The search and seizure laws deal with when, and under what circumstances, police officers can search a person or his/her property for drugs or other evidence of criminal activity. A general rule is that the police officer can ask a person if he/she can conduct a search and if the…
As criminal defense lawyers in the Jacksonville and North Florida area, we have seen an increase in cases involving the alleged sale of what the police call “synthetic marijuana.” Keep in mind that “synthetic marijuana” is a term completely made up by police to make it sound like this substance…
The United States Constitution, along with the Florida Constitution, protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures. There are many cases decided by state and federal courts which elaborate on what is a legal search and seizure by the police and what violates a person’s right to privacy under the Constitution.…
In Florida, a defendant can be convicted of possession of marijuana or other drugs based on constructive possession. However, the state has to prove both that the defendant knew the drugs were present and had some sort of dominion or control over the drugs. For example, if a person walks…
In Florida, in order for the state to prove a drug possession case, it has to prove that the defendant either actually possessed the illegal drugs or constructively possessed the illegal drugs. Actual possession is fairly straightforward. if a person is holding drugs or has them in his/her pocket, that…
We wrote a previous entry about a case being decided by the United States Supreme Court regarding whether the police can have a drug dog walk onto someone’s property and sniff for the odor of illegal drