Articles Posted in Legal News / Legal Information

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GovermentWhat Do I Do After I’m  Arrested  In Miami  Florida?

This three part series: What Do I Do After I Am Arrested in Miami, is a complete run through of the criminal court processes from arrest through final disposition of a Miami criminal case.  This Article is Part Two of a Three Part Series that begins with the Miami State Attorney’s Office case filing decision.  Please also see parts one and three.

Case  Filing  Decision:

The State Attorney’s Office will generally begin to review the case filing package on your case within 2-weeks after your arrest and make a filing decision within 21 days of your arrest, if you are in custody.  If you are not in custody, the filing decision generally takes about 30 days or longer.  Once the State files what is known as an ‘Information’ in your case, the Clerk’s Office will post your charges into the Clerk’s computer and you will be noticed with an Arraignment date.  You may also have changes to your bond on the same date, assuming there are added charges or changed charges, from the charges that you were originally arrested for by the police.  This is common because, the police do not  always arrest  you  for the identical offenses that your are ultimately charged  with by the State Attorney’s Office.

Pre-Filing Package:

Before your charges are filed, you have an opportunity to provide the case filing Assistant State Attorney with additional materials such as;  witness  statements, documents, recordings, and papers for his or her consideration in determining what, if any, charges should be filed against you by the state of  Florida.  I have represented thousands of clients pre-filing, which many times has gotten charges completely dropped. Oftentimes, supplemental materials filed by you will result in greatly reduced charges that are in  the process of being filed against you.  The pre-filing package represents the first line of defense in many cases.  If you do not file supplemental materials with the State Attorney’s Office,  the case  filing Assistant State Attorney will  rely solely upon the case filing package of materials received from the police department, and  may accept all allegations and statements contained in the police package as true.   This could result in  more serious charges  being  filed against you in the criminal Information.  Your defenses will rarely be set forth in the police reports used as the basis to arrest you.  It is unfortunate indeed  that  more defendants do not utilize the pre-filing package opportunity in an effort to have reduced charges filed.  I can assist you with these critical stages in your case.

The Defense Case:

After Arraignment in your case, you can  file a ‘notice of discovery’, which is an official  request for the state  to file a discovery response  listing  witnesses, papers, and other specific evidence upon which the state will  rely in attempting to prove it’s case against you.   You are entitled to take discovery depositions from all material state’s witnesses in the preparation of your defense.  The state will  also provide you with copies of all relevant papers in your case, which may include witness statements, lab  reports,  photos, crime scene reports, police reports, and  all other materials.  You may also list defense witnesses and use defense exhibits in your case, provided that you give notice of these witnesses and materials to the state in advance.  This is known as reciprocal discovery.

As your case progresses and as your attorney prepares your defense, pretrial motions may be filed on a variety of legal issues.  As a general rule, the harder your attorney works on your case- the better your ultimate disposition in the case will be.  Your attorney should examine the facts of your case and determine whether some or all of the charges filed against you can be dismissed and to file the appropriate defensive motions for dismissal.   The results achieved in every case differ depending on a variety of factors, such as the nature of the charges, your prior arrests, the strength of the state’s case, the strength of the defense case, the judge, and the Assistant State Attorney assigned to your case.  The prosecutor assigned to your case may change during the pendency of your case, which is quite common.  This could be a good thing or a bad thing. Being fully prepared for all possibilities is the key to a successful defense.

Part Three Of Three will discuss what happens next through disposition of a criminal case filed in Miami, Florida.

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This article by Miami Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer Ralph S. Behr is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as constituting  legal  advice. You should consult with your attorney to determine the best course of action to take on  your  case. For consultation regarding the specific facts of your case and arrest please contact Miami Criminal Defense Lawyer Ralph S. Behr.

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IMG_1145-300x212What Do I Do After I’m Arrested In Miami Florida?  Part One of Three Part Series.

This three part series: What Do I Do If I Am Arrested in Miami Florida,  is a complete run-through of the criminal court processes from arrest through final disposition of a Miami criminal case.

Part One Of Three:

You have been arrested in Miami (by a Florida  police officer or deputy sheriff), this starts the criminal court process. Bienvenidos a’ Miami!  I will lead you through the mine-fields after your arrest in South Florida, and there are many.

