Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

Jacksonville police officer, Marcus Kilpatrick, is no longer on Jacksonville's streets. JSO has assigned him to a desk job at a substation after he caused the accident that resulted in the death of a Jacksonville man. Kilpatrick cannot write any tickets and is not assigned a police car.

This JSO officer was traveling on Merrill Road at 98 miles per hour. That area of the road has a 40 mph speed limit.

Vehicular Homicide in Florida is defined as:

the operation of a car by a person in a reckless manner likely to cause the death of or great bodily harm to another person.

The intent to harm or injure does NOT need to be proven in order for someone to be convicted of this charge in Florida. This crime is a second degree felony, punishable for up to 15 years in prison.

If you or a loved one is arrested in Nassau County, Florida, it is important to know the jail information. Nassau County Jail phone numbers are:

Jail - 548-4002

Sheriff's Administration - 548-4000

Warrants in Nassau County - 548-4000

If you have been arrested in Nassau County, Florida, call our Nassau Criminal Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

When you have been arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, you have the right to refuse to blow into the breathalyzer machine. When you refuse to blow, that refusal can be used against you in court, but there are many legitimate reasons why someone would refuse the test. A good Jacksonville DUI Lawyer can point those out to the court.

If you do agree to blow into the breathalyzer, that consent has to be voluntary. The police officer cannot threaten you to make you blow. If the consent was not voluntary, the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the state attorney from using the police coerced act against you.

Things to be considered are:

1. Was there violence threatened.

2. Did the police officer imply or directly make a promise to make you blow.

If you have any questions about a DUI arrest in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville DUI Law Firm at (904) 634-0900. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Governer Crist has released his budget for the next year and $4.9 billion will be used to fight crime in Florida. Crist is using this money to increase prison space to accommodate Florida's increasingly growing inmate population. The money will also be used fund programs to reduce the probability inmates will commit more crimes (recidivism) and Florida juvenile crime prevention.

Other items on the budget include improving education programs, economic development, and transportation.

If you or someone you love have been arrested in Clay County, call our Clay County Criminal Defense Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

If you are a convicted felon, meaning you were adjudicated guilty of a felony in Florida, you are not allowed to possess a gun. That means you cannot "actually" possess the gun, which means have it on your person or clothes. It also means you cannot "constructively" possess the gun, which means have it in your reach or under your control.

In Jacksonville, Florida last week, Nicholas Fairclough was sentenced to 4 years in a Florida prison for possessing a gun in his book bag that shot a 3 year-old in the head. The child is alive with some hearing loss. Fairclough "constructively" possessed the gun, meaning it was found to be in his reach or control. If he had the gun on his person, he would be subject to a 3 year minimum mandatory. That means if convicted of actual possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the minimum time you would be sentenced to is 3 years in prison with a maximum of 15 years.

If you have been arrested for a gun crime in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Gun Lawyers at (904) 634-0900.

The demand for Florida concealed weapon permits is up, according to The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs. According to an article on firstcoastnews.com, the Florida legislature has allocated $3.8 million dollars to the Department to help with the build-up in applications. The money will mainly go toward running background checks on the applicants. It will also go toward hiring temporary workers to handle the applications and calls checking on the status.

If you have been arrested for a gun crime in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

Jacksonville police lieutenant, William Medlin, took racy magazine subscription cards from 20-30 magazines and put fake orders in to be delivered to Assistant Chief David Coffman at work. Coffman got invoices demanding payment for the fake orders. JSO's Internal Affairs Division charged the officer with failing to conform to work standards, unbecoming conduct, and VIOLATING THE LAW (mail fraud). Medlin was suspended, without pay, for 20 days, but got the option to forfeit a month of vacation time instead. The Jacksonville State Attorney's Office decided not to arrest Medlin and chose not to file criminal charges.

Medlin has been with JSO for many years and had to take an exam to be a sergeant and an exam to be a lieutenant. The fake subscriptions he ordered for someone else cost many companies, not to mention JSO employees' time handling the magazines, money. Will Medlin be forced to compensate all involved?

In Jacksonville, it is routine for people to get arrested for writing worthless checks. It could be because a housewife wrote 1 check and did not have enough in the bank to cover it and moved, therefore not getting notice. That woman will be arrested, handcuffed, and taken to the Jacksonville jail. The police make the Jacksonville arrest because they say she broke the law.

The very office Medlin works for said he violated the law, but he will not be arrested or charged in Jacksonville.

If you were not as lucky as this Jacksonville police officer and have been arrested for criminal charges in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Defense Lawyers at (904) 634-0900.

