Measure 11 Criminal Defense Lawyer in Portland & Hillsboro, OR

Simply being charged with a Measure 11 offense is more serious than a typical Oregon felony, as the law requires that you post at least $50,000 of bail to secure your release while you await trial. Even if you post such bail, a judge is likely to impose very strict conditions on your pre-trial release.

Measure 11 has been modified over the years, most significantly to create a variety of “escape-clauses,” primarily for some second-degree Measure 11 offenses. Since Measure 11’s enactment in 1994, several other mandatory minimum sentencing schemes have been adopted in Oregon. These schemes include repeat property offender sentencing laws and mandatory minimum sentences in certain aggravated drug crime cases.

If you have been charged with violent crime or another Measure 11 felony in Oregon state court, time is not on your side. The overburdened and underfunded Oregon criminal court system will try to push your case through in only 4 or 5 months, whether or not you and your attorney are prepared for trial. It is shocking, and hard to believe, that although you may be facing 5, 10, even 25 years in prison, the court system will try to push you and your case to trial in less than a year.

You need a Measure 11 defense attorney with the experience, knowledge, time, and resources to both handle your case and push back against court and prosecutors who view you as nothing more than a file to be closed. Every Measure 11 case I have been involved required the utilization of at least a defense investigator. More often than not, at least one expert witness was consulted.

Contact me, Andrew M Kohlmetz, to understand regulations surrounding Measure 11 offenses. I offer services for clients in Portland, OR, and throughout the state.