Campus Sexual Assault Defense Lawyer Maryland

An allegation that arises at a Maryland college or university can travel along parallel tracks. The institution may open an internal process under its own policies, and the State may open a criminal investigation under the Maryland criminal code. Those tracks run on different records, involve different decision makers, and end in different consequences. This page addresses the criminal track, where the governing sections are Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 3-303, 3-304, 3-307, and 3-308.

The criminal track is the one that carries imprisonment. Rape in the first degree under § 3-303 is a felony carrying imprisonment not exceeding life. Rape in the second degree under § 3-304 is a felony carrying imprisonment not exceeding 20 years. A sexual offense in the third degree under § 3-307 is a felony carrying imprisonment not exceeding 10 years. A sexual offense in the fourth degree under § 3-308 is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a $1,000 fine, enhanced to 3 years for a defendant with specified priors. Registration classifications appear separately in Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 11-701.

Campus allegations typically involve people who know each other, a short window of time, alcohol, and a dense record of messages sent before and after the reported events. That record is usually the most durable evidence in the case, and it is also the record most easily lost when a student deletes an application or replaces a phone. Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C. defends these charges in Maryland courts, and a student or family can reach the firm at (888) 437-7747.

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The Maryland Sections Behind a Campus Allegation

Section 3-304, rape in the second degree, is the section most frequently discussed in campus matters involving adults. It reaches vaginal intercourse or a sexual act without consent. It also reaches conduct where the victim is substantially cognitively impaired, mentally incapacitated, or physically helpless and the actor knows or should know of that condition. The second theory is the one that alcohol allegations tend to implicate, and it is written around the complainant’s condition and the accused person’s knowledge rather than around force. The offense is a felony carrying imprisonment not exceeding 20 years.

Section 3-303, rape in the first degree, requires vaginal intercourse or a sexual act by force or threat of force without consent, plus a statutory aggravator. The listed aggravators include use of a dangerous weapon, suffocation, strangulation, disfigurement or serious physical injury, a threat of imminent death or kidnapping, action aided and abetted by another, and commission in connection with a burglary. The section is a felony carrying imprisonment not exceeding life. Whether an aggravator exists is a discrete factual question, separate from the underlying conduct.

Section 3-307, sexual offense in the third degree, covers aggravated nonconsensual sexual contact and sexual contact with an impaired or helpless victim, along with age-based provisions. Section 3-308, sexual offense in the fourth degree, covers sexual contact without consent. The distinction between a sexual act or vaginal intercourse on one hand and sexual contact on the other separates the felony sections from the misdemeanor section, and that line frequently becomes the practical center of a campus case.

Research on these questions often surfaces § 3-305 and § 3-306, the former first and second degree sexual offense sections. Those sections no longer state current law. Present statutes refer to them only as they existed before October 1, 2017, so a student comparing an older article to a current charging document should expect the numbering to differ.

How Mr. Sris and the Firm’s Of Counsel Attorneys Handle These Cases

Mr. Sris, Owner and Founder of Law Offices Of SRIS, P.C., and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys begin with preservation. Campus cases live in messages, photographs, ride records, door access logs, card swipes, and social applications that overwrite themselves. The firm gives the client written direction on what to keep and instructs the client to change nothing, because deleting a message damages a defense far more than the message itself usually does.

The second task is reconstructing the evening hour by hour from sources outside either account. Timestamps establish who was where and when, who communicated with whom, and how the parties described the events at the time rather than in a later summary. Where a count rests on the impairment theory in § 3-304, the reconstruction also addresses what the accused person observed and when, since the statute is written around knowledge of the complainant’s condition.

The third task is managing the relationship between the two tracks. An institution may run a process under its own policies while a criminal matter is open. This page does not describe those policies, which vary from institution to institution. The firm reviews the specific process a client faces, because statements a student makes in one setting can reappear in the other, and decisions about participation, written submissions, and timing belong to counsel who sees both.