Florida State football player, Preston Parker, was arrested for the third time in Florida and that led his being dismissed from the team. His first arrest was in November, 2006, when he was arrested for petty theft for trying to take a DVD. He entered a pretrial intervention program and the charge was dropped. The pretrial intervention program, PTI, is available in Jacksonville and most jurisdictions in Florida and is reserved for people that have been arrested for non-violent crimes and have not been in trouble before. Usually, the program requires that you sign a contract to do community service hours and pay some money. At the completion of all the conditions of the program, your charges will be dropped.

Parker's second arrest was for carrying a concealed weapon and possession of marijuana. In Florida, both charges are first degree misdemeanors punishable for up to 1 year in jail each. He was put on 12 months probation.

The third arrest was for Florida Driving Under the Influence (DUI). Even though Parker blew under the legal limit of .08 in Florida, his urine test showed the presence of marijuana.

If you have been arrested in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyers at (904) 634-0900 to discuss your rights 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

A University of Florida football player was arrested on February 16th for violating an injunction. A Florida temporary injunction for protection against sexual violence was entered against Carl Johnson a week before the arrest, which restricted him from having contact with the alleged victim. Violation of Injunction in Florida is a first degree misdemeanor punishable for up to a year in jail.

In Jacksonville and all of Florida, if a person wants to get a permanent injunction against someone, they file a Petition for Injunction For Protection. If the petition meets all the preliminary requirements, a temporary injunction will be entered until a hearing is held. The temporary injunction usually restricts the respondent (the person who is bound by the injunction) from being within 500 feet of the petitioner (the person requesting the Florida injunction), 500 feet from their home, and 500 feet from the petitioner's place of work.

An injunction hearing will be held and a Jacksonville Circuit Court Judge will make a decision about whether or not to grant the permanent injunction. The petitioner has to prove to the judge that their allegations are true.

If you have any questions about an injunction hearing in Jacksonville or a violation of injunction charge in Jacksonville, contact our Jacksonville Injunction Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

A Ponte Vedra Beach High School football coach was arrested on February 16th on sex charges in St. Johns County. William Turner is accused of soliciting and arranging to meet a 16 year-old for sex. The boy contacted police after allegedly being propositioned over the Internet. St. Johns County police then called the Florida attorney general's office cyber-crime unit in to investigate.

The unit took over the child's email account and allegedly arranged to meet Turner. They scheduled a date and when Turner showed up, the investigator was waiting.

Turner was arrested in St. Johns County on two counts of soliciting an illegal act from a minor online, traveling to meet a minor for sex, and transmitting harmful material to a minor. That means he is facing a second degree felony punishable for up to 15 years in prison and three third degree felonies, punishable for up to a total of 15 years in prison.

Contact our Jacksonville Criminal Attorneys if you have any questions about being arrested in Jacksonville, Clay County, Nassau County, or St. Johns County. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyers are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (904) 634-0900.

In Florida, there are very strict standards that convicted sex offenders and sex predators must follow, including restrictions on where they can live and mandatory address registration. In addition to these restrictions, the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is a federal law that may place further restrictions on sex offenders. The law was signed in 2006, but is facing legal challenges as to it's constitutionality. The law would apply to all states, including Florida.

It places sex offenders into 3 tiers:

Tier 3 - Includes the most serious offenders and requires them to update their addresses every 3 months for their whole life.

Tier 2 - Sex offenders have to update their addresses twice a year for 25 years.

Tier 1 - Sex offenders will have to update their location once a year for 15 years.

If you do not register under this federal law, it will be a federal felony. This law would create an additional level of bureaucracy that individual states would have to pay for.

If you have any questions about sex charges in Jacksonville, contact our Jacksonville Sex Crime Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

The term "forcible felony" is important in Florida because the only time you can use a gun or other deadly weapon in self-defense is when you use it to stop or prevent a "forcible felony".

Florida forcible felonies are:

- Kidnapping
- Murder
- Manslaughter
- Sexual Battery (Rape)
- Arson
- Treason
- Robbery
- Burglary
- Carjacking
- Home Invasion
- Aggravated Battery
- Aggravated Assault
- Aggravated Stalking
-Any other felony that involves the use or threat of violence against any person

If you have been arrested in Jacksonville, contact our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys at (904) 634-0900 for a free consultation.

A doctor in Ft. Myers has been arrested and charged with sexual battery on 3 girls under the age of 18. Dr. Edward German, a pediatrician, was arrested on three counts of sexual battery on a child under the age of 18. He reportedly examined the girls to see if they were still virgins, an exam that is unnecessary according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. The Florida Department of Children and Families reported the acts to police. Parental permission was given in at least one of the cases.

If you are being investigated or have been arrested in Jacksonville for sexual battery, call our Jacksonville Sex Crime Law Firm at (904) 634-0900. Do NOT talk to the police to "clear your name". Consult with a sex crime attorney before doing anything else!

A woman claims to have been sexually assaulted at Plush Nightclub in Arlington on January 28th according to an article from the Florida Times Union. The 5'5 160 pound black man reportedly said he was an undercover JSO detective and eventually committed some sort of sexual assault on the victim. The man never showed a police badge.

