Price Benowitz, LLP is pleased to announce the opening of its new office in Rockville Maryland. According to managing partner David Benowitz, the Rockville office is a way of bringing the firm's expert criminal and DUI defense attorneys closer to their clients. "This new location makes the law firm more accessible to our clients in Montgomery County."

The firm's newest office is located at 51 Monroe Street in Rockville, Maryland. With its location across the street from the Rockville courthouse, the law office is convenient for clients needing a Rockville criminal lawyer. This proximity to the courthouse makes the Rockville office well-situated for meetings between clients and their Rockville DUI attorneys and Rockville criminal lawyers, says Jennifer Closser, a Montgomery County DUI lawyer with Price Benowitz, LLP.

Having a location in Rockville will make it easier for clients not only to meet with Montgomery County criminal lawyers, but also to find them in the first place. "Having this new location enhances our visibility in Montgomery County for those clients in need of a Rockville DUI lawyer," says defense lawyer Kush Arora, a Montgomery County criminal attorney with the firm.

David Benowitz is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School with an advanced law degree from Temple University Law School. An acclaimed defense attorney, Benowitz maintains a perfect score on the AVVO rating system and has been awarded the highest rating of AV by Martindale Hubbel.

Jennifer Closser also obtained her law degree from The George Washington University Law School, where she participated in the Criminal and Appellate Clinic. A former Maryland Assistant State's Attorney, Closser received a Governor's Citation, a House Resolution from the Maryland House of Delegates, and a Resolution from the Maryland Senate. Closser joins the Rockville office as a Maryland criminal Lawyer for Price Benowitz, LLP.

An experienced Montgomery County criminal attorney, Kush Arora is a 2005 graduate of The Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law. As a law student, Arora was an officer of the South Asian Bar Association. Formerly an Assistant Public Defender in Montgomery County, Maryland, Arora is now a Rockville defense attorney with Price Benowitz, LLP.

Price Benowitz, LLP is a full service criminal defense law firm based in Washington DC with offices throughout the state of Maryland. In addition to their DC and Maryland locations, Price Benowitz, LLP also represents clients in Virginia through their experienced Virginia DUI attorneys and Virginia criminal attorneys.

A Montgomery County man who was shot five times during an incident for which he was convicted of second degree assault against a police officer was sentenced to 18 months in prison. Thirty-two-year-old Ingham "Andre" DeFreitas also faces five years of probation for his role in the "chaotic altercation."

The incident on September 28th of last year began when a homeowner in the Darnestown area called police on DeFreitas after his car got stuck in mud. Officer Kurt Colson, who had been on the force for less than two years at the time of the altercation, responded to the call. Officer Colson testified in court that DeFreitas did not heed his commands, exiting his vehicle and reaching into his pockets before he charged Colson. The officer stated that DeFreitas was trying to take his gun, forcing Colson to shoot. At his June trial, DeFreitas was convicted of misdemeanor assault, but was acquitted of the heavier charge of trying to disarm Colson because jurors were unable to clearly determine whether he was trying to take the gun from the officer or "push it away."

DiFreitas' Maryland criminal lawyer focused the defense heavily on the issue of excessive force, calling several witnesses to testify that they had suffered it at the hands of Montgomery County officers. Circuit Court Judge Michael Algeo, saying recent positive drug tests for DeFreitas "(spoke) volumes," brought up the defendant's criminal history while rejecting the defense:

"This is not a 1983 civil rights violation or trial," Algeo said. "This is not about police brutality or police conduct. This is about Mr. DeFreitas who was convicted by a jury of assault in the second degree. So I want the focus to be on that."

Prosecutors concurred, saying that a longer sentence for DeFreitas was necessary to "send a message" that physically resisting law enforcement officers was not acceptable during the course of an arrest.

"You cannot attack or assault a uniformed police officer. This is not a bar fight."

This article is presented by Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Lawyer and Virginia Criminal Attorneys websites.

Eight members of a family were taken hostage in a private residence in Prince George's County during an incident family members say stemmed from a relationship breakup. Police have not released the name or age of the suspect.

The standoff began at around 10 p.m. on September 14th at a home on Ritchboro Road in Capitol Heights. The suspect's 18-year-old former girlfriend was one of the eight hostages, according to family members who spoke to press. The woman's relatives say the nine-hour long hostage drama began when her uncle attempted to force the gun-wielding man from the home after he "stormed in."

Davon McRae, the woman's brother, described the altercation:

"My uncle tried to put him out of the house, so that's when he got mad, hit him with the gun and closed the door back," said McRae, the victim's brother.
The woman's uncle added:

"I came home with my girlfriend and the guy had everybody hostage," said Tyrone Wright, the victim's uncle. "He eventually let us out of the house, but he took my niece upstairs."

Police set up a command center outside the house, negotiating with the suspect for the entire nine hours while the family was barricaded inside the residence. The situation finally came to an end when the man, who had holed up in an upstairs bedroom, shot himself at around 7 a.m. His ex-girlfriend was able to escape the standoff without injury, and no other injuries other than those to the gunman were reported.

