Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

When you are arrested in Jacksonville, you will be brought to first appearance court. In first appearance court (also called J-1), if you have been arrested for a misdemeanor, you may be able to resolve your case that day. (enter a plea of no contest or guilty to the misdemeanor in Jacksonville) If you enter a plea of "not guilty", you will be given a bond and another court date to report to.

As Jacksonville Criminal Attorneys, there have been times when people call us because they have missed their court date. When you miss a court date in Jacksonville, the judge can issue a capias or summons. A summons is when the judge is telling the court system to send you notice that there is another court date set. This is essentially a second chance to appear.

If you fail to appear, another route the judge can take is to issue a capias. This is a bench warrant. The judge will usually put a bond on the capias. The judge is telling the sheriff's office to arrest you and when you are brought to jail you can bond out if there is a bond attached to the capias. If there is no bond or if you cannot afford to pay the bond, you will be in jail until you go before the judge.

A rarely used Florida law is referred to as "bond jumping". This means if you miss court, the state can prosecute you for failing to appear. The prosecutor would have to prove you willfully failed to appear. If you fail to appear for a felony in Jacksonville, bond jumping is a third degree felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison. If you fail to appear for a misdemeanor in Jacksonville, bond jumping is a first degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 1 year in jail.

If you miss a court date in Jacksonville, Clay County, or Nassau County, contact a Failure to Appear Attorney in Jacksonville to discuss possible ways to get yourself on the judge's calendar without turning yourself in.

When you are placed on probation in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, there are "standard" conditions and "special conditions". Special conditions are specific to the crime alleged, such as ordering DUI school in a DUI or ordering Batterers' Intervention Program in a Domestic Battery probation. There are also standard conditions applicable to every probation.

These standard conditions of probation are:

1. to report to probation

2. to allow your probation officer to visit you at your house or at your employment

3. to remain employed

4. to stay in the city in which you were placed on probation

5. to not break any law

6. to make any necessary restitution

7. to support your dependents (children) as best you can

8. to not associate with people who are engaged in criminal activities

9. to submit to random drug or alcohol testing

10. you are prohibited from possessing a gun

If you are placed on probation and your probation officer is threatening to violate you, contact a Jacksonville Probation Attorney to discuss your rights.

In a recent juvenile case in Jacksonville, Florida, an appeals court overturned the child's adjudication as a delinquent because the arrest was unlawful. The case was from 2009 and the child was with several teenagers outside a local business. Apparently, the kids were loud and the police were called. When the police came to the scene, everyone was quiet. Even though everything had calmed down, the officer told the teens to leave the premises. The child in this case, M.M., walked away. The officer followed and asked him for his i.d. When the child refused, he was arrested for resisting an officer without violence, a first degree misdemeanor. The appeals court found that the child was not legally detained at the time he refused to give his name and the child's conviction was thrown out.

In Jacksonville and all over Florida, there is a crime called Resisting an Officer Without Violence to His or Her Person. If you resist, obstruct, or oppose any officer in the LAWFUL execution of any LEGAL duty, without offering to do violence to the officer, you can be arrested for this first degree misdemeanor. In M.M.'s case, the appeals court found that the officer was not executing any legal duty because the disturbance was over and because of that, child did not have any obligation to give his name.

As a Jacksonville DUI Defense Attorney, I have read thousands of Jacksonville, Clay County, and Nassau County DUI arrest and booking reports. In almost every report, the police follow the same procedures.

Once you are pulled over, the officer approaches your car. Inevitably, he or she will smell the odor of alcohol coming from your breath. You will then be asked to get out of your car and at this point, the officer is evaluating your every move. The officer will watch how you exit your car and walk off the roadside. At this point, you will be asked if he or she can evaluate your eyes. If he or she decides you flunk that test, you will be asked to perform field sobriety exercises. It is your choice. If you elect to try them, the officer will eventually read you your rights.

In those rights that are read to you, the officer will tell you that you have the right to consult with a lawyer and the right to have a lawyer with you before going further. The words are very direct, but if you ask for a DUI attorney at that point, you will not be allowed to call one. The Florida courts have decided that during a DUI investigation, you do not have the right to consult with a lawyer. That being said, why on earth do the police tell DUI suspects they have that right? It confuses the suspect and can lead to possible suppression of any further evidence because when you consent to do these exercises, that consent must be voluntary. How can you voluntarily consent to perform exercises if the police are advising you of rights you do not have?

Even after you are arrested for DUI in Florida, you are told, again, you have the right to consult with a DUI lawyer before deciding to blow into the breathilizer. Again, if you ask for a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer before you blow, that request will be denied. It does not make sense, but can lead to issues with the evidence the state attorney can use against you. You should consult with an experienced DUI Defense Law Firm in Jacksonville to discuss your case.

A Clay County sergeant has been arrested and fired for Grand Theft. Christopher Robbins, the ex-officer, was an in the force for fifteen years and is accused of being paid for an off-duty job which he did not work. The total value of he allegedly received is over $2000.00.

A grand theft is committed in Florida when he knowingly obtains or uses the property or money of another with the intent, either temporarily or permanently, to deprive the other person of a right to the money or property. If the value is over $300.00, the theft is considered a third degree felony punishable for up to five years in prison.

Robbins was released on his own recognizance (ROR) in Clay County, which is typical for police officers who have been arrested. Police officers are generally not generally considered a flight risk or danger to the community, but prior to being arrested, that officer could have shot citizens with virtual immunity. That officer, prior to the arrest, could have taken away your liberty at any moment. Police officers should be held to a higher standard than the rest of the public because they are in the law enforcement business. When caught breaking the law, their status as officers should not give them any advantage, including the advantage of being released without a bond.

As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Law Firm, our attorneys handle many domestic battery cases. Domestic battery is defined as an intentional touching against someone's will and that someone is a family or household member. A family or household member means spouses, ex-spouses, people related by blood or marriage, people who are living together as if a family or people who have lived as a family in the past.

If you are arrested for domestic battery in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, there are certain thinks you must do according to Florida law. Even if you were not adjudicated guilty of domestic battery (received a withhold of adjudication), you will still be placed on 12 months probation and ordered to attend and complete a batterers' intervention program as a condition of your probation. The batterers' intervention program is a 26 week (you must attend once a week). There is also a minimum term of jail if you are adjudicated guilty of domestic violence. The minimum jail term is 5 days in county jail, but the court can waive the jail time. If you are arrested for a domestic battery in Jacksonville, consult with a Duval County Domestic Battery Lawyer to discuss your case and your rights.

If you are arrested for a crime in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, there are several possible outcomes to your case. The state attorney's office could drop your case because of a lack of evidence, your case could be sent to a diversion program (such as Pretrial Intervention), or the prosecutor can file the case against you. If the state files a case against you, you can have a trial and make the prosecutor prove the case against you, you can enter a plea of guilty or no contest to the judge, or negotiate a sentence with the prosecutor.

If you enter a plea of guilty or no contest, you give up certain rights. Those rights are:

1. The right to a trial by judge or jury

2. The right to be represented at trial

3. The right to have counsel appointed to represent you if you cannot afford to retain counsel

4. The right to present witnesses on your own behalf and to compel the attendance of those witnesses

5. The right to confront the witnesses against you

6. The right to require the state to prove the case against you beyond a reasonable doubt

7. The right to appeal all matters relating to the judgment, including the issue of guilt or innocence.