We often hear of cars with police lights pulling someone over and the person turns out to NOT be a police officer. JSO has a very distinctive badge and always demand to see it before yielding to a person's commands.

If you have any questions about a sex charge in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Sex Crimes Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

Three men have been arrested in Jacksonville for Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card and Organized Fraud. They are accused of obtaining the credit card information of Subway Restaurant customers and making counterfeit cards out of them. Police say the men stole thousands using the cards to buy merchandise in Jacksonville and Georgia.

Luis Linares is charged with fraudulent use of a credit card and organized fraud, both felonies in Jacksonville, Florida. His bond is set at $30,006.

The other two men, Yodeny Hernandez-Martell and Yoeny Martell, are charged with the same crimes in Jacksonville and their bonds are $145,006 each.

If you have any questions about fraud charges in Jacksonville, contact our Jacksonville Fraud Attorneys at (904) 634-0900. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Law Firm is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The following can carry a gun in Florida without a permit, wither openly or concealed:

- On-Duty United States Military
- Police officers in Florida, other states, or the United States Government
- Guards of armored car carriers and banks
- Lawful hunters
- Employees of firearm manufacturers, repair, or dealers

For more information about carrying a firearm, click here.

Call our Jacksonville Gun Lawyers at (904) 634-0900 about a gun charge arrest in Jacksonville, Clay County, Nassau County, or St. Johns County.

In Florida, you are allowed to carry a gun that is concealed if you have a Florida concealed weapons permit. Many gun shops carry a concealed weapon badge. This looks like a police officer badge and simply says "concealed weapons permit"

This badge carries no legal authority to carry a concealed gun. It is not a substitute for the real permit and can only serve to get you in trouble. If someone sees the badge and mistakes you for a police officer because of your actions, you could be arrested for impersonating a law enforcement officer in Florida. This is a 3rd degree felony punishable for up to 5 years in prison.

If you have any questions about Jacksonville Gun Crimes, call our Jacksonville Gun Lawyers at (904) 634-0900.

Teenagers all over the country text, but some kids are finding themselves in trouble with the juvenile system. Children who text nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves to other children, called "sexting" are being arrested and charged with child pornography.

These kids are put in the juvenile justice system, but at what price? Child pornography laws were made to punish adults who view or possess child porn, not teens who send pictures of themselves. There obviously is a problem with children behaving like this, but it is up to the parents to control this behavior, not the criminal justice system. A prosecutor in Greensburg, PA chose to charge 2 teenage girls and 4 teenage boys with child pornography. The 2 girls sent racy pictures of themselves to the 4 boys.

Sex offender laws in Florida and all over the country were passed to punish actual sex offenders, not kids who used bad judgment.

Call our Jacksonville Sex Crime Attorneys at (904) 634-0900 if you have any questions about sex charges in Jacksonville. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyers are available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.

We have all heard of the Florida DNA database, but Florida law enforcement is now using a gun database. The Florida gun database allows police to track guns used in certain crimes to find who shot them.

You can also search for stolen guns recovered via the serial number on the public access system.

If you have any questions about gun crimes in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Gun Crimes Attorneys at (904) 634-0900. Our Jacksonville Criminal Attorneys are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

JSO has arrested two men for taking newspaper stands around Jacksonville, Florida. This week, Darin Ashcraft and David Lee were arrested for 2 counts of Grand Theft and Possession of Burglary Tools in Jacksonville. Both men are being held on a $35,009 bond in Jacksonville.

They are accused of stealing newspaper stands in San Marco and Mandarin. Although they allegedly got around $20.00 in quarters from the machines, they are accused of damaging each one. The stands cost around $800.00 each. If convicted of all of the criminal charges in Jacksonville, each man is looking at maximum of 15 years in prison.

If you have any questions about an arrest in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Arrest Lawyers at (904) 634-0900.

Under Florida law, if you accuse a police officer of rape and law enforcement finds the accusations false, you can be charged with a sex crime.

If you are convicted of falsely accusing a law enforcement officer of sexual battery, not only are you facing being a convicted felon and 5 years in prison, but you will also be classified as a sex offender. In Florida, you will have to register as a sex offender and there is a laundry list of things you cannot do. Along with all the restrictions, you will have the stigma of being a sexual offender in Florida and every state in America.

When the suspects are common citizens, victims of rape are encouraged to come forward with the assurance they will not be punished. Not so when the police are the ones accused of rape.
Read our prior blog about a Jacksonville police officer convicted of raping a woman on the front of his JSO police car. He is now serving time in prison.

If you or someone you know has been arrested or charged with rape, call our Jacksonville Rape Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

Law enforcement reports that the social website, MySpace, has taken around 90,000 sex offenders off the site. MySpace and Facebook have over 280,000,000 users, and that number includes children. State Attorney Generals around America have joined together to make these sites safer for kids.

