Articles Posted in Florida Criminal Defense

In Miami and Fort Lauderdale, South Florida criminal prosecutors almost always file conspiracy charges with all drug trafficking cases. It is a lazy prosecutor’s method to seek a criminal conviction under two theories: drug trafficking and an agreement to traffic in drugs. One does not need to complete the crime to be convicted of conspiracy. Proving drug trafficking requires proving the elements of possession with the intent to distribute a controlled substance of a weight sufficient to file drug trafficking charges. Proving a conspiracy is in many ways easier.

A conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance such as cocaine or marijuana requires the prosecutor prove an agreement in which each member of the conspiracy becomes the agent of each and every other member. The most essential part of the conspiracy offense is the making of the agreement. The next element is an overt act: which means during the life of the agreement each criminal defendant must take one overt act to advance the criminal undertaking. The conspiracy can be proven with statements from co-conspirators only if they are made during and in the course of the conspiracy. Once the conspiracy ends, either by the withdrawal of a participant, or the completion of the criminal enterprise, the conspiracy ends. Conspiracy, to summarize; requires that two or more persons come to an understanding, that the participants are voluntarily entering into a criminal enterprise, that there is an act, an overt act, to advance the crime. Lastly that the act was knowingly done to carry out the objective of the conspiracy. For more information on criminal conspiracy in South Florida, contact a South Florida criminal defense attorney for a consultation.

Entrapment is one of the few defenses which are “affirmative defenses”. In cases such as drug trafficking, and conspiracy to sell or deliver cocaine, an affirmative defense is a law created avoidance of the charges. It bars conviction.

Entrapment is based on the due process rights created in both the Florida and U.S. constitution. In Florida criminal courts a subjective and objective entrapment defense can be raised. Objective defenses are argued before the judge, without the jury, and involve allegations of outrageous police actions, such as when the police take cocaine they seized from dealers, take it to a police laboratory, turn it into crack cocaine, then release it for use in sting operations. Subjective entrapment, a jury issue, argues that the accused was not looking for or seeking to commit the crime, that the opportunity was brought to him/her by the police or an agent (confidential informant), had no history of that particular crime, and was brought into the criminal enterprise by inducements engineered by the police or a police agent (confidential informant). If you believe you have been entrapped contact a South Florida criminal defense attorney and ask for a meeting to explore the current state of entrapment law in Florida criminal courts, such as Miami-Dade, Broward, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach.

Insanity as a defense to a criminal charge in Florida can be raised, but like any defense, such as entrapment or self defense, one must admit to the crime and then raise the defense. South Florida criminal lawyers find Florida criminal juries very reluctant to accept insanity defenses. Insanity under Florida criminal law, means that due to a mental infirmity, disease or defect the accused did not know what he/she was doing or its consequences, or, although he/she knew what he/she was doing, but did not know it was wrong. If the defendant believed what he/she was doing was morally right, then he/she is not insane, if he/she was aware that it violated societal standards or knew it was against the law.

In Florida criminal courts (Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami) there is a presumption of sanity. That means a criminal defendant in Florida has the burden of proving the defense of insanity. The standard of proof is by clear and convincing evidence. Clear and convincing evidence is evidence that is precise, explicit, lacking in confusion, and of such weight that it produces a firm belief, without hesitation, about the matter or defense raised. Unrestrained passion or ungovernable temper is not insanity.

Attacking probation violation warrants starts with the basics: 1. was the alleged violation a condition of the probation sentence? 2. Did the violation occur during the probationary period? 3. Was the warrant obtained during or after probation ended? If you have an outstanding violation of probation from a Florida criminal court, contact a South Florida criminal defense attorney and let him/her do the basics? 1 – 2 – 3. What? When? Timely?

Violation of Probation warrants are often filed wrongly or too late to be lawful. A legal attack on a violation of probation warrant requires some digging. First get a copy of your final disposition: did the Judge include the condition in the probationary term? If it is a violation of probation based on the statute, check the statute in effect: statutes are amended by the legislature and conditions are added and deleted. Verify that the violation of probation warrant was submitted during the term of the probation. If the violation warrant was sent to the judge after the expiration of the probationary term then it is not a legal warrant and is subject to attack and dismissal. Don’t just submit to a violation of probation warrant without a competent and diligent Florida criminal attorney doing due diligence. A sloppy lawyer will just assume the warrant is correct, but that is not always the case. For more information contact my office for a no-cost consultation. If you have an open violation of probation warrant from Broward (Fort Lauderdale), Miami (Miami Dade County Florida) or Palm Beach, contact a Florida criminal lawyer and assert your right to a legal defense.

Fort Lauderdale and Miami criminal courts all have special criminal court divisions dedicated solely to prosecuting cases of domestic violence. Florida criminal law defines domestic violence as any assault, battery, sexual assault or stalking, kidnapping, or false imprisonment committed on a “family or household member”….or anyone you’re dating, (or dated in the past year) lived with (even if over a year in your past), married to or related to up to the third consequinity. That covers a lot of people. The legislature chimed in with some extra long sentences and a whole bunch of rules that make pre-trial release or bail almost beyond reach. If the charge involves domestic abuse or violence then you are going to be held hard in jail before the case even gets to a judge. Wrong? Unfair? Over the top? Maybe yes, but it’s the law. And why? Well because your legislature is very sensitive to voters who are vocal, and promoters of domestic violence issues holler loud and shrill when pitching legislators for harsher and harder rules that deny bond and inflict longer prison terms for domestic violence, and dating offenses. What to do? Don‘t marry, don’t date, disavow and disown your family (including aunts and nephews), live alone and avoid contact with human beings. A better answer: don’t touch, don’t strike, don’t hit. If there is a problem open the door and leave.