Posting A Bond:

In all cases, you are entitled to a reasonable set of pre-trial release conditions, or bond, unless it is a capital charge, or you are currently on pre-trial release in Florida or any other jurisdiction.  Generally, this requires that you post a bond with the court.  A bond is a binding agreement to pay, or deposit money to the court to assure the Court  that you will appear for your scheduled court dates.  This holds true regardless of whether you are arrested in Miami, Florida, or anywhere else in  Florida.  A bond is intended to assure your appearance in the case.  Your bond may either be a cash bond in smaller cases, or a surety bond in larger cases.  To post a surety bond you will need the assistance of a bondsman who will file a bond  with the court on your behalf, guaranteeing your appearance at all scheduled court dates.  The bond is a conditional release.  Therefore, if you are arrested for a subsequent offense while you are out on bond, your original bond may be revoked by the court without notice.  If you cannot afford to post the bond that is set by the court it may be necessary to request a bond reduction hearing with the court.  I can move the court on your behalf quickly for a bond reduction.  Depending on the severity of the allegations made against you, the court may also impose other conditions of your pre-trial release, which could include many other restrictive conditions, such as electronic monitoring.

Magistrate  Court:

Once  you  are  arrested,  you  are  entitled  to  a  magistrate  hearing  within 24 hours if you are still in custody for a determination of whether probable cause exists for your arrest.  I have represented thousands of clients in magistrate court.  Probable cause for an arrest are facts and circumstances, which would lead a reasonably prudent person to believe that a crime has been committed.  If no probable cause is found for your arrest, you can be released on your own recognizance.  In the majority of cases, probable cause is found by the magistrate judge and the bond amount is generally set by the Clerk of Courts, as a standard bond amount.  If your arrest stems from an arrest warrant (a court order by a judge commanding your arrest), the judge signing the arrest warrant will set the bond amount, which is typically higher than a standard bond amount for the same offense.

Tracking Your Case:

Within a day or two, the probable cause affidavit or initial arrest report on your case, will filter it’s way to the Clerk’s Office from the booking desk at the jail.  You will be assigned a case number and judge by random assignment.  This information  is normally viewable online at  the  Clerk Of  Court’s Website.  You can track certain information about your case, including court dates and case status from the same site once it is logged online.

Part Two Of Three we will discuss what happens during and after a criminal case filing decision is made by the Miami State Attorney’s Office.

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This article by Miami Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer Ralph S. Behr is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as constituting  legal  advice.  You should consult  with your attorney to determine the best course of action to take on  your  case. For consultation regarding the specific facts of your case and arrest please contact Miami Criminal Lawyer Ralph S. Behr.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

R.I.C.O.

(Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act)

There are five specific facts which must be proved:

  1. The defendant was associated with an “enterprise”.
  2. The defendant knowingly and willfully committed, or aided, at least two predicate offenses.
  3. That the two predicate offenses were connected with each other by some common scheme, plan or motive, so as to be a pattern of criminal activity.
  4. The defendant conducted or participated in the enterprises’ affairs.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

RECKLESS DRIVING

To prove reckless driving the state must prove two elements:

  1. Defendant operated a vehicle.
  2. Defendant did so with a willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property.

Willful means intentionally, knowingly and purposely.

Wanton means with a conscious and intentional indifference to consequences and with knowledge that damage or injury is likely to result from the driver’s actions.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

POSSESSION OF DRUG PARAPHERNALIA

The state must prove:

  1. Defendant used or had the object in his/her possession with the intent to use it as drug paraphernalia.
  2. Defendant had knowledge of the presence of the drug paraphernalia.

‘Paraphernalia’ means all equipment, products, and materials of any kind which are used, intended for use, or designed to use in planting, propagating, cultivating, growing, harvesting, manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, processing, preparing, testing, analyzing, packaging, repackaging, storing, containing, concealing, injecting, ingesting, inhaling, or otherwise introducing into the human body a controlled substance.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

PERJURY

To prove Perjury the following elements must be proven:

  1. The person took an oath to tell the truth.
  2. While under oath the person made a false statement that he/she DID NOT believe to be true.

Perjury can also occur by contradictory statements, as follows:

While under oath a person made statements which are contradictory.   Both statements were made knowingly and intentionally.

