Q: Said person has history of mental illness and was extremely intoxicated at time of incident. She has no criminal background, is a wonderful mother, a successful business owner and voluntary went to 30-day inpatient rehab. What are likely outcomes from charges of resisting arrest and terroristic threats? What is the best- and worst-case scenarios? (Monongahela, PA)

A: With no criminal history, she has options. My first would be to try to get her out of this with the charges withdrawn based on all the good things about her you mention and the fact that she did rehab. You can then expunge her arrest record. If the DA or police would not agree, perhaps a plea to a summary Disorderly Conduct would be offered. I personally don’t like that option as it will give her a record of a summary conviction for 5 years before she can expunge. The next option would be ARD, which is a first-time offender’s program. This means the case will go past the District Justice to the Court of Common Pleas and take 6 months to a year to resolve, however, there will be no record as the record will be able to be expunged.