Detainer Motion Granted During Shutdown

As we are all painfully aware, the coronavirus has arrived and has slowed down operations and businesses throughout the country. However, the coronavirus has not slowed down our attorneys, who wrote, filed, argued, and, just this afternoon, WON an Emergency Detainer Motion on behalf of one of our clients incarcerated at Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility (CFCF).

Since all courts in Pennsylvania have been closed for all but the most urgent proceedings, criminal defense attorneys have been searching for the best ways to advocate for their incarcerated clients and, if possible, get them out of jail to return to their families during the coronavirus pandemic.

One such proceeding which is still being heard in Philadelphia is the emergency detainer motion. Our attorneys have decades of experience filing all manner of motions in criminal and civil courts throughout Pennsylvania, and so we did not hesitate to draft a strong emergency detainer motion.

The client whose motion was granted this afternoon was originally arrested in 2018 for drug-dealing offenses and pleaded guilty. He received a sentence which included both incarceration and probation. When he was arrested on new charges in 2020, the sentencing judge from the 2018 case lodged a detainer against our client, meaning that the sentencing judge from 2018 ordered our client incarcerated regardless of whether he can meet bail or be released for some other reason while he awaits disposition of the new charges.

As bail was set at only 10% of $15,000 on the new case, our client posted it without any issue. Not only that, the new charges against our client were ultimately and entirely quashed, meaning that the Commonwealth’s only opportunity to pursue the charges against our client is to appeal the judge’s decision to quash the charges.

The judge for the charges scheduled a Status of Appeal hearing, which has now been postponed due to the coronavirus. All this time, our client has been held at CFCF, waiting for his day in court. It was up to Kenny, Burns & McGill to file an emergency detainer motion and get him out.

Our arguments to let our client out of CFCF were strong. We argued how important it was for our client to get home to his family before the coronavirus struck the prison population. We argued that the new charges against him were already quashed, and so he did not even have any true active charges against him. We argued that he is not a flight risk and is not a danger to the public.

The judge agreed with our arguments and today signed the following order. Our client will be walking out of CFCF today, and going home to his family.

If you, a friend, or a loved one needs an experienced criminal defense attorney to argue on your behalf, call or text us immediately: (215) 423-5500.