Gary S. Bernstein, P.A.

DUI Dismissal Baltimore County

2026-09-19T17:32:01Z

The odor of alcohol is not enough o warrant getting a client out of the car. a 350 pound man with knee problems is not going to be able to successfully complete Field Sobriety Exercises.. When you badger him to take a PBT- which the defense can use- and then deny him the opportunity because you can- that is helpful and admissible for the defense. Add all those up and you get a dismissal before jury selection was scheduled to begin.

UPDATE TO SHE WAS REALLY PISSED OFF- MDTA PROFESSIONALISM

2026-08-31T14:56:45Z

As I am walking to my car today, someone behind me says "Mr. Bernstein." I turn and it is the MDTA Officer I was going to castrate and disembowel on cross-examination. He had a big smile and was laughing as he sticks out his hand to shake mine. He had read the Blog and wasn't the least bit upset. He said "I was away and learned from this." He said I'm still new. I said I was at one time and we all have to learn.He says if I ever need a lawyer or have a friend that needs one we're calling you, can I have one of your cards. I tell him to be safe and get me more business and he laughs and says he will. Now I haven't seen the prosecutor so I don't know if she will be as cheerful as the officer was. I do know he will be thorough from here on out, and that is a good thing (maybe not so much for my clients). He was a Class Act and a new friend. Pretty nice way to start the day.

2027 Best Lawyers in America

2026-08-20T14:51:52Z

The streak continues.

I really pissed her off

2026-08-19T22:52:56Z

Last Friday a DUI was dismissed in Circuit Court in Baltimore City. It got there because I asked for a jury trial- that is where the pissed off comes in. A relatively new MDTA officer stops my client because thru the rain and windshield wiper he sees my client with a cell phone in her hand. Well since January 27th (Stone case in our Supreme Court) of this year that no longer gives the officer the right to stop. Every document he writes says "Saw cell phone in her hand." She pulls over within seconds of him lighting her up. Bad stop so it is a dismissal. Not so fast Sparky!I call the prosecutor the afternoon before and ask if my client and I have to show up. Instead of saying "NO," she says she is meeting with the supervisor (the eventual pissed offee), to get me an offer. I ask again if we have to show up and she repeats about giving me the offer. I realize she is unfamiliar with the Stone case. I tell her go to the Courts' website, go to the tab for decided cases, go to January 27th, and she will find the 90+ page decision, but she only has to read the majority opinion. I ask her to call me back after she reads it because I believe I will not have to appear and I will skip my chocolate honey dip and coffee from the 7-11 near the courthouse (what I tell my cardiologist is the Breakfast of Champions). CRICKETS!!A little after 10:00 PM I receive an email from said prosecutor informing me that there was more UNWRITTEN probable cause (can't tell me what) and the offer is plead guilty, PBJ, supervised probation, alcohol treatment (already completed), MADD VIP (already completed), Interlock, and naming my client's first born after her if it is a female. Well, as I am want to do, I get TOTALLY PISSED, so much so that I don't sleep much because I am thinking about the way I am going to castrate and disembowel this officer on the witness stand. I get to court and sit my fat ass down and don't "check in." At some point mid docket the supervisor (future pissed offee), walks back and asks me if she can talk to me outside the courtroom. I dutifully accompany her and she REVEALS the future victim of my wrath specifically saw my client on SNAP CHAT and that being a violation of the use of a cell phone was the reason he pulled her over. I inquire as to WHY this verbiage is not noted in ANY report he wrote, but she has no answer. We go back in and I bring my client out and ask her if she has Snap Chat. She says that is for kids and I tell her to turn on her phone so I can see, and it is not there. I go back into the courtroom, now even more enraged than I was before, and go up to the supervisor and tell her in my usual endearing voice, "I'm going to give you one more chance," and ask her out to the hall. I ORDER my client to turn her phone over to her, but she "won't touch" the phone. I take the damn thing and show her NO SNAP CHAT. She then says my client could have deleted it and we have to check the App Store because that will show she had it. I go to the App Store and she never had it. I ask her if she is going to dismiss now and she says "No." I tell her that it is now going to be a jury trial and SHE IS A WITNESS. I tell her I need her name written down as I have never met her before. We go back in and I pray the Jury Trial and she hands me a stick-em with her name and email address. I put on the record the Snap Chat stuff and that I made the supervisor a witness and then turn to her and ask if she'll accept the summons by emaill or if she wants the Sheriff to come down and serve her. She is now totally pissed off too and says the Sheriff. Is this great or what!!!I even decide I will serve her with the Summons the next time I am down there. The Circuit Court prosecutor calls me a few weeks later and says he screwed up the email he was sending me to pick a trial date and that the MDTA Officer is out of the country on the trial date. I tell him I have a case in Baltimore County that day so we contact the Administrative Judge and she says- nope that day is the day. We appear in front of the former Administrative Judge where he asks for a postponement. She grills him on how he screwed up the date and denies the postponement. I tell her I did have a phone when he screwed up the email and could have called. I also mention I have 2 Motions to Suppress (she just about aced the SFSTs so no probable cause to arrest). Case gets dismissed. Other MDTA Officers I talk to are not surprised about how this arrest went down so I'll get another shot at the world traveler.

