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Many people ask me how I would go about hiring a criminal lawyer. I found a very helpful and brief article (two paragraphs) which I want you to read [GO TO ARTICLE PRESS HERE]. Now that you’ve read it here’s some additional advice… ( continued on second page)…

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This will get your blood pressure up for sure. If you are arrested you can be tried in a federal court under a federal criminal statute, OR the jurisdiction (State) in which you were arrested. Yep! Double jeopardy? No, the law says its not double jeopardy, but many don’t agree. Being a federal criminal lawyer means specializing in federal criminal trial rules, evidence and procedures. Federal criminal charges come from the federal criminal code (title 18) and differ from (for example) Florida criminal laws and rules. If you are arrested and charged in federal court your first need is pre-trial release: for that you are brought before a federal magistrate. Federal criminal courts have several pre-trial release methods, from standard monetary bonds to corporate surety bonds, personal surety bonds, or stipulated agreements between the United States Attorney and your federal criminal lawyer. Rules of court vary from federal criminal district (Southern District of Florida vs. Middle District of Florida) and from region to region. If you have been arrested in South Florida and are in the preliminary pre-filing stage: are the feds going to “pick up the charges” or the State of Florida?? There are many things your South Florida federal criminal lawyer can do to help you. Call Ralph Behr for a free consultation.

Emptying jails by putting defendants on Pre-Trial Release (ankle monitors) has saved South Florida jails a lot of money, but has also made lots of issues come up…. Hot!
South Florida Criminal Defense Attorneys want Pre-Trial Release for indigents, but not for those who can afford to post bail money. Many doubt that more bureaucrats are the answer and want to see bondsmen return to their historical and dependable function: assuring defendants come to court.
The posting of financial bonds has always worked in South Florida. Bondsmen will hunt down and find their clients…..and they do!
The Pre-Trial Release program believes that an ankle monitor and a bureaucrat peering into a computer monitor will work better. NO says Jacksonville Bail Agents Association and Bondsmen throughout South Florida.
The issue has reached the Florida Legislature with a proposed Senate bill from Sen. John Thrasher (Republican from Jacksonville). The bill is supported by bondsmen throughout South Florida. It sets the correct balance: let indigents (those arrested who have no money) be out on ankle monitors and let those with assets post them to assure their appearance in court.

South Florida Criminal Defense lawyer Ralph Behr has announced his support of Senate Bill 8-00784B-10 believing it will go a long way to make defendants show up in court without burdening the State with the expense of having bureaucrats watch them on GPS monitors. If it aint’ broke don’t fix it: let Bondsmen do it right, better, and cheaper than Big Government!

State Senator Victor D. Crist (Republican Senator from Tampa) is doing some heavy lifting in trying to eliminate or reduce the number of Public Defender clients who should not be in the Public Defender’s office as clients. {read article in Florida Bar News} At this time of cut-backs in State funding for public services the Office of the Public Defender is under severe pressure. These pressures come from under-funding in the face of a major increase in their caseloads.
Many believe the Public Defender is accepting many “indigents” who have lied on their financial affidavits applying for “free” Public Defender attorneys.
Many criminal defense attorneys in Broward County have seen their former (private-pay) clients are now represented by the Office of the Public Defender. Since the Public Defender began in 2007 sending staff personnel into the jails to “pre-interview” arrestees their caseload has exploded.

The lack of oversight and lack of asset checks is the most likely cause and should be investigated.

Olivia Namath, 19, was arrested by Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office deputies during a traffic stop last Sunday. Deputies smelled marijuana upon stopping the car and a bottle of rum and beer in vehicle too. Namath told police on scene she did not know anything about the drugs. Namath was arrested for possession of liquor by a person under 21 and possession of marijuana with intent to sell. She is the daughter of Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Namath.

A first degree misdemeanor: includes a fine of up to $1000 and up to one year in prison.

A first degree felony: includes a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 30 years in prison.

Drug trafficking: can include up to life in prison and a fine of up to $500,000.

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One of the most commonly charged criminal offenses in South Florida is Trafficking in Cocaine. Of the most serious crimes charged in Fort Lauderdale criminal courts, Trafficking has become much more common. South Florida criminal lawyers practicing in Fort Lauderdale carry a heavier caseload of these cases in recent times. The charge has become more common due to the increase number of criminal arrests in Fort Lauderdale of people who enter Florida to obtain controlled substances such as pain relief medications from the increasing number of “Pain Clinics” in Fort Lauderdale and Broward County.

The charge of trafficking in cocaine requires the prosecutor prove the defendant had actual or constructive knowledge of and possession of the drugs, further that he had a “trafficking amount” of the controlled substance, and that there was a transaction or a sale. Possession of cocaine is charged when the amount of cocaine is a “personal use” amount: which is determined by the weight of the cocaine. Crack cocaine, although not pure cocaine is weighed and treated like cocaine for the purpose of determining the weight of the cocaine when the charge of trafficking in cocaine is filed.

A Florida Supreme Court opinion clarified Florida criminal law as it concerns ineffective assistance of counsel in death penalty cases. The case of RANDOLF v. McNeil was ruled upon December 2009 by the Florida Supreme Court wherein the court rejected Randolph’s claims. In Florida the criminal laws concerning a criminal attorney’s level of competency standard holds that unless there is a reasonable probability that the result of the trial would have been different, the lack of investigation or other shortcomings of the criminal trial attorney would not justify a new trial. Florida follows a generally accepted analysis when a conviction is appealed and the basis of the demand for a new trial is ineffective assistance of counsel. Florida criminal defense attorneys who represent defendants in homicide cases in which the death penalty is sought must have a special license from the Florida Supreme Court that he/she is “Death Qualified”. In South Florida, specifically in Broward County there are 18 attorneys who have Board Certification in Criminal Trial Law. Attorney Ralph Behr is one of the Fort Lauderdale Criminal defense attorneys who are both Board Certified and Death Certified in death penalty cases.