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.