Florida criminal courts handle juveniles in a separate criminal division. A juvenile is under eighteen years old. The prosecutor can charge a juvenile in adult court and seek adult sanctions: this is referred to as a “direct file” case. The decision is entirely up to the State Attorney for the district; Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Miami-Dade are all independent criminal jurisdictions, that means the prosecutor is elected and each prosecutor (State Attorney) sets policy for his district’s criminal courts. Fort Lauderdale (Broward County), West Palm Beach and Miami (Miami-Dade County) are all different and juveniles get treated differently, it is a matter of policy, not law. Florida criminal laws also permit judges to overrule the decision to “direct file” on a juvenile: that is to seek adult sanctions. Florida criminal laws (Section 958), the “Youthful Offender Statute” permits a Florida criminal court judge to impose a maximum six year sentence (any combination of sanctions from probation to incarceration) on a juvenile, but, the sentence must be imposed before their twenty-first birthday. If you, or a family member, has been arrested in South Florida, contact criminal defense lawyer Ralph Behr for a free consultation

Since the Florida Legislature created the Drug Court Diversion program, many South Florida criminal courts have created “Drug Courts”. Here is how it works: If you have been arrested and charged with possession of cocaine, or possession of marijuana (Cannabis) or oxycodone, or other drugs (controlled substances) you can avoid a conviction by requesting Drug Court. Admission in Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Miami criminal courts is only by request, so make sure your South Florida Criminal Lawyer knows how to get you into Drug Court. Fort example, some lawyers file Discovery Demands immediately: this blocks you from Drug Court. Have you Florida criminal lawyer file the motion to transfer your drug arrest from felony court to drug court. If you have no prior felony convictions, and no gun or weapons convictions, you can get into drug court. After the one year program your case is nolle prossed. That means you will have no felony record. In Florida a felony conviction means you cannot vote, cannot own a gun, and have to report to the Sherriff when you move. Drug court is a once-in-a-lifetime option and a true gift. Ask your Florida criminal defense lawyer to explain the drug court option.

After an arrest a detained person is brought before an impartial magistrate (a judge) and has a right to a reasonable condition of release. It is the law. The only exceptions to bail are for capital charges, armed drug trafficking, kidnapping and some federal terrorist charges. At the bond hearing you have the right to be represented by an attorney. The magistrate must set a reasonable bond. A reasonable bond is one that is possible for the individual, not some arbitrary amount or standard bond. Pre-trial release is a favored program in Fort Lauderdale, where it has been recently expanded to permit non-indigent criminal defendants to be released with GPS monitors and travel restrictions. All criminal courts in South Florida hold bond hearings 365 days a year. Miami criminal courts, both federal and Florida criminal courts, set conditions of bond that permit the posting of a guarantee by personal surety, Fort Lauderdale (Broward County) does not: there you are required to post the cash amount or have a bond agent issue a “power number” for the bond amount.

An outstanding warrant means a trip to Fort Lauderdale, usually by jitney bus in leg irons. It can take between four and ten days, and the hotels on the way prepare you for a stay at the Fort Lauderdale jail. Not so nice. A warrant, (also called a capias if issued by a judge from the bench), is a pick-up order. All States share the outstanding warrants lists and will hold you until the State that wants you either agrees to pay the transportation (issues a “governors warrant”) or says pass, in which case you are released. If you have been arrested in Fort Lauderdale or Miami, on a Florida criminal charge, or a federal criminal charge, a warrant is issued until you appear before a judge and are granted bail or pre-trial release. If you fail to appear at any court-set hearing a capias (warrant) is issued. Violations of probation warrants are the most common, and the most common violation of probation warrants are issued for missing a check-in with your probation officer, or leaving Florida and moving without permission and without the receiving State agreeing to supervise the probation or community control. Both Federal criminal courts and Fort Lauderdale and Miami criminal courts hear violation of probation matters. If you have been arrested or have reason to believe a violation of probation warrant is out there: call a criminal defense attorney and let him/her help you.

A client of mine in 2009 paid over $1000.00 for extradition costs when he was arrested in New York on a Fort Lauderdale violation of probation warrant and transported to jail in Fort Lauderdale. He then waited ten days in jail before he saw a judge. Fort Lauderdale and Miami criminal courts have outstanding violation of probation warrants that are active in the national search system available to every police officer in their cruiser (cop car). If you missed a court date, or left Florida before completing probation call any Florida criminal lawyer and have him/her check for you. It’s not always bad news….some lawyers have mastered Due Process motions to dismiss violation of probation warrants that are very old. Your lawyer can file motions for reprimand hearings or early termination hearings on violation of probations and quash warrants that are legally defective or filed after expiration of a probation term. Miami and Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyers are your problem solvers if you are proactive and don’t wait to be extradited. So if you think there may be an outstanding violation of probation warrant for you, contact any Florida criminal defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, or Miami, today. You will get a better result if you walk into court voluntarily then if you are dragged in from jail.