Nice win In Harford County yesterday

2026-08-19T20:23:08Z

I have been told that the judges in Harford County have decided that anyone charged with Reckless Driving for exceeding the postage speed by 30mph are going to jail for 2 days. Now historically the judges in Harford County had a uniform sentencing pattern in certain cases- i.e. 30 days for a second DUI even if you tried it to a jury. They are more flexible now and give weight to mitigation evidence. But this new incarcerable offense may have given rise to a uniform policy .Yesterday I had one and the prosecutor was going to recommend a suspended sentence which was fair and reasonable ( she always is). However the ticket was written in a form that violated a Rule of Procedure. I moved to dismiss it and the judge agreed that it had always violated the rule because written that way (it came out of the automated system in police cars that generate tickets now). I pointed out that years ago one of the DWI tickets likewise violated the same Rule and they had to reprint all the ticket books (manual back then) to correctly charge the offense.Even more years ago, the crime lab report in Baltimore City failed to include the Certification of the analyst and NO drug reports were getting into evidence in my cases. They bought a "Bernstein Stamp" (so named by the undercover police officer who kept losing and complaining to the Department- he was also one of "my police" when I was a prosecutor in the District Court and was then and is now a good friend- that didn't mean he wanted to lose cases to me.Now as we were arguing yesterday the prosecutor was typing away an email that I think went to the "front office." I know that as efficient as they are in the Harford County, State's Attorney's Office that EVERY Reckless citation will now be reviewed by the District Court supervisor- who I have been trying cases against since she started years ago in Baltimore County- and that a new ticket will issue anytime the car computer spits out the wrong verbiage. The next step will not be a "Bernstein Stamp," but a "Bernstein Update/upgrade to the automated system. Eerily, on the way home I got a call from a lawyer who said that he follows my name on Case Search and reads my Blog and knew of the case. He could see I won and wanted to know how as he has one pending in Harford County. I told him what happened but that this only works once and that they will fix his ticket. He has to learn to master the Rules, as it is better to be the creator of Legal Schtick than attempt to piggyback it.

ALL DRESSED UP FOR THE PROM AND THEY CANCELED IT

2026-06-24T22:14:11Z

You don't get many "freebies" as a criminal trial lawyer and I had one today, at least I thought I did. The client is writing a review as well. The second prosecutor assigned to the case watched the Body Camera. My 79 year old client is charged with a DUI and DWI after a minor fender bender. She is administered the HGN as well as the Walk and Turn and One Leg stand and according to the "SFST trained police officer" she does not pass any. She is arrested and takes the breath test also administered by a "trained breath technician" and blows a .07, just under the per se limit. Now before every trial I dream about the case. I dream about the cross-examination. It is just how my brain operates. Well I spend the last 3 NIGHTS dreaming about this case because it was going to be a blood bath, and none of the blood was going to be my clients. Because she was coming from her high school reunion luncheon (61 years) and blew so low, I did not have her take an alcohol education program. I did have her do the on-line M.A.D.D. Victim Impact Class. She is a professional and has been at the same job for 58 years in multiple managerial positions. If she is convicted there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, I REPEAT, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING a judge is going to do to her except offer her a Probation Before Judgement. That would require an interlock be installed per MVA requirements and that was not happening. My first prosecutor offers her to plead guilty and NOT recommend a PBJ. Declined! We go for trial and the breath tech is on vacation so we have to postpone the case. I tell the judge my client turned 80 a few dats ago and does not want to wait until the fall to get this over with and ask for a trial date in 2 weeks- and I get it. I WATCHED THE BODY CAMERA, I TOOK THE SFST COURSE AND PASSED- no fucking way the arresting office should have passed the course. I prepare a USB of the HGN where she did not do ONE THING correctly. I also copy the pages of the 2018 and 2023 SFST Course Book, that is probably sitting unread in the trunk of her police car, on how the HGN is administered. Because there is the preparation eye pass and 3 components to test, I was going to explain to the jury in my opening statement that they had to have patience as I played the USB OVER AND OVER AND OVER again with the officer during cross examination focusing on each part and clue at a time. You do not offer the Walk and Turn or the One Leg Stand to anyone over 65. You don't offer it to someone with severe arthritis who walks with a pronounced limp with there legs going at different angles who is wearing high heeled shoes (even at 79 she is stylish going to her reunion). She is scared and tells the police officer her legs are shaking her knees are severely sore and she has arthritis. Undeterred the officer makes her attempt to stand heel to toe and then after the instructions perform the exam. The officer does the same for the One Leg Stand exam. I have the pages of the 2018 and 2023 SFTF manual ready for these too in case the "trained SFST police officer" doesn't remember what she was taught. The breath testing procedure as a total shit show. No one watched her for 20 minutes and no one checked her mouth, therefore the .07 might have been lower! The "trained breath technician" just strolls into the room, fires up the machine and hands her the mouthpiece and has her blow twice.I had a second USB with four clips showing the entire breath testing procedure involving each officer. They are all going to be slaughtered on the witness stand.

