Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

Child star, David Cassidy, was arrested for DUI in Ft. Pierce, Florida, a city south of Jacksonville. The Florida Highway Patrol alleges that Cassidy's car weaved in the lane and almost caused a traffic crash on the Turnpike. Once he was pulled over, Cassidy told the Florida trooper that he had one glass of wine prior to driving and took a hydrocodone pill. The trooper asked if Cassidy would perform field sobriety exercises and he agreed. The exercises and interactions were captured on video.

As a Jacksonville DUI Attorney, I watch DUI videos very carefully. I first want to hear how my client is communicating with the officer. Are they speaking clearly and making sense? If so, that is an argument against impairment. As a DUI Lawyer, I am also watching to see if my client weaves as he or she stands or walks. When my client is asked to perform the field sobriety exercises, if they agree, I watch each and every movement.

There are many different exercises the police ask someone to perform if they are under suspicion for DUI in Jacksonville. The first is the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus (also called HGN). This is where the officer, not a doctor or optometrist, is tasked with evaluating eye movements and degrees of onset of shaking in the eye. This test is usually conducted late at night, lit only by streetlight on the side of the road. After this test, police move on to the Walk and Turn. In this exercise, you must walk heel to toe on a line 9 steps down and 9 steps back. The next typical exercise is the One Leg Stand. You must stand with one foot in the air 12 inches off the ground for 30 seconds without putting your leg down, hopping, or swaying. The Rhomberg Alphabet is another exercise where you must recite the alphabet correctly without singing it. After the exercises are completed, you will most likely be arrested for DUI. Only after you have been arrested for DUI will you be given the opportunity to blow into the breathilizer.

There are already laws against marijuana possession in Jacksonville and all over Florida. It is illegal to sell marijuana, possess marijuana, and to grow (cultivate) marijuana in Duval County. The crimes can be misdemeanors or felonies and the penalties range from probation to serving time in prison.

There is a new drug that has emerged in the United States that replicates the effects of pot. It is synthetic marijuana made out of plants coated with chemicals that mimic THC. THC is the natural chemical found in real marijuana. Some retail names for this product are Spice, K2, and Blaze. This fake pot is considered a "designer drug" used to get around the strict prohibitions on real natural pot. It sells for around $40.00 per ounce.

Eight states have already banned this drug. They are Missouri, Ohio, Michigan, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Illinois, and Arkansas. On November 24th, the federal government also instituted a ban of its own. Thirty days from the 24th, the chemicals that coat the fake pot will be banned in the United States. This will effectively stop production and sale of fake marijuana in all states, including Florida. People could still attempt to get around the new ban by purchasing the drug online from out of the country.

As a Jacksonville DUI Lawyer, I have represented hundreds of people who have been arrested for DUI in Northeast Florida. As the years have gone by, the DUI penalties have become more and more harsh. If you are convicted of a second, third, or fourth DUI in Florida, you will have to install an Interlock Device on your car among other things. This device measures the amount of alcohol on your breath and the car will not start if the content is above .08, the legal alcohol limit.

MADD, Mothers Against Drung Driving, is pushing for this technology to be installed on ALL cars. In addition to costing almost $100 million, this proposal is fraught with problems. Machines are machines and machines will malfunction. Anyone who has had a computer crash knows that. What if the device goes on the fritz, detects alcohol when there is none, and leaves someone stranded

It is not against the law to drink and drive in Florida. It only becomes criminal when someone drives while impaired by drugs or alcohol.

MADD has lobbied to profit off of the criminal justice system in many states, including Florida.
If you are convicted of a first DUI in Jacksonville, you will be sentenced to probation and one of the conditions is to complete the Victim Impact Panel. The panel consists of victims of drunk driving crashes telling their stories about how they have been affected by an impaired driver. The person convicted of the DUI must pay to attend the program and oddly enough, if you have not been convicted and court-ordered to attend, you cannot go to it. That means if a citizen wants to attend to educate themselves on the topic, they are not allowed to.

