Jacksonville Criminal Attorney Blog

Former Jacksonville Jaguar, Ernest Wilford, has entered a plea of no contest to a count of Resisting an Officer Without Violence. Wilford was arrested on January 14th after being asked to leave the Ritz Bar in Jacksonville Beach. The Ritz is watched constantly by the Jacksonville Beach Police Department. They have officers standing by and watching that two block radius of bars and restaurants. According to police reports, Wilford was at the Ritz at 1:20 in the morning. After refusing to leave the bar, the bouncers got Jacksonville Beach Police involved. The officer asked Wilford to leave and after refusing the officer's request, the officer put his hands on Wilford. Wilford attempted to pull away from the police, turned and pushed the officer in the chest with both hands moving him backwards four feet. The police deployed their Taser and gave Wilford two stuns because he would not submit. Once on the ground, they say Wilford continued to refuse to be handcuffed. The officer deployed another stun and he still refused. After the officer gave Wilford one knee strike to his right shoulder, the police finally handcuffed him.

After being arrested for Trespassing and Resisting an Officer Without Violence, Wilford was taken to the Jacksonville Beach Police Department before being transported to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office Pretrial Detention Facility. It is standard for someone arrested in Jacksonville Beach to be transported to the jail in Jacksonville because Jacksonville Beach does not have a jail, just a holding area. If you are arrested at any of the beaches in Jacksonville, including Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, and Jacksonville Beach, you will be taken to downtown Jacksonville to be processed, put in a jail cell, and taken before a Jacksonville judge. Your criminal case will be handled in Jacksonville.

Wilford entered his plea of no contest to the charge of Resisting an Officer Without Violence, which is a first degree misdemeanor. A first degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to one year in jail. Wilford has to pay court costs and the judge withheld adjudication. That means that he was not convicted of the crime. The Trespassing charge was dropped by Jacksonville prosecutors.

The State Attorney's Office made a point to explain why they did not place Wilford in the Pretrial Diversion Program. The Pretrial Diversion Program, also referred to as PTI, is for first-time offenders who commit non-violent crimes in Jacksonville, such as petty theft or passing worthless checks. They elected to not place Wilford in that program because he did something to the police.

As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Law Firm, our Duval County Attorneys represent many people charged with DUI in Florida. Often, it is their first time being arrested for Driving Under the Influence.

When you are placed under arrest for DUI in Jacksonville, a long process begins. You will go to first appearance court, also called J-1. A judge will look at your criminal history, where you live, ans your ties to the community to determine if you will be released on your own recognizance (ROR) or if you will have to post a bond to be released from jail. If you are released or bond out of jail, you will be given a court date. You must appear at that court date unless you hire a criminal defense attorney who waives your appearance.

When you, or your DUI Defense Attorney, makes an appearance for your court date, you have three options. You can enter a plea of "not guilty" and fight your DUI charge. You can enter a plea to the judge, which means your sentence will be up to the county court judge you appear in front of. Finally, you can enter a plea of "no contest" or guilty to the charge. If you enter a plea to a first DUI, there are certain minimum punishments that apply in Florida. You will be sentenced to 6 months up to 12 months of probation. When you are on probation in Jacksonville, you will have to report to the county court probation office, which is run by the Salvation Army. While you are on probation, you will have to do certain things before your probation is over. On a first DUI, you will have to perform 50 hours of community service, attend and complete DUI school level one, attend the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Victim Impact Panel, Impound your vehicle for 10 days, and pay court costs and fines. In addition to completing these conditions, your driver's license will be suspended for at least six months.

If you are placed on probation in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, and are accused of any new law violation, your probation can be violated and you can be arrested on a violation of probation in Jacksonville. If you are arrested while you are on probation in Duval County, Clay County, or Nassau County, call our Jacksonville Probation Attorneys to discuss your rights.

In a drug bust south of Jacksonville, Port Richey police arrested a man for possessing many drugs based on a traffic citation. Frederick Kokaram was pulled over by police to check the tint on his car. Upon making contact with Kokaram, the officer claims to have smelled the odor of marijuana emitting from the car. This automatically gives the officer the right to search the car. In addition to the odor of pot, Port Richey police also say they saw a marijuana cigarette in plain view. Upon searching Kokaram's car, police found over 228 grams of marijuana, over 11 grams of crack cocaine, 3 1/2 Oxycodone pills, scales, and bags. He was arrested for possession of marijuana with the intent to sell (a felony), possession of cocaine with the intent to sell (a felony), possession of a controlled substance (a felony), possession of paraphernalia (a misdemeanor), and received a civil citation for the dark tint.

