Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

Normally, if a citizen wants to report a crime in Jacksonville, he or she has to call and wait for the police to report to the scene. The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office now has an online crime reporting site. Citizens can only report certain kinds of crimes on this system. They are:

Petty Theft in Jacksonville
Grand Theft Auto in Jacksonville
Burglary to a Conveyance (car) in Jacksonville
Criminal Mischief

If you can identify the suspect of the crime, you can't use this system. Apparently, you can only use it if you have no idea who committed the crime. You also have to submit your email address. The same rules about falsely reporting a crime apply to this online system. As Jacksonville criminal defense lawyers, we have many cases where the "victim" of a crime recants after our client is arrested. The state attorney's office rarely does, but can charge these "victims" with falsely reporting a crime.

When you are arrested in Jacksonville, you will eventually make it to the pretrial detention facility downtown. After you arrive, you will be formally booked in the jail. The booking officer on duty has to do certain things.

1. He or she has to tell you that you have the right to a Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer.

2. If you request a criminal lawyer in Jacksonville, but can't afford to hire one, he or she has to allow you to call the Jacksonville public defender's office.

3. If you request a Jacksonville criminal defense attorney and you can afford to hire one, he or she has to let you call that criminal lawyer.

Arrests tend to go down during holidays because there are less police officers on the streets of Jacksonville. The one crime the officers on patrol will be looking for is Driving Under the Influence in Jacksonville.

The police in Jacksonville Beach are hyper vigilant when it comes to arresting people for DUI. There are many bars in a small area so the pickings are good for them. Officers just sit in parking lots near the bars and will watch you leave. They will get behind you and wait for you to commit some traffic infraction that will justify them pulling you over. Once they do, 9 times out of 10, they will smell the odor of alcohol on your breath and you will be detained for further questioning and testing.

When you are pulled over after you have been drinking and the officer tells you he is conducting a "DUI investigation", you have the right to remain silent. You should request to speak to a DUI lawyer in Jacksonville right then. The police read you your rights. Exercise them.

Many DUI stops in Jacksonville begin with a traffic infraction. The officer says that you broke a traffic law in some way. The most common traffic violations are speeding, weaving outside your lane, and running a red light. If the JSO officer observes you committing a traffic violation, that gives him or her a reason to pull you over. Once the officer makes contact with you, he or she is supposed to give you a ticket in a reasonable time period.

In may arrests reports in Jacksonville, upon making contact with you, he or she notices the odor of alcohol coming from your breath and that you have bloodshot and watery eyes. The officer is then off to the races with a DUI investigation.

In order for the officer to detain you beyond giving you a ticket, the officer has to have reasonable suspicion to believe you are committing a DUI in Jacksonville, Clay County, or wherever in Florida he or she pulled you over. If the officer cannot note enough facts that would justify "reasonable suspicion", a Duval County DUI Attorneyt can attack your detention and subsequent arrest.

The Florida Supreme Court just decided that juveniles should only be shackled in certain circumstances. Before this ruling, if a juvenile was arrested in Jacksonville, whenever the child was brought to court, they would be in 4 point shackles. Even if the child was in jail for petty theft, he or she would be in these heavy restraints.

Some juveniles can still be shackled. If the child:

1. Is a physical threat to himself or others in the courtroom.
2. If the child has a history of disruptive behavior.
3. If the court believes the child will try to run.

The goal of juvenile court is supposed to be rehabilitation and if your child is arrested in Jacksonville, you should consult with a Jacksonville juvenile attorney.

State witness, Stephfan Wilson, has been arrested for DUI. Wilson was the main witness in the shooting trial of Richard Collier, former Jacksonville Jaguar player. Wilson was on probation when he was in the car with Tyrone Hartsfield when Hartsfield allegedly shot Collier. Even though Wilson flunked multiple drug tests while the case was pending, he still remained a free man as long as he testified in the Hartsfield trial. Hartsfield was found guilty of the shooting and Wilson was out of custody.

Wilson was stopped by Georgia police for speeding. When the officer made contact with Wilson, he noticed an open container of alcohol.

If you are on probation in Jacksonville and you are arrested for new charges, your probation can be violated. The state attorney has to prove that the officer who arrested you on the new charges had probable cause to arrest. If the new criminal charges in Jacksonville are dropped, the judge could still find you in violation. If you suspect you have violated your probation in Jacksonville, you should contact a Jacksonville probation lawyer.

There was a law passed in 2004 to deal with people who keep getting arrested and convicted of misdemeanors in Florida. The Florida Legislature made a criminal classification of "Habitual Misdemeanor Offenders", also referred to as HMO.