A JSO officer has been arrested and is being held in Clay County Jail for two charges of Violation of Injunction. Michael E. Williams has been employed as a Jacksonville police officer for 16 years, but he resides in Clay County. Since working at JSO, Williams has received many complaints, both external and internal, while at JSO. He was even suspended for a total of 20 days for improper conduct, but continues to remain employed.

An injunction in Jacksonville is a court order meant to keep someone away from someone else. Injunctions can be temporary or permanent and can prohibit all contact or just violent contact. If an injunction is granted for "no contact", the "respondent" cannot have any contact with the "petitioner". In Jacksonville, "no contact" means that the respondent cannot go within 500 feet of the petitioner's residence or place of employment and cannot go within 100 feet of the petitioner's car, whether or not it is occupied. The injunction will also usually prohibit the respondent from possessing a gun.

Any person who willfully violates an injunction can be arrested for Violation of Injunction, which is a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail.

Miami Dolphin player, Phillip Merling, is no longer facing aggravated battery charges in a county south of Jacksonville. According to the Sun Sentinel, the Broward County Prosecutor has decided to drop the battery charges because the alleged victim moved out of state and will not come back. The state attorney's office was not able to get her served with a subpoena.

If you are arrested for any charge involving a victim, such as domestic battery in Jacksonville, aggravated battery in Jacksonville, aggravated assault in Jacksonville, or simple assault in Jacksonville, their testimony is very important. Unless there is a witness to the touching, the victim is critical to the prosecutor's case because they have to prove that the victim was touched against his or her will.

As a Domestic Battery Lawyer in Jacksonville, I have dealt with many cases where the victim has disappeared or is unwilling to testify against my client. If the alleged victim cannot be found, the prosecutor is going to have a hard time proving their case. If the alleged victim does not want to testify, they can be made to come down to the courthouse if they are served with a subpoena.

Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Law Firm represents many individuals who's arrest stems from being searched by the police. A police officer cannot just walk up to you and start to pat you down. The officer has to have a VALID reason to do so.

As a Criminal Lawyer in Northeast Florida, I have read thousands of police reports that say the suspect gave the officer "consent to search" them, even though the client tells me they did no such thing. In order for there to be a valid consent, the consent must be freely and voluntarily given, not just satisfied by showing a mere submission to a claim of lawful authority.

Once you are arrested based on something that is found by the search, such as drugs, a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney can analyze the seizure to determine whether or not your rights were violated. Whether consent is voluntary is a question of fact to be determined from analyzing the totality of the circumstances. Some factors are:

1. the age of the defendant
2. whether the defendant has been arrested in Jacksonville or anywhere before
3. whether there is evidence the defendant was drunk or otherwise intoxicated
4. whether the defendant has a mental deficiency that impaired the defendant's ability to make an intelligent decision

A Jacksonville Sheriff's Office communications officer was arrested for public assistance fraud in Jacksonville at the end of October. Tiffany Johnson is accused of using a United States food stamp card to buy groceries. Authorities are alleging that Johnson never was a legitimate recipient of government public assistance.

Public Assistance Fraud is a third degree felony punishable for up to five years in prison. Johnson's bond is $50,000 and she posted it. Police say she admitted to fraudulently using the food stamp card.

Now that she has been arrested for a felony in Jacksonville, the state attorney's office has to make a decision about what to do with her case. They can file the felony as charged, reduce the charge to a misdemeanor (also called Transfer to County Court), or drop the charge outright. That is why it is so important to consult with a Jacksonville Felony Attorney if you have been accused of or arrested for a felony in Duval County.

There are many crimes that a person can be arrested for in Florida. The great majority of arrests in Jacksonville are for driving charges. About 60% of the arrests in Jacksonville are for driving on a suspended license. (also called DWLS) Even though DWLS arrests rarely carry any jail time and are non-violent, JSO officers still make these arrests.