In Jacksonville, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office conducts traffic stops of cars that in their opinion, are suspicious. They cannot pull you over for that reason alone, so they justify the stop with possible civil citations. You can be pulled over for "possibly" having dark window tint. As a Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney, I advise my clients to take all tint off of their windows. If you have ANY tint at all, JSO can pull you over to check it. Even if it is perfectly legal, you subject yourself to a traffic stop at any time. Once you are pulled over, the officers can say they smelled the odor of marijuana coming from the inside of your car. If the police say they smell pot in your car, it gives them the right to search your car. Even if no marijuana was found in your car, the police and prosecutors will try to justify the search by saying that you could have recently smoked in the car and threw it out. These are just a couple of ways the police can abuse their power and if you are pulled over and subsequently arrested based on these reasons, you should contact a Duval County Criminal Defense Law Firm.

People who have been arrested in the last two years for DUI in Vermont may have a new issue in their civil and criminal cases. In a story from the Associated Press, the breathilizer machine in Vermont, the "DateMaster DMT" machine, was not set up correctly. This error throws many breath test results into question. Authorities claim that there was a mistake in the software set-up from unethical lab workers. DUI defense attorneys are challenging the results of their client's test results. DUI cases are being re-opened to address the possibility of the results being thrown out.

If you are arrested for DUI in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, you will be asked to blow into the Intoxilizer 8000. This is a machine that is manufactured by CMI, a company that produces DUI breath alcohol testing devices. In Florida, these breath testing machines are located in the police stations. Portable breath testing machine results are not admissible in court and are rarely used. If you are arrested for Driving Under the Influence in Jacksonville, you are asked to blow into the machine AFTER you are arrested, not before. You will be read your Miranda rights, handcuffed out in the field, transported to the Jacksonville Police Memorial Building, and escorted to the breath testing room. A breath test officer will read you your rights again and you will be asked to blow. You will also be asked a series of questions about how you spend your previous 24 hours. You do not have to answer these questions.

If you choose to not blow, you will be changed into a jail uniform and put into a cell. If you do blow, there will be two results. Even if the results are .000, meaning you have no alcohol on your breath, you will still be changed into a jail uniform and put into a cell. If you blow below the legal limit, the police will ask you to give a urine sample to test for the presence of drugs in your system. They test for marijuana, cocaine, pills, and heroine. Many people think that if they blow under the legal limit of .08, they can go home. Not true. You will have to fight your DUI case in court and possibly hire a Jacksonville DUI Attorney.

As Jacksonville Violation of Probation Lawyers, we help people who have been accused of violating their probation for one reason or another. One of the main reasons someone will violate their probation is getting arrested for a new charge.

Lindsay Lohan, the actress, was caught in this very situation. While Lohan was on probation for Driving Under the Influence in Los Angeles, California, she was arrested for stealing a necklace. This was a misdemeanor theft charge. Lohan entered a "no contest" plea to the theft charge and was sentenced to 4 months in jail for the violation of the DUI probation along with court ordered community service. Lohan is expected to only serve a fraction of that sentence because of jail overcrowding in Las Angeles.

If Lohan was arrested for violation of DUI probation in Jacksonville, the outcome may have been different. When you are arrested for a new charge in Duval County while you are on any type of probation, you will automatically be violated. In order to sustain the violation of probation, the prosecutor would have to show that the police officer who arrested you for the new law violation had "probable cause" to arrest you. "Probable cause" means that more likely than not, you committed a crime. If that is shown in court, the judge could find you in violation even if the new charge dropped. If found in violation, the judge could sentence you to the maximum time punishable for the crime you were put on probation for in the first place. If you were on your first DUI probation in Jacksonville and were found in violation, the judge could sentence you up to six months in jail.

In Jacksonville, if you are sentenced to 120 days in jail, as Lohan was, you will serve most of that time. If you are well behaved in jail, you will get what is referred to as "gain time" In Duval County, you will "gain" 5 days per month you are sentenced. On a 4 month sentence, you will serve 100 days.