I AM GOING TO BE THE PROM KING!!

While waiting for my prosecutor to show up, another experienced prosecutor comes over and says it is her case now. I say jury trial and she says she is amending to a payable citation and dismissing the DUI and the DWI. Stunned, I ask if she watched the Body Camera. She starts laughing and says "yes I did" and I am dismissing the DUI and DWI. I blurt out neither officer did a fucking thing right, and she laughs again and says I am dismissing the DUI and DWI. I have no choice and we do it and the client gets a PBJ- no points- pay costs and we file an Expungement. I have to ratchet myself down and accept that they canceled the prom and I don't get to be the king. I go home and get out of my nice suit and jury pleasing tie and type this Blog and now go on to the next case.

Just got this email

2026-03-03T14:17:59Z

Best DUI & DWI Lawyers in Towson, MD for 2026 🏆

Hi Gary S. Bernstein, P.A., We reviewed DUI & DWI lawyers serving the Towson area and you were selected as one of the best. Congrats! This recognition is not for sale, but to ensure the quality of the write-up, please check if there are edits needed and provide us your feedback. Article: Best DUI & DWI Lawyers in Towson Award: View & Share 2026 Award

Not Guilty Harford County Assault

2026-03-02T21:47:31Z

It is unfortunate and just wrong when someone uses the "I am a victim of domestic violence" when it never occurred. There are tons of legitimate cases but the liars taint the legitimate cases. Anyone can take out a Protective Order and there is a low bar to having it granted. There is no bar to her then going to the Court Commissioner and getting an Assault charge issued. That is what happened here. As the Protective Order is being served by FOUR police officers the "victim" is calling my client. He shows the phone to the police who tell him he cannot answer it without potentially violating the piece of paper they are handing him. This followed a text message sent the day before telling him she shouldn't have taken it out and will dismiss it. She then shows up at the first Hearing that he doesn't have to attend and tells the judge it is not as bad as she wrote but still needs protection. OF COURSE she does not show up for the Final Hearing and it is dismissed. Now we come to the criminal case. I have about 50 pages of HER TEXTS apologizing and sending him money for the cell phone SHE destroyed. The crime occurred when he grabbed his wallet from her as she was about to flush it down the toilet. Oh, the argument originated when he tried to help her daughter when she said she would kill herself. That act of kindness was taken to be an insult to the "victim's" parenting skills. He also had the AUDACITY not to return her texts after he was served with the Protective Order requiring him to not have contact with her. She took the failure to respond to mean that he was now seeing someone else. I learn right before the trial that she told the State's paralegal that he didn't intend to assault her and it was inadvertent. Yes that should have been disclosed!!! This piece of crap goes to trial anyway and the Judge finds him not guilty. He wants to sue her to get back the money he paid me for 2both matters, but she has no money and he wants an Expungement. The post script to this is that as we walked out, we see her in the hallway LAUGHING, I told my client and his best friend (who brought him to me), that if he ever has any contact with her again he would be the DUMBEST person I have ever represented. Meanwhile legitimate victims of domestic violence can take comfort that the Judge who heard this crap will not hold it against them when they appear before him.

SUPER LAWYER 2026

2026-01-09T22:25:00Z

New selection came out and agin I am included. Still the longest running tenure as I was the first one selected. The Blog on the Dismissed case in Baltimore County explains why I make it as well as the new Power List.

DUI DISMISSAL BALTIMORE COUNTY

2026-01-09T22:20:52Z

WATCH THE BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE. After paying a $70.00 no points ticket, my DUI, etc... case is being dismissed. Why? Because my client did not do poorly on the SFSTs and the Maryland State Trooper STOPPED him from taking the breath test!!! My client is under 21 so any alcohol violates his license restriction, HOWEVER he still has to blow a .08 or higher to have his license confiscated and a Temporary issued. The Trooper told him that if he blew a .02, because he was under 21, he would have his license confiscated. He told him for under 21 the level was not .08 but .02. Nonsense!!! I filed a Motion to have the jury advised that because of this erroneous information my client was entitled to have in evidence a reading of .00-.05 which is a presumption that not DUI or DWI. Hard to convict when the client is presumed sober. So he is signing his Expungement and the incarcerable charges will be removed from the State's records.