To qualify, the defendant has to have been convicted of 4 or more delineated misdemeanors as an adult. Those misdemeanors include:

1. Domestic Battery
2. Assault
3. Weapons Charges
4. Prostitution
5. Indecent Exposure
6. Criminal Mischief
7. Trespass
8. Theft
9. Making False Statements
10. Resisting an Officer Without Violence
11. Loitering or Prowling
12. Possession of Paraphernalia
13. Possession of Less Than 20 Grams of Marijuana

Each offense has to be separate from the others and not part of the same case. They all have to have occurred within one year of the date of the pending misdemeanor. If the court finds that a defendant is a HMO, the judge has to sentence the person to 6 months to a year in jail or sentence the defendant to a residential drug treatment program for at least 6 months. The judge does have the discretion to not impose one of these if he or she makes a finding that another sentence is in the best interests of Jacksonville or the defendant.

When you are arrested in Jacksonville for any criminal infraction, unless your charge is dropped completely, you will probably have to pay a fine and court costs. Even violations of municipal ordinances require some type of monetary payment.

In Florida, fines for the following crimes cannot go above:

1. $15,000 for a life felony
2. $10,000 for a first or second degree felony
3. $5,000 for a third degree felony
4. $1,000 for a first degree misdemeanor
5. $500 for a second degree misdemeanor or non-criminal violation (municipal ordinance)

There are exceptions to these limits if the higher fine is spelled out in the Florida Statutes. If you are convicted of first DUI in Jacksonville, for example, the fines and court costs are around $1600. The fines for DUI (drunk driving or DWI) in Florida are set by the Florida Legislature and change periodically.

In Florida, if there is a domestic violence related death, there is a system in place to examine what went wrong. It is called the "Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team" and cities such as Jacksonville are charged with putting them together. The team reviews fatal and near-fatal acts of domestic battery. The team examines what led up to the incident, community resources that were available but not used, domestic battery laws, etc. Their purpose is to examine what the government could do in the future to prevent this from happening again.

There are many people who can make up this team. They can be representatives from the:

Duval County state attorney's office
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office
medical examiner's office
Domestic Battery Centers
Department of Children and Families
Hubbard House
Clerk of Court

A Mississippi doctor has been arrested while out on bond for drug charges. Dr. David Allen had posted $100,000 bond after being arrested for cultivation of marijuana, sale of a controlled substance, and possession of a firearm. While out, he was arrested again for witness tampering and bribery. The judge in his case revoked the doctor's bond.

If you are arrested in Jacksonville, you are entitled to go in front of a judge within 24 hours to address your bond. The judge can release you on your own recognizance, set a reasonable bond, or hold you on no bond if statutory requirements are met. If you bond out of jail or are released (ROR), you have to be on your best behavior. If you are arrested on new charges while on bond, the judge handling your case can revoke your bond and you will be held in jail until the disposition of your case. Normally, the prosecutor will file a motion to revoke your bond your Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer can argue against it. If the judge finds that the new arrest is supported by probable cause, he or she can put you back in jail.

An Amish man was arrested for DUI while behind the reins of a horse and buggy in Pennsylvania. Witnesses said that the buggy was going in the middle of the road. Police say he was sleeping while holding the reins of the horse. Police reported that the man had the strong odor of alcohol on his breath, had red/bloodshot eyes, and had a .18 blood alcohol level.

If you are arrested for DUI in Jacksonville, the state attorney's office has to prove that you were in actual physical control of a motor vehicle. Even though DUI arrests typically occur in cars, under Florida case law, you could drive under the influence on a bicycle or a boat. If the mode of transportation travels on the road, the Florida courts would probably hold that you could commit a DUI on it.

A New Port Richey man is going on trial for murder in Florida. The state attorney is seeking the death penalty and Allen Ditullio has many Nazi tattoos. His Florida criminal defense lawyer filed a motion with the court to allow the state of Florida to pay for a makeup artist to cover up the offensive tattoos. The court granted permission because the tattoos could influence the jury negatively, thus preventing Ditullio from receiving a fair trial.

In Jacksonville, it is rare for a judge to allow the defendant to cover up any tattoos, especially if the tattoos help identify the suspect. For example, a prosecutor in Florida can make a defendant stand up and show identifying features to the jury if they can show that the features are relevant in some way to the case. If a witness saw the defendant commit a crime and said he had a rose tattoo on his hand, that is relevant to show the identity of the perpetrator.

The bad economy has led to many issues, one of which is an influx of job applicants into the marketplace. Jobs are few and far between and applicants are doing everything they can to increase their chances. Job seekers with any criminal background are probably put at the bottom of the list. In Florida, during the last fiscal year, sealing and expungment requests have increased dramatically.

If you have been arrested and not convicted of a crime, you may be eligible for a sealing or expunging of your record. If your record is sealed or expunged, your arrest or withhold of adjudication is supposed to be hidden from the public.

Having a Florida criminal lawyer help you in sealing and expunging your record will not guarantee that potential employers will not find your record. When you are arrested in Jacksonville, the arrest is public record. Background companies access the information and hold it in their databases. When a record is sealed or expunged, the order to seal the record is for governmental agencies. Private companies are usually not required to comply with the order and will maintain your record even if government agencies do not.