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MxDnDcp7TuChwQ9W1RAkVQ_thumb_27e8-300x187Money Laundering in the High-End Super-Rich Luxury Home Market

In Miami and New York City, federal anti-money laundering agencies have launched a major effort to end buying high end housing with laundered money.  These are apartments in multi-million-dollar condominiums, waterfront high end homes in Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Los Angeles and D.C.  The Task Force is now operating full steam!  Take note that there are Federal Grand Juries actively investigating money laundering in New York and Florida.   Government money laundering federal prosecutors have begun a campaign to take down lawyers and real estate agents who facilitate these money laundering transactions.  How?  First there now is a push to emphasize the “know your client” rule.  The American Bar Association has published an attorney’s best practices pamphlet http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/uncategorized/GAO/2014oct_abaguide_preventingmoneylaundering.authcheckdam.pdf which is a must-read for lawyers in New York, Miami, and now Boca Raton Florida who have clients from outside the U.S. who purchase expensive homes with cash.   “Know Your Client” means… the true beneficial party must be known by his or her government issued identifier.  Identifiers are tax identification number(s).   For U.S. citizens? — a social security number.  For non-U.S. nationals?  –Their citizen identification is now required: passports are acceptable citizen identifiers.  A Beneficial Owner, or true equity-owner- person, is a living human being.  Best practices are to not accept transactions where the buyer is a business or a partnership or an entity: that is no longer good enough to shield you from a major problem.  You should (read that must) know the name of a living, breathing person.  It’s best to actually have personal contact with the beneficial owner(s).  If you don’t , and the government looks at the transaction and begins a money laundering investigation you (Real Estate broker or salesman, or Mr. or Ms. Attorney), will have a visitor from the Treasury Department, or the FBI and then it’s off into a major kettle of woes.  First thing is hiring your friendly federal criminal defense attorney.  Or responding to a Grand Jury subpoena.  Or a meet with the FBI investigator, or the U.S.  Attorney’s case agent.  It gets worse.  Think about the Bar, or your practice partners, or your clients who read about you being indicted in federal court on a wire fraud, or money laundering charge.  https://www.southfloridacriminaldefenselawyerblog.com/

Is it worth the aggravation to explain to your golfing buddies in Boca Raton about your miseries?  How about your friends in Miami who thought you were at the top of your game and now you’re playing hardball with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New York.  So, what to do?  Here’s a few things to do:

  1. Remember that 78% of all real estate transactions in Miami and Boca Raton require compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act.  https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/safety/manual/section8-1.pdf

If you’re not familiar with it then call your malpractice underwriter and get the protocol for a closing.

  1. Learn and learn well, that starting today you have to (must) monitor, identify, know and name all parties to the transaction. Find and identify (with numerical identifiers) the true beneficial persons of interest: the buyer who walks and talks and will live in the five-million-dollar waterfront townhouse in Palm Beach.
  2. Go online and read the first page of the U.S. Treasury’s Department of Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).  https://www.fincen.gov/
  3. Or call your federal criminal defense lawyer in Fort Lauderdale, or Miami, or New York. Don’t be bashful it’s a call that can save you money and maybe your license!
  4. Again, go online and read about Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR’s) what they are and how attorneys and real estate agents and brokers can be tagged for not making a SAR report.
  5. Refamiliarize yourself with the definition of Willful Blindness.
  6. Go online to the website of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) or go online to find the local Chapter of ACAMS and call one of the names on the registry of members.
  7. Ask a banker for a contact in their internal Anti Money Laundering Compliance department.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE

Resisting, obstructing, or opposing any officer in the execution of any legal duty.

The crime of Obstructing Justice includes:

  • Contempt
  • Escape
  • Perjury
  • Resisting or Obstructing an Officer
  • Retaliation against a witness
  • Tampering or fabricating evidence
  • Tampering with witnesses

 

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

CRIMINAL MISCHIEF

Causing damage to the property of another, willfully and maliciously.

‘Maliciously’ means wrongfully, intentionally, without legal justification or excuse and with the knowledge that the injury or damage will or may be caused to another person or the property of another person.

‘Willfully’ means intentionally, knowingly, and purposefully.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

CHILD ABUSE

The intentional infliction of physical or mental injury, upon a child.

Or, any intentional act that could reasonably be expected to result in physical or mental injury to a child.

Anyone who actively encourages another to commit an act of child abuse is guilty of child abuse.

A child is a person under the age of 18.

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50 ‘most charged’ crimes defined

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

Possession of any image depicting a minor engaged in sexual conduct.

In most states each image is an additional count. Ten photos (electronic images) can become ten individual counts of child pornography.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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