When you are detained by law enforcement or are arrested in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, you have the right to remain silent. Often referred to as your "Miranda Rights", if an officer is trying to get information out of you, he or she has to read you these rights. They are:

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to speak to an attorney, and to have an attorney present during any questioning. If you cannot afford a lawyer, one will be provided for you at government expense.

Your right to remain silent is taken very seriously in the criminal justice system. If you ask for an criminal attorney before or during a police interrogation, the officer must stop all questioning and make an attempt to get you a criminal defense lawyer.

If you have a trial and force the state of Florida to prove the charges against you, the prosecutor cannot make a comment on your right to remain silent. They must not mention your invoking your right because it could impair your right to a fair trial. The due process clause of the Florida Constitution prohibits comments on a defendant's post-arrest silence regardless of whether the "Miranda" warnings were given.

If you have been arrested in Jacksonville, Clay County, or Nassau County and have questions about your detention, call our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorneys at (904) 634-0900 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              (904) 634-0900      end_of_the_skype_highlighting for a free consultation.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement puts out the Uniform Crime Report every year. The report details, county by county, arrest and criminal data compiled for the previous year.

In Nassau County, Florida during 2010, a total of 2,547 people were arrested. Of the people arrested in Nassau, 246 were juveniles arrested and 2,301 were adults. Under violent crimes, FDLE reports that 6 rapes were committed, 24 robberies were committed and 162 aggravated assaults took place.

Of the theft crimes in Nassau County, there were no pick pocketing charges and no purse snatchings reported. There were 123 instances of shop lifting, 329 thefts from cars, 20 car parts, and 39 bicycles stolen. There were 54 grand theft auto charges in 2010. In the reported thefts, the Uniform Crime Report also lists values of the goods stolen. There was $107,669 in case stolen, $265,478 worth of jewelry stolen, $752,223 worth of automobiles, and $118,846 worth of TV's and stereos stolen.

As a Clay County Criminal Law Firm, our attorneys view crime statistics for Florida, particularly Northeast Florida. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (also called FDLE) keeps track of crime statistics from all counties in Florida and releases the information.

Clay County, Florida had a total of 9,103 arrests in 2010, just down from the 9,578 arrest number the year before. Of that total, 8,038 were adults and 1,065 were juveniles arrested in Clay County. FDLE reports that there were 63 rapes, 117 robberies, 578 aggravated assaults, 906 burglaries, 3,322 thefts, and 162 grand theft auto crimes in 2010.

Different law enforcement agencies in Clay County were responsible for making the arrests. The Clay County Sheriffs Office arrested, by far, the most at 7,787. Next is the Green Cove Springs Police Department that arrested 467 people. The Orange Park Police Department arrested 411 people. The other agencies were the Florida Highway Patrol, Clay DEP Division of Law Enforcement, DABT Clay, and the Florida Game Commission.

Theft crimes in Clay County are even broken down by category in the Uniform Crime Report. There was one pick pocketing incident reported in 2010, three purse snatchings, 702 shoplifting incidents, and 162 stolen cars. Of the total amount of items stolen, $365,136 was cash, $878,846 worth was jewelery, $137,753 was clothing, $1,032,480 was cars, and $276,807 was TV's, Radios and Stereos.

Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Law Firm follows crime statistics in Jacksonville and the surrounding areas. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement keeps statistics from all regions in Florida regarding the reported crimes in that area every year.

According to the Uniform Crime Report for 2010, a total of 46,019 crimes were committed in Jacksonville, 5,842 were classified as violent and 40,177 were classified as non-violent. Adults arrested totaled at 41,384 and 4,207 juveniles were arrested in Duval County. Total domestic violence crimes committed were 7,798. Domestic violence crimes in Jacksonville are murder, manslaughter, rape, forcible fondling, aggravated assault, aggravated stalking, simple assault, and stalking.

Property crimes in Jacksonville are robbery, burglary, and theft. The total number of robberies committed in Jacksonville in 2010 were 1,773. The total number of burglaries committed in Jacksonville last year was 9,998. The total thefts, including grand theft auto charges committed in Jacksonville was 30,179. The Uniform Crime Report also reports the values of items stolen in the commission of these property crimes in Jacksonville. The amount of cash stolen in 2010 is $5,512,428. The total value of other items stolen in Jacksonville last year, such as jewelery, clothes, cars, tv's, and guns, is $59,074,647. Of the total value stolen from citizens in Jacksonville, only $15,297,873 was recovered.