Articles Posted in Crime News

Sometimes a person can be charged with a crime and still be “on the loose”. This doesn’t mean, of course, that the charge was dismissed or that the person was set completely free of culpability and doesn’t have any further responsibility about what happened at that time. So what happens if you’re not taken into custody then?

What happens is that in the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, not always will an officer arrest you. In some cases in South Florida, mostly in traffic offenses and misdemeanor cases, an officer will issue the person a citation. Even though it is not an arrest, a citation also needs to be taken seriously. A citation is a commitment that says you will show up in court at a certain date and time. When you sign a citation you are making a promise that you will appear in court. In exchange of that, you are allowed to remain in liberty.

If you were issued a citation in South Florida, you need to contact an experienced criminal attorney who will guide you through the process. Call our offices to make an appointment for a free consultation.

According to Florida Statutes, battery can be defined as one person intentionally touching another, causing bodily harm. This is often confused with assault. The difference is that sometimes assault doesn’t require the actual touching of another human being, but only verbal assault.
In Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Palm Beach and other regions in South Florida, battery can be divided in armed battery, aggravated battery and felony battery. According to Florida rules, armed battery is when the perpetrator uses or carries a firearm at the time of the offense. Felony battery is when the perpetrator of the crime has the intention of causing great bodily harm, such as permanent disability. Aggravated battery, on the other hand, includes the intention of causing bodily harm but also the use of a deadly weapon while committing the crime.
It is important to know that in Broward County, Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade County, a person that is being accused of battery and has already been convicted of a felony battery before, committed a felony of the third degree. Punishment for a felony of the third degree is up to five years in prison.

If you or someone in your family has been accused of committing battery, aggravated battery or felony battery it is important for you to call an experienced defense attorney. If you have been convicted of a felony battery and are now being accused of another battery charge, call a South Florida criminal defense attorney for a free consultation.

In South Florida, to be charged with a burglary offense, the State of Florida needs to prove three elements.
First, the state needs to prove that the suspect entered a property that was legally owned by another individual. This means, for example, entering someone else’s home.
The second element the State of Florida needs to prove is that the entering was what is referred to as “wrongful entering”. By wrongful entering, the state means that the person was not welcome in the property.
The most important element is that prior to entering the dwellings of another human being, the individual accused of burglary had to had the intent to commit an offense.
In Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Miami, and other regions in South Florida, the most common cases involve the wrongfully entering of the dwellings of another individual with the intent to commit theft.
It is important to know that the second element does not exist if you are invited to go into the property. If you enter a shop, or a social event, you are not wrongfully entering. In South Florida, the burglary statute also applies to the burglary of a conveyance, which includes motor vehicles.

If you, or someone you know, is being accused of committing burglary in the counties of Palm Beach, Broward, or Miami-Dade, you should call our office for a free consultation.

Burglaries not only occur in someone’s home, but it can also occur in someone’s car, trailer or truck. For a person to be charged and convicted of a burglary crime in Fort Lauderdale, Miami or Palm Beach, the state has the burden of proving whether that person entered the property of another human being, with the intention to commit a criminal offense. That criminal offense can include, but is not limited to theft, murder and battery.
When someone is accused of committing a burglary offense in a vehicle in South Florida, this is called burglary of a conveyance. The state then needs to prove that the perpetrator entered another person’s vehicle to commit a crime. In Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Palm Beach and other areas in Florida, it usually happens that in this case, the burglar reaches through a car window to strike the victim.
The most important element of the crime, that the state must prove to convict a person of burglary, is the intent he or she had when entering the dwellings of another. The state must prove the person, before entering the property, had the intent to commit a criminal act.

If you think you are being unfairly accused of burglary and that you didn’t have intent to commit a crime when you entered someone’s property, you must call a defense attorney. Call a South Florida defense attorney for a free consultation.

We know that when a person is being accused of committing a criminal act, it is the state’s obligation to prove all the elements of the crime existed. The elements of the crime are stated in the Florida statutes of that specific offense. In the courts of Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Miami, and South Florida in general, the state has the burden of proving that the defendant was guilty.
One of the elements of a crime is what it’s called mens rea. It refers to the guilty mind, or the intent the person had to commit the offense. This is when the defense of insanity comes in. In Florida, insanity is a defense that alleges the criminal, due to a mental illness or retardation, didn’t have the capacity of knowing the wrongfulness of his or her actions at that time.

It is important to have an experienced criminal defense attorney when dealing with an insanity defense in South Florida. If you think that you or someone you know is being charged with a crime and that at the time of that crime he or she may have been, according to Florida’s rule, “legally insane” you should call a South Florida criminal defense attorney now.

