Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

The Florida Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have started the "2010 Florida DUI Challenge". Any law enforcement departments in Florida, including Jacksonville, can participate in the program. There are six areas that are analyzed in the challenge. They are:

DUI Enforcement
DUI Policy
DUI Special Ops
Law Enforcement's participation in DUI campaigns, national and local
Law Enforcement Training
Public Relations.

The stated goal of the program is to reduce the number of DUI homicides and crashes in Florida. The challenge keeps track of the number of DUI arrests of each agency from July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 and compares it to the previous year.

DUI checkpoints are also analyzed within this time period. A checkpoint is a planned mandatory traffic stop where drivers are stopped and checked for signs of impairment, such as red, watery eyes, odor of alcohol, and slurred speech. The police must have a detailed and written plan when they conduct these checkpoints.

As a Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer, I have hundreds of people charged with Domestic Battery. Even though this is a misdemeanor in Florida, a domestic battery charge carries significant consequences.

JSO officers commonly tell people that if they are called out to a domestic battery call, they are required to arrest someone. This is not accurate. A police officer can arrest someone only if they can testify that there is probable cause to believe a crime has occurred. That means, based on the evidence they have in front of them, more likely than not the suspect committed the crime.

In many domestic battery cases in Jacksonville, there is no injury on the alleged victim. Even though there are no scratches, bruises, or red marks, a police officer can make an arrest for domestic violence if he or she believes there was an intentional touch against someone's will.

There are many drug crimes that can lead to a drug arrest in Jacksonville. A very common drug charge in Jacksonville is possession of drug paraphernalia. This is a first degree misdemeanor punishable for up to 1 year in jail.

Drug paraphernalia means all equipment, products, and materials which are used, intended for use, or designed for use in planting, cultivating, growing, manufacturing, converting, producing, or introducing into the human body a controlled substance (illegal drugs). Paraphernalia includes:

1. Kits used for planting and growing of a controlled substance such as marijuana.

2. Testing equipment used for analyzing the purity of the drug.

3. Scales and balances used to weigh the drugs.

4. Pipes, syringes, or other items used to put pot, cocaine, heroine, etc. into the body.

5. Roach clips for holding marijuana cigarettes.

6. Miniature cocaine spoons or vials.

7. Bongs

There are other items that can be considered paraphernalia that are not on this list. Any item that is related to growing, mixing, or ingesting drugs can be considered illegal.

Most crimes that occur have a "victim". If you are arrested in Jacksonville for any type of violence (Simple Battery, Domestic Battery, and Aggravated Battery), there will be a victim of violence. If you are arrested for theft crimes in Jacksonville, the owner of the items stolen will be a victim.

If you are arrested for a crime and property is damaged, the owner of the property is entitled to restitution. Restitution is compensation, reimbursement, or reparation for a loss caused to another. As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer, some of the negotiated dispositions in our criminal cases include an order of restitution. Under Florida law, the court can order a defendant to pay restitution to a victim for:

1. Damage or loss caused directly or indirectly by the defendant's crime; and

2. Damage or loss related to the defendant's criminal episode.

A judge can deny restitution to a victim if the judge states clear and compelling reasons to not order it.

As a Criminal Defense Lawyer in Jacksonville, I have read thousands of arrest and booking reports. Almost all of the arrests in Jacksonville stem from a police officer making contact with someone.

There are 3 levels of police encounters with the public.

The first is called a "consensual encounter". This is supposed to involve only minimal police contact and the citizen is free to comply with an officer's requests or to ignore them. A citizen is free to leave at any time. JSO uses these "consensual" encounters to develop reasonable suspicion to further detain a citizen. Most people think if a police officer calls out to them, they are not able to walk away. If a police officer asks you to stop on the street, ask if you are being detained. If not, you are able to walk away.

The second way police stop you is called an investigatory stop. A police officer can reasonably detain someone only if he or she has a well-founded, articulable suspicion that the person is engaged in criminal conduct. Mere suspicion is not enough to support a stop.

The third level of police encounters is an arrest. The officer has to have probable cause to believe a suspect did commit a crime.

The University of Florida football player, Frankie Hammond Jr., was arrested for DUI in Florida this year. He has now entered a plea to the DUI and has been placed on Florida DUI probation.

When you enter a plea to a DUI in Jacksonville or any city in Florida, there are certain minimum mandatory sanctions that apply. If you enter a plea to a first DUI, as Hammond did, you will be placed on probation for six to twelve months. When you are on probation in Jacksonville, you must complete 50 hours of community service, attend and complete DUI school, impound your vehicle for 10 days, and pay a fine. Your driver's license will also be suspended. If you blew over the legal limit of .08, your license will be suspended for 6 months and if you refuse to blow, your license will be suspended for 12 months.

In any criminal case involving a "confession", a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer should first evaluate why and how the police interrogated their client. "Miranda Rights" came from a criminal case out of Arizona. In order to make sure confessions are voluntary, the police have to read the rights if they are questioning someone who is in custody.

The first analysis involves whether or not someone is in custody. The court must look to the totality of the circumstances as to whether or not a reasonable person would feel that his or her freedom of movement was restricted. To determine whether someone was in custody, the court has to determine whether there was a formal arrest or restraint on freedom of movement. The factors to look at are:

1. the way the police summoned the suspect for questioning.
2. the place and manner of the questioning.
3. the extent to which the suspect is confronted with evidence of his or her guilt.
4. whether the suspect is told that he or she is free to leave the place of questioning.