There is a Florida criminal case that was recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. The issue in the case is about how specific Miranda warnings have to be. If the police suspect you have committed a crime and are investigating you, they have to advise you of your rights. You have the right to remain silent, to have a lawyer present before any questioning begins, etc. The Court is considering expanding those rights.

The case that is before the Court is about a defendant who was convicted in Florida for illegal possession of a gun. The police told the defendant he had the right to talk to a lawyer before answering questions and if he couldn't afford a lawyer, one will be appointed to him before he was questioned. The Florida Supreme Court overturned the defendant's conviction because the Florida court found that he was not explicitly told he could have a Florida criminal defense lawyer with him DURING questioning. The Florida justices were concerned that suspects of criminal activity would not fully understand their right to have a criminal attorney there when they are being questioned by police.

The Supreme Court will make a decision in 2010.

If you are arrested in Jacksonville, the police have to advise you of these rights. DO NOT talk to the police without first talking to a Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer. The police are not there to help you if you are accused of a crime. Their job is to put you in jail.

The murder rate is high in Jacksonville and when people are arrested for homicide, the state attorney's office has a decision to make. They have the very powerful decision of whether or not to seek the death penalty. If the state attorney decides to seek the death penalty, a "death qualified" lawyer must represent the accused. These cases are extremely expensive and the families of the accused generally cannot afford the representation. The public defender's office is appointed to these cases and in the event there is a conflict, there are other criminal defense lawyers in Jacksonville who are appointed.

The state of Florida has set minimum standards criminal defense lawyers in Jacksonville and all of Florida must have in these cases. A capital case is a 1st degree murder case where the state is seeking death. Jacksonville has a list of death qualified criminal attorneys who accept court appointments. The lead lawyer in these cases must be a member of the Florida Bar, has at least 5 years criminal law trial experience, has been lead counsel in at least 9 serious and complex jury trials, sat as co-counsel in at least 2 death penalty cases, has been lead counsel in at least 3 murder cases.

The Jacksonville defense attorney must also be familiar with the procedures of Jacksonville courts, is familiar with using and questioning expert witnesses, has attended 12 hours of continuing legal education focused on defending death cases, and must demonstrate competence in these cases.

If you kill someone in Florida, it is excused under certain circumstances. They are:

1. When it is committed by accident when doing a lawful act while using ordinary caution without illegal intent.

2. When the killing happens by accident in the heat of passion with sudden provocation.

3. When the killing is committed by accident as a result of sudden combat if a dangerous weapon is not used.

An excusable homicide is different than justifiable homicide. Justifiable homicide is a killing that is done while resisting an attempt to murder you or resisting a felony in your home.

Florida football player, Carlos Dunlap, was arrested in Gainesville, Florida for DUI. Police were dispatched to a reckless driver and proceeded to the scene. They report that Dunlap's car was stopped at a green light and remained there through several light changes. The claim he was asleep at the wheel. Police wrote in their report that Dunlap has difficulty speaking, bloodshot and watery eyes, and they smelled alcohol. (in almost every DUI arrest and booking report in Jacksonville, these things are observed) Dunlap did the field sobriety exercises and allegedly refused to blow into the breathilizer. Dunlap is 20 years-old.

As Jacksonville DUI Lawyers, we have seen many cases where someone is slumped over the wheel when the police arrive. The police are allowed to check the situation out for your safety, but if they observe several clues of impairment, that can lead them to conduct a criminal investigation for DUI. They must inform you when the investigation goes from a "safety check" to a DUI investigation. At that point, you have the right to remain silent and you can request a lawyer. The officer should read you your rights. Exercise them.

A police officer in Sumter County, Florida was arrested this past Thanksgiving weekend for DUI in Marion County. Police say that Benjamin Muecke was swerving on the road and was driving a card with an expired tag. After being pulled over, police say Muecke had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath and had red and watery eyes. He also reportedly struggled with getting his driver's license and registration. After completing the field sobriety exercises, he was arrested for DUI.

Many DUI arrests in Jacksonville begin with police pulling a car over for some traffic infraction. Police have to have a "reasonable suspicion" that a suspect has committed a traffic offense. Once they pull you over, in almost every DUI arrest and booking report, police observe red/bloodshot/watery eyes, the moderate/strong odor of alcohol coming from the suspect's breath, and slurred/thick-tongued/stuttered speech. If these things are noted by the officer, that gives him reasonable suspicion to request that the suspect perform field sobriety exercises. If the suspect refuses, they will most likely be arrested for DUI and the refusal can be used against the suspect. If the suspect does not perform up to the officer's standard, they will be arrested for DUI if the officer thinks he has probable cause for arrest. A Jacksonville DUI attorney can analyze every step of your DUI arrest to make sure the police used proper procedure. If they did not, the Florida DUI attorney could attempt to suppress evidence and that could lead to the DUI being dropped or reduced to a lesser charge such as reckless driving.