The family said that the hostage situation was the second armed confrontation with the gunman that day. Police were not called the first time because, according to the victim's mother, the suspect apologized and left. Law enforcement officials did not release information about pending charges, and would only say the suspect was in "very critical condition."

This article is presented by Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland Criminal Attorneys and Washington DC Criminal Attorney websites.

Two Maryland teenagers are in custody, charged with a plot to kill one of the teens' parents. Police say 16-year-old Katelyn Kirchoff "helped devise" the plan to kill members of her family so the couple could be together, William Collins, also 16, is accused of firing a gun at members of Kirchoff's family as they watched a football game at the Kirchoff's Dorchester County home.

Police described a "spray of bullets," believed to have been fired from a .357 magnum into the house. No one was killed in the shooting, but the girl's aunt was hit with fragments from the bullets. Charging documents in the case indicate that Collins had been arrested for a burglary at the home the day prior to the shooting, and that the teens concocted the plan via text messages, even agreeing to time the shootings to occur at 9:20 p.m. Records indicate that police were called at 9:21 p.m.

Despite the evidence against Kirchoff, her family has publicly offered their support. Her father told press:

"I'm standing by her," said her father Ken Kirchoff. "The whole family, all five people who were there that night, stand by her. She is not this type of child."

The teen's parents had not spoken to their daughter for days when the elder Kirchoff spoke to press, and both teens remained incarcerated, neither able to post $500,000 bail. Katelyn Kirchoff is said to have confessed to her role in the murder plot, and both teenagers have been charged with two counts of attempted first-degree murder and five counts of attempted second-degree murder. It was not known whether the teens had been assigned or retained Maryland criminal attorneys to face the murder charges.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Virginia criminal defense attorney and Maryland DUI Lawyers websites.

A Frederick woman who was accused of organizing a fundraiser for a co-worker's ailing child and siphoning proceeds of the event for personal use pled guilty in Frederick County Circuit Court September 22nd to "benefiting from the fundraiser," according to authorities. Thirty-two-year-old Jessica Ann Jeffries also pled guilty to attempted theft at her subsequent post at Mattress Warehouse.

The scheme involving the sick child occurred at Crowley Micrographics, according to documents filed in Frederick County Circuit Court. In response to management inquiries about the state of Crowley's fiscal affairs, Jeffries is said to have told a co-worker that the organization would soon discover "some money missing" and indicated that she intended to seek a new job. Representatives from Crowley alerted the Frederick County Sheriff's Office in December, and Deputy First Class Jeff Norris initiated an investigation into the financial irregularities first noticed by the company.

Norris discovered that Jeffries had been using a company credit card without authorization to do so, and had written herself checks in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $3,800. Jeffries was also tasked with making arrangements and shopping for the sick child of her co-worker, and surveillance video revealed that she used gift cards intended to be used as prizes for the benefit, ostensibly for personal reasons. Footage shows Jeffries using the stolen gift cards while shopping with her two small children. She was also accused of writing a reimbursement check to herself for just under $500 while working for Mattress Warehouse after she was forbidden to do so by her supervisors.

Jeffries' Maryland criminal defense attorney negotiated a plea deal with Assistant State Attorney Erin Moloney, and Jeffries opted not to make a statement in court before her sentence was announced. Circuit Judge John Tisdale ordered Jeffries to pay nearly $22,000 in restitution and perform 100 hours of community service. She also received a 10-year suspended sentence, with three years of supervised probation.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Washington DC Criminal Lawyer and Virginia Criminal Attorneys websites.

Harford County Circuit Judge Emory Plitt Jr. dropped wiretapping charges against a Maryland motorcyclist who filmed a traffic stop using a helmet mounted camera and posted the footage to video streaming site YouTube. 25-year-old Anthony Graber III still faces charges of reckless driving and negligent driving following his arrest in March.

Graber had been filming a motorcycle ride down I-95 when he was pulled over by a plainclothes police officer. In the clip, the officer approaches the young man aggressively and draws a gun prior to identifying himself as a policeman. After state police were made aware of the clip's dissemination, a search warrant was obtained for Graber's home and personal items of his including his computer were seized. He was indicted in April.

Judge Plitt threw out the charges on September 27th, ruling that there was no expectation of privacy between the trooper and the motorcyclist in the public location. He wrote:

"In this rapid information technology era in which we live, it is hard to imagine that either an offender or an officer would have any reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to what is said between them in a traffic stop on a public highway."

The ACLU provided a Maryland criminal defense Attorney for Graber, who spoke to press about the impact of the decision, saying:

"This ruling upholds the fundamental right to hold police accountable to the public and constitutional principles they serve."

A spokesman for Maryland State Police acknowledged the judge's ruling, indicating that the agency respects the court's decision and that troopers will be made aware of it.

This article is presented by Price Benowitz, LLP, serving Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC. For more information, please visit our Maryland DUI Lawyer and Washington DC Criminal Lawyer websites.