After the court determines the suspect was in custody, the next thing to determine is whether or not the suspect is adequately warned of his or her rights. If the suspect indicates in any way that he or she does not want to be questioned, the interrogation should not start or if it has begun, it should immediately stop. If the suspect states, in any way, that he or she wants the help of a Jacksonville Criminal Attorney, the police should stop the interrogation until a lawyer is present. Once a suspect requests a Florida Criminal Lawyer, the police can't begin questioning or reinitiate questioning until a criminal attorney is present.

Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys represent people who have been arrested or have criminal charges pending primarily in Duval County, Clay County, and Nassau County. When someone has been arrested, a future court date will be scheduled and either the defendant or their Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer will have to attend. Our Florida Criminal Attorneys have our clients sign a "Waiver of Appearance". This document will allow our Clay County Defense Lawyers to appear before the court on behalf of the client.

If a defendant is not represented by a criminal attorney and they miss court, a capias could be issued. A capias in Jacksonville is considered a bench warrant, which means the judge (from the bench) is commanding the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office to bring the person to them. Usually, the capias will have some bond amount attached to it. This means if you are arrested on a capias in Jacksonville and there is a $5000.00 bond, you must post a bond for that amount to get out of jail while your case is pending.

In movies and on television, we hear the words "premeditated murder" on a daily basis. What exactly does "premeditation" mean?

In Florida, in order to convict someone of first degree murder, the state has to prove that the killing of a human being was perpetrated from a premeditated design to effect the death of the person killed. The essential element distinguishing 1st degree murder from 2nd degree murder is premeditation.

Premeditation can be formed in a moment and has to only exist long enough for the accused to be conscious of the nature of the act he or she is about to commit and the probable result of the act. Premeditation can occur a second before the intentional killing. Under Florida law, there are factors to consider when determining whether or not the killing was premeditated. They are:

1. the nature of the weapon used
2. the presence or absence of provocation
3. prior disputes between the parties
4. the way in which the killing was committed
5. the type of wounds inflicted

Our Jacksonville DUI Law Firm represents many people charged with DUI in Jacksonville, Clay County, and Nassau County. Our Jacksonville DUI Attorneys follow DUI matters all over the United States.

A man in Chicago was convicted of his 10th DUI charge and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Gordon Vanderark entered a plea of guilty to aggravated driving under the influence of alcohol and aggravated driving with a revoked license. The most time Vanderark could receive was 30 years.

If you are arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, the range of punishment depends on how many times you have been arrested for this driving charge before. If you are convicted of a fourth or subsequent DUI in Florida, you could be charged with a third degree felony. The maximum amount of time you could receive is 5 years in prison and your license will be revoked permanently.

Vanderark's license was most certainly permanently revoked. If you drive on a permanently revoked license in Florida, that is also a third degree felony punishable for up to 5 years in prison.

If you are arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, Clay County, or Nassau County, contact an experienced Northeast Florida DUI Attorneytar to discuss your case.

Orlando police officer, Wendell Robey, has been arrested in Florida for grand theft, dealing in stolen property, and identity theft. The officer and his wife are accused of selling employee tickets to Disney World and Universal Studios on craiglist.com. Employees are given these tickets by the companies and are not for resale.

In order to convict Robey of Grand Theft in Florida, the state would have to prove that he knowingly took someone;s property with the intent to temporarily or permanently deprive them of the property. If the value of the property is over $300, the crime is a third degree felony punishable for up to 5 years in prison.

Dealing in Stolen Property is a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The prosecutor would have to prove Robey bought or sold property he knew or should have known was stolen.

Identity Theft, also called Criminal Use of Identification Information, is a multi-level felony in Florida. The prosecutor would have to prove Robey willfully and without authorization, fraudulently used the personal identification information of someone else without obtaining their consent. If the value received is less than $5000, this is a third degree felony punishable up to 5 years in prison.

If the value received is $5000 or more or if the suspect fraudulently used 10 or more people's information but less than 20, the crime is a second degree felony punishable to up to 15 years in prison. It also carries a 3 year minimum mandatory, which means if convicted, a suspect would have to spend 3 years in prison day for day.

If the value received is $50,000 or more or 20 up to 30 people got the their identities stolen, the suspect could receive up to 30 years in prison with a 5 year minimum mandatory.

A ten year minimum mandatory is applied if the value received is $100,000 or more or 30 or more people are victims of the ID theft in Florida.

Tammy Ramos, the controller for Jax Care, has been arrested on a charge of Schemes to Defraud in Jacksonville. JaxCare is a local non-profit that insures people who work but cannot afford traditional insurance plans. Ramos is accused of writing checks to herself from the business to support her drug habit. The amount stolen is allegedly around $400,000.

Under Florida law, if someone engages in a scheme to defraud and obtains the property (or money) and the value is $50,000 or more, it is a first degree felony punishable for up to 30 years in prison. "Scheme to Defraud" is defined as a systematic ongoing course of conduct with intent to defraud one or more people, or with the intent to obtain property from one or more persons by false representations or promises or willful misrepresentations of a future act.

The Jacksonville bond on this fraud charge in Jacksonville is $20,003. Ramos has posted this bond and is required to participate in the Pretrial Services Program (PTS) in Jacksonville. This is a drug testing program that some judges place defendants into as a condition of their bond in Jacksonville. In addition to paying the bond, they MUST participate in this program. The defendant has to report on a weekly basis and provide a urine sample to be tested for illegal drugs. PTS generates a weekly report to the judge who has the case and if a positive test is show, the judge can revoke the bond and place the defendant in jail. If you are in the Pretrial Services Program and have questions about your bond, you should call a Jacksonville Bond Attorney.