In order to prove the crime of driving on a suspended license in Jacksonville, the prosecutor has to prove the person was driving and that their license was suspended. An officer just has to run tags to see if the person who is registered to the car has a suspended license. Once they pull the car over and discover the person driving does not have a good license, the officer can issue a ticket or make an arrest. Overwhelmingly, officers arrest. A typical arrest usually takes about 2 hours when you consider pulling the person over, searching the car, writing the report, taking the drive downtown to the Police Memorial Building, and filling out jail intake paperwork. A JSO officer could fill up his or her whole day on a few DWLS arrests. After all that, the person usually gets out of jail the next day and is told to get their license.

The other most common driving arrest in Jacksonville is DUI. (Driving Under the Influence) These arrests are more complicated than DWLS arrests and carry more severe consequences.

Juveniles can be arrested just like adults, but they are taken to a youth jail as opposed to adult. They can be charged with any crime, including DUI, possession of drugs, sex crimes, and violent crimes. Depending on the specific crime alleged, the child can also be treated as an adult and receive adult sanctions. In Jacksonville, this is called "Direct File". It is in the state attorney's discretion whether or not a child is "direct filed". If your child is arrested in Jacksonville, you should contact a Jacksonville juvenile law firm to discuss your child's rights.

Our Jacksonville Juvenile Lawyers keep track of trends in crime in Florida. The Florida Department of Children and Families conducts a survey every year of juveniles in Florida. The children are asked a variety of questions about drug use and delinquent behavior. Here are some results from the 2010 survey:

Children who admitted to carrying a handgun - 5.1% of 9th graders, 5% of sophomores, 5% of juniors, and 5.1% of seniors.

Children who sold drugs - 7.7% of freshman, 9.4% of sophomores, 8.8% of juniors, and 8.3% of seniors.

Children who tried to steal a car - 2.9% of freshman, 2.5% of sophomore, 2.1% of juniors, 1.9% of seniors.

Children who were arrested - 5.2 % of freshman, 5.6% of sophomores, 5.3% of juniors, and 5% of seniors.

We are a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Firm and represent many people charged with drug crimes in Northeast Florida, even juveniles. When a juvenile is arrested in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, they are entitled to the same constitutional safeguards as adults. It is very important to consult with a competent juvenile criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville if your child finds him or herself arrested.

The Florida Department of Children and Families, among other duties, surveys juveniles all over Florida about drug and alcohol use. The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey questions Florida youth every year on a variety of topics. One topic is their alcohol and drug use. According to the 2010 survey, here are some of the responses:

Marijuana or Hash Use - 3.8% of 6th Graders, 9.7% of 7th Graders, 17.9% of 8th Graders, 25.9% of 9th Graders, 33.7% of 10th Graders, 36.9% of 11th Graders, and 40.7% of Seniors.

Cocaine or Crack Use - 1.1% of 6th Graders, 1.8% of 7th Graders, 2.4% of 8th Graders, 2.6% of 9th Graders, 3.3% of 10th Graders, 4.5% of 11th Graders, and 4.9% of Seniors.

Meth Use - 1% of 6th Graders, 1.4% of 7th Graders, 1.5% of 8th Graders, 1.4% of 9th Graders, 1.3% of Sophomores, .9% of Juniors, and 1.4% of Seniors.

Criminal trial lawyers in Jacksonville take depositions. Depositions are sworn out-of-court statements taken before a trial. If you are arrested for a felony in Florida, your criminal defense attorney should conduct depositions of all the witnesses listed in your case.

Conducting an effective deposition is key to any criminal case. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys go into each deposition like we are going into trial. Depositions are taken well before any trial and an good deposition can lead to the case being dropped or resolved short of trial. A criminal lawyer can ask the witnesses almost anything, even if the answers would not be admissible in a trial. The questions can reveal witness' possible bias and motivation to lie in a case.

If you are arrested for a misdemeanor in Florida, you are not automatically entitled to depositions. If good cause is shown, like a witness refusing to speak to the criminal lawyer or an investigator, depositions may be conducted in a misdemeanor case, such as a DUI.