In South Florida, not only you have to actually commit the crime in order to be accused and sent to prison. For example, you don’t need to be the one who actually shot an individual in order to be accused of a crime. You may have not even been at the time and place where the crime occurred, but you may also be responsible for aiding the perpetrator.
In Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, Miami, and other cities in South Florida, after an individual commits a crime, you can be charged with being an accessory after the fact for helping him or her in any way. It can either be by hiding their gun, or by helping them to avoid getting arrested.
In the counties of Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach, to be charged as an accessory after the fact, the state needs to prove that you knew the other person committed a felony, that you assisted him or her in any way, and that you are not related to them.

It is important that you contact a qualified attorney if you or someone you know is being accused of being an accessory after the fact. Call an experienced South Florida criminal defense attorney.

I don’t endorse sites, but often we find one that is worthy of mention: careersincriminaljustice.net/ is one. If you are interested in a career in the criminal justice system; in criminology, as an investigator, paralegal, or any career field in the criminal justice system, this site is an excellent recourse.

Careersincrminaljustic.net has a state by state list of resources for information, training, schooling and licensing. It has college library reviews, degree program reviews and a host of other sources and resources for careers in criminal justice. If a career in criminal justice is your ambition or interest you should go to this site for information and encouragement. It is a great field with a future for many….something worth considering in these times of high unemployment and low job satisfaction.

Last but not least, part three of my DUI – DWI segment, involves the use of today’s technology in cars. With the advancement of technology moving at a rapid pace in cars, we have vehicles that are now able to park themselves, Bluetooth capability to be able to answer your phone in your car, not to mention GPS to help you find your way around, the cars in house computer calling for road side service, and should you get into an accident calling 911 if should you be unable. So in order to help the campaign against drunk driving, various agencies are coming together to devise a plan of action that can be used in cars.

The Government and the automotive industry have been testing a new technology which will deter and possibly help stop drivers from driving while under the influence. This technology is still being developed in the United States and in Europe. Some of the technology being developed will test the air directly around the driver’s seat; test the driver’s skin for alcohol levels and emissions through the skin. In a more recent article, there was an actual demonstration performed in Massachusetts with the US Secretary of Transportation in attendance, along with the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Laura Dean Mooney, National President of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The article stated their findings and the pros and cons of this new technology.

Do your research on these recent blogs regarding drunk driving, you may find them very enlightening, and in the mean time, should you find yourself accused or charged with driving under the influence you should contact your South Florida criminal law attorney and seek legal counsel.

Always begin by reading the jury instructions. Florida jury instructions are online and can be found by a simple Google or Bing search. All my clients read jury instructions with me at our first intake meeting. Burglary is a two-part crime: that means there are two separate crimes that must exist before the government can seek a conviction. First there must be a trespass and concurrent with the trespass a criminal act. If I walk across your property and then leave, it is a simple misdemeanor: trespass. If while walking across your property I take your bicycle, then I have committed a theft. Burglary is trespass plus another crime. It’s simple yet complex: a trespass is an intentional act, and theft is an intentional act. Both intentional acts require the State prove intent (knowing what you are doing and intending to do it)….so intent is always an element of both charges. If you have more questions about burglary contact your South Florida criminal defense attorney. Remember the more you know the more you can protect yourself from aggressive prosecutors, of which we are mightily blessed here in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and South Florida.

To successfully mount the defense of insanity in Florida criminal courts,( Miami and Fort Lauderdale), the accused (arrested) defendant must prove that the/she was insane at the time the criminal act occurred. Insanity before or after is not a defense. Further, that the mental deficiency must be related to the specific criminal charge. Insanity in general is not a defense to an arrest or criminal law prosecution in South Florida criminal courts. In Florida criminal law the word “sanity” addresses the issue of one’s ability, at the time of the act, to understand and distinguish the difference between right and wrong. This is called the McNaughton rule. The rule goes to the ability to understand the nature and quality of a defendant’s act, and its consequences. In South Florida criminal law insanity goes to one’s capacity to distinguish right from wrong. For more information on defenses to crimes in South Florida, whether it be a drug offense, murder, burglary, violation of probation, or other drug-related offenses, such as possession of cocaine or possession of methamphetamine, contact a South Florida criminal defense attorney. If you’ve been arrested in South Florida the first thing I suggest you do is speak with a South Florida criminal defense attorney as to other legal defenses you might have, including self-defense, entrapment, and a due process argument to prevent a South Florida Criminal Court from prosecuting you for the an alleged crime in Florida.

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