Baltimore, Maryland · State & Federal Defense
Baltimore Criminal Defense Attorney Fighting Felony, Misdemeanor and DUI Charges
One charge should not decide the rest of your life. The Law Offices of Richard P. Arnold works to keep clients out of jail, protect their licenses and records, and end cases as early as the evidence allows — in courts throughout Baltimore City and the nine surrounding Maryland counties.
- Consultations
- Always free
- Service radius
- 60 miles
- Courts
- State & federal
Practice areas
Defense work built around the charge you are actually facing
A first-offense DUI in Towson and a federal drug indictment downtown call for completely different strategies. Choose the charge closest to yours to see how the firm approaches it.
Criminal Defense
State and federal felony and misdemeanor charges, from the first police call through trial in Baltimore's District and Circuit Courts.
Explore this defenseViolent Crime Defense
Assault, murder and manslaughter allegations, where self-defense, forensic proof and witness credibility decide the case.
Explore this defenseDrug & Sex Crime Defense
Possession, distribution and sex offense charges defended with hard scrutiny of searches, informants and digital evidence.
Explore this defenseDWI & DUI Defense
Protect your license and your record after a stop in Baltimore City or the surrounding counties, including MVA hearings.
Explore this defenseWarrants, Bail & Juvenile Defense
Open warrants, bail review, preliminary hearings, indictment and juvenile cases handled fast, often within hours.
Explore this defenseArrested this week? The first 48 hours matter most.
Bail review, charging decisions and body-camera preservation all happen fast. Call and speak with an attorney about your case at no cost.
Why clients call this office
A single attorney on your case, from the first call to the last court date
At large volume firms, the lawyer at your bail review is often not the lawyer at your trial. Here, one attorney reads the discovery, interviews the witnesses, argues the motions and stands beside you at sentencing. Nothing about your case is learned for the first time in the hallway outside the courtroom.
That continuity matters in Maryland practice, where results turn on details: whether the stop was justified, whether the search warrant described the right premises, whether the breath test operator followed protocol, whether the State's witness actually saw what the charging document claims.
Free, candid case review
You will hear the realistic range of outcomes, not a sales pitch.
Fast response after arrest
Bail review, warrant surrender and preliminary hearings handled quickly.
Motions-first approach
Suppression and evidentiary challenges filed before plea discussions.
Local court knowledge
Familiar with the judges, prosecutors and dockets in nine counties.
Baltimore and central Maryland
Charged in Baltimore City? Here is what usually happens next.
Most misdemeanor cases in the city begin in the District Court on North Calvert Street, while felonies are charged by criminal information or grand jury indictment and move to the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse on North Calvert. A preliminary hearing request, filed on time, can force the State to show it actually has a case before it reaches the Circuit Court.
Traffic stops on I-83, I-695 and the JFX often produce DUI and drug charges in the surrounding counties instead: Towson, Ellicott City, Annapolis, Rockville, Bel Air, Westminster, Frederick and Upper Marlboro all run their own dockets with their own habits. Knowing which prosecutor will handle a case, and what that office does with first offenses, changes how a defense is built.
Whichever courthouse your date is in, the goal is the same: dismissal or acquittal where the evidence allows it, and the narrowest possible outcome where it does not.
Where the firm appears
The office sits three blocks from the District Court on North Calvert Street and the Clarence M. Mitchell Jr. Courthouse, and the firm regularly appears in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on West Lombard Street. Cases are accepted within roughly 60 miles of Baltimore.
- Baltimore City
- Baltimore County
- Howard County
- Anne Arundel County
- Montgomery County
- Harford County
- Carroll County
- Frederick County
- Prince George's County
Answers
Questions people ask before they hire a defense lawyer
- How much does it cost to talk to a Baltimore criminal defense lawyer?
- The first consultation is free. You can describe the charge, the stop or the arrest and get a straight answer about what you are facing and what the next court date means before you owe anything.
- How soon after an arrest should I call a lawyer?
- Immediately. Bail review in Baltimore City usually happens within one business day, and what you say to police before then is difficult to undo. Early representation also means the firm can request evidence such as body-camera footage before it is overwritten.
- Which Maryland courts does the firm appear in?
- District and Circuit Courts in Baltimore City and Baltimore, Howard, Anne Arundel, Montgomery, Harford, Carroll, Frederick and Prince George's Counties, plus the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore.
- Can a charge be dropped or expunged in Maryland?
- Yes in many cases. Charges are dismissed when the State cannot meet its burden or when evidence was obtained unlawfully, and Maryland law allows expungement of many acquittals, dismissals, nolle prosequi dispositions and some convictions after a waiting period.
- Do you handle federal cases as well as state charges?
- Yes. Federal indictments follow different rules on discovery, detention and sentencing guidelines, and the firm handles them alongside state felony and misdemeanor cases.
Free consultation
Tell your side of it to a lawyer before you tell it to anyone else.
Call (301) 613-5550 or email richardparnold@hotmail.com. Consultations are free, confidential and available to anyone facing charges within about 60 miles of Baltimore.