If you have a page on either Facebook or MySpace, be careful what you put on it. If you have been arrested for a crime in Jacksonville or anywhere, it is very possible that the police and the prosecutor are looking for your page. They are looking for anything to help their case against you, such as revealing pictures, pictures of you using drugs, and comments or writing indicating drug use.

If you have been arrested for a sex crime in Jacksonville, Clay County, Nassau County, or St. Johns County, call our Jacksonville Sex Crime Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

Two St. Johns County men were arrested last week in a road rage incident on I95 that ended in gun shots. Charles Butler and Doyle Jungkurth were arrested and charged in St. Johns County with aggravated battery and discharging a gun into an occupied car. Reports indicate that Butler shot his gun first and Jungkurth fired back. Both men later called St. Johns County police to report the other. They were both taken to St. Johns County Jail and each made a $7500.00 bond.

These arrests raise the question of self defense in Florida. If you feel that your life is legitimately threatened, you are allowed to use deadly force to protect yourself.

If you have been arrested in Jacksonville or anywhere in Northeast Florida for a battery, aggravated battery, manslaughter, or murder and have questions about self defense, call our Jacksonville Criminal Attorneys at (904) 634-0900. An experienced Jacksonville Lawyer will answer any questions you have 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

We see the billboards and have heard about it, but what does 10 - 20 - Life mean?

In Jacksonville and all of Florida, if you possess a gun while committing a crime, you are subject to a 10 year minimum mandatory. That means if convicted, the least time you will serve in prison is 10 whole years.

If you discharge a gun while committing a crime, you are subject to a 20 year minimum mandatory.

If you discharge a gun and cause great bodily harm while committing a crime in Florida, you face life in prison.

For more information about this Florida gun law, contact our Jacksonville Criminal Lawyers at (904) 634-0900.

There is now a reward for reporting illegal gun possession in Ft. Myers, Florida.

The Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers are offering $1000.00 if you report illegal gun possession that leads to the police confiscating the weapon. In 2008, 342 illegal guns were taken in by Florida law enforcement and the area saw a 15% drop in crime.

If you have any questions about gun possession in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Gun Attorneys at (904) 634-0900.

A Ft. Myers police officer was arrested last week for DUI (Driving Under the Influence). Leon Young was approaching a DUI checkpoint in and police say he attempted to turn his car around in a parking lot in an attempt to avoid the checkpoint.

According to reports, after being stopped, police reported that Young's eyes were bloodshot and watery, his speech was thick-tongued, and he smelled like alcohol. In Jacksonville and all over Florida, almost every police report in a DUI arrest notes these same indicators of impairment.

Police say they also saw flakes of marijuana on Young's shirt and the canine officer alerted to smelling pot in the air. Despite this evidence, no pot was found in his car. Police asked Young to perform Field Sobriety Exercises, which he initially refused. Later, he did perform the exercises. A Jacksonville DUI Attorney will tell you that you do not have to perform these exercises if you are pulled over for DUI in Florida. The Jacksonville police officer will have to establish reasonable suspicion that you are under the influence of alcohol before he or she can even ask you to perform the exercises. Even then, it is your right to refuse to perform them, but your refusal can later be used against you in court.

If you or someone you know has been arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, contact our Experienced DUI Attorneys in Jacksonville at (904) 634-0900 to discuss your rights 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

Boca Raton man, Henry Farrell, has now been arrested 190 times in Florida.

Farrell, who is 46 years-old, was arrested for drug possession and carjacking in Florida. If Farrell has 2 prior felony convictions within the past 5 years in Florida, one of which is not drug possession, he can be classified as a "Habitual Offender" on the carjacking.

If you are classified as a habitual offender in Florida, the regular punishment is doubled. For example, if you are charged with a 3rd degree felony, the regular punishment is a maximum of 5 years in prison. If you are charged as a habitual offender, the max punishment goes from 5 years to 10.

If you have any questions about a criminal arrest in Jacksonville, call our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys at (904) 634-0900 for a free consultation.

Florida priest, Francis Guinan, pled guilty this month to embezzling $850,000 from his south Florida church. His trial was set to start and right before selecting a jury, Guinan changed his plea to guilty. It is not clear at this point if the priest had a plea deal with the state attorney or if he pled straight up to the judge.

If you have been arrested for a crime in Florida and the charges are filed against you, you have some options. You can plea not guilty, plea guilty with a negotiated sentence with the state attorney, or plea guilty to the judge with no negotiation.

If you have any questions about your Jacksonville criminal charges, call our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyers at (904) 634-0900. Our Jacksonville Criminal Law Firm handles all criminal charges in Northeast Florida, including Duval County, Nassau County, St. Johns County, and Clay County.