Notably, you do not have to be in prison to be charged with possessing criminal tools. However, this offense can also be non-dangerous item like a check used in a forgery case. The statute just requires that the item be used by the defendant criminally. At Funkhouser Law, from the moment a client walks through the door, we presume that they are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. If you are convicted of possession of criminal tools, additional potential issues include:.
Simply put, if you are convicted of possession of criminal tools, it can potentially be on your criminal background for the rest of your life. No matter what the circumstances were in your case, you run the risk of being considered someone who is a criminal offender. Therefore, it is critical that you give your possession of criminal tools charge the level of importance it deserves.
The Columbus Criminal Defense team takes an aggressive and comprehensive approach when representing clients charged with possession of criminal tools. First and foremost, we will figure out what mistakes the police or detectives made during their investigation, whether your arrest was lawful, if there were any problems in the collection, storage or testing of the substances, instruments, devices or articles in question and any other legal issues that can be raised on your behalf.
We do this by requesting discovery from the prosecutor. The discovery will generally consist of police reports, additional investigative notes, lab reports and potentially video or audio. As our client, you will receive a copy of everything received from the prosecutor for your review.
If your case cannot be resolved satisfactorily with a plea, it would then proceed to a motion hearing a hearing where the judge issues a ruling on an evidentiary issue or a trial to the judge or jury, depending on the circumstances. For example, the screwdriver was found in a box with a ski mask and gloves.
These include, but are not limited to:. Dangerous ordnances do not include antique weapons, such as those manufactured prior to or those using black powder, firearms suitable and commonly used for sporting purposes, or museum pieces. Most of these tools are not criminal on their own but must be combined with additional evidence of criminal intent. An automobile, however, was not considered a criminal tool when used for the solicitation of sexual services to disproportionately enhance a prostitution charge.
Tire irons were also not considered criminal tools when no one witnessed their criminal use, and they were found at a tire repair shop. See State v. Houston, 26 Ohio App. For example, defendants cannot be charged with armed robbery and PCT for controlling the shotgun. Because the firearm is a necessary element of armed robbery, the prosecution can only move forward with the more serious charge. Stacking these charges creates constitutional disproportionality in sentencing, which is illegal in Ohio.
Because PTC is often a lesser-included offense for certain felony charges, prosecutors may negotiate a plea deal dropping the more serious charges to a PTC offense, but it cannot stack mergeable offenses to unconstitutionally increase a sentence. A PCT conviction is punishable in accordance with your criminal intent.
If the intent was to commit a non-felony, i. If the underlying criminal intent was felonious, then PCT is a fifth-degree felony. This is difficult to prove when certain offenses, such as drug crimes, are punishable as either misdemeanors or felonies depending on the facts of each case.
In such situations, an experienced Ohio criminal defense attorney will argue that the rule of lenity requires the court to assume the lowest-level offense. Ohio defendants often bring constitutional challenges when charged with PCT. Disproportional over sentencing and overly broad interpretations of the PCT statute have been held unconstitutional in Ohio. Illegal possession alone is not sufficient to sustain a PCT charge.
For example, illegal possession of a handgun cannot sustain a PCT charge when the alleged criminal purpose is the illegal possession itself.
The criminal purpose must be separate from illegal possession of criminal tools. If not, this may be unconstitutional overcharging.
0コメント