) of the Vehicle Code, PA driving privileges are suspended for offenses related to the possession and distribution of controlled substances. To date, PA courts have not interpreted the Possession of Paraphernalia charge, in violation of 35 P.S. 780-113(a)(32), to be related to the possession and distribution of drugs, so the answer is no. If convicted of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, you should not be facing a suspension of PA driving privileges. Jason S. Dunkle,...

If you have a fee agreement that shows that you paid the attorney to handle the expungement, attorneys such as myself will take care of it. We will try to honor the agreements of our friends. Jason S. Dunkle, Esquire JD Law, P.C. State College, PA 16801 (814) 954-7622

There are limitations to the expungement. Regretfully, a court can only order the expungement of government records, but a court can not order private people or private companies to expunge. A newspaper has a First Amendment right to retain its publications. This is also arises with internet background search companies. Those companies are often purchasing information from a state records database, and, while the state database is later expunged, the internet background search company does...

As with many things, the answer is it depends. If you beat the citation, then you have a very good chance that nothing will happen as you were found not guilty of the citation. However, if you had an ARD condition, such as not drinking, and the citation was for Public Drunkenness, the fact that you were found not guilty of the violation does not necessarily mean that you won't be revoked from ARD. If the probation department can still prove that you drank, then you could be violated. In...

Since you were 17 when the DUI occurred, the charge would generally be on your juvenile record and not an adult record, which would also explain why the DUI charge was not listed on the AOPC web portal search. The website you accessed is generally accurate. With regard to your DUI case, it sounds as if you completed a consent decree, which is similar to ARD in adult court. While you could not access the juvenile record, it does not mean that the record of the offense does not exist. You may...

I have been a criminal defense lawyer in Centre County since 2004, so I have handled many cases similar to yours in this area. I would want to review your paperwork to see if any issues arise with regard to the possibility of having your case dismissed. Based upon the limited facts that you have presented, I believe that you would be an ideal candidate for ARD in this county. Over the years, I have represented many students that wanted to become professionals, be it lawyers, doctors,...