The fourth task is the criminal case itself. Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys litigate suppression questions, test each element of the charged section, prepare cross-examination of the State’s witnesses, and evaluate sentencing and registration exposure under Md. Code, Crim. Proc. § 11-701 before any resolution is discussed.

Representation for Students Facing Maryland Charges

Mr. Sris founded the firm in 1997 and holds the title Owner and Founder. He is a former prosecutor. In campus matters that background bears on how a charging decision is made when two people give differing accounts of the same hours and the surrounding record is thin. He is admitted in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and New York.

Mr. Sris and the firm’s Of Counsel attorneys concentrate in criminal defense and represent students and non-students facing sexual offense charges in Maryland courts. A student in this position often faces immediate practical questions about housing, enrollment, athletics, immigration status, and licensing, and those questions arrive before the criminal case has a schedule. The firm addresses the criminal exposure first, then works through how the timing of the criminal case interacts with the other decisions a client has to make. Deadlines in those collateral matters can arrive quickly, so the firm asks for every notice a client has received.

Parents frequently make the first call. The firm explains what the charging document alleges, what § 3-303, § 3-304, § 3-307, or § 3-308 requires, and what the next court date will and will not decide. A 24/7 phone intake means a family can reach the firm after a late arrest. Request a consultation by calling (888) 437-7747.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does a campus complaint automatically become a criminal case in Maryland?

No. An institutional report and a criminal charge are separate events. A complaint can remain entirely internal, or it can be referred to police, or police can receive a report first and the institution can learn of it afterward. The two proceedings apply different rules and reach different outcomes, and one can move while the other is dormant. Because the sequence varies, you should assume neither that a campus matter will stay on campus nor that police involvement ends the institutional side. Counsel who sees both tracks can advise on how the timing of one affects your position in the other.

Which Maryland statutes apply to a campus sexual assault allegation?

The sections most often charged are Md. Code, Crim. Law §§ 3-303, 3-304, 3-307, and 3-308. Section 3-303 covers rape in the first degree and carries imprisonment not exceeding life. Section 3-304 covers rape in the second degree and carries imprisonment not exceeding 20 years. Section 3-307 covers sexual offense in the third degree and carries imprisonment not exceeding 10 years. Section 3-308 covers sexual offense in the fourth degree, a misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year or a $1,000 fine, enhanced to 3 years for a defendant with specified priors. The section charged determines the elements and the exposure.

What separates second degree rape from a third degree sexual offense?

The conduct element differs. Section 3-304 addresses vaginal intercourse or a sexual act, while § 3-307 addresses sexual contact in its nonconsensual and impairment provisions, along with certain age-based provisions. The maximum sentences differ accordingly: imprisonment not exceeding 20 years under § 3-304 and imprisonment not exceeding 10 years under § 3-307. In a campus case the two sections often appear in the same charging document, which means the record has to be examined against each set of elements rather than against a single general description of what happened.

Should you participate in a school process while a criminal case is open?

That decision belongs with counsel who has reviewed both the criminal charge and the written policy your institution applies. Institutional procedures differ, so no general answer fits every school. The concern that runs through all of them is that a written statement, an interview, or a hearing answer given in one proceeding can be repeated in the other. Before you submit anything to your institution, bring the policy documents and every notice you have received to the firm so the criminal exposure and the campus timeline can be weighed together rather than in isolation.

How do messages and application data affect a campus case?

They often carry the case. Messages sent before, during, and after the reported events show sequence, contemporaneous descriptions, and the state of the relationship, and ride records, door access logs, and card swipes place people in time. That evidence cuts in both directions, which is precisely why it deserves preservation rather than curation. Do not delete a thread, an application, or a photograph, and do not reset a phone. If you have already changed a device, tell the firm at the first meeting so the record can be addressed openly rather than discovered later.

This page provides general information and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Case results depend on a variety of factors unique to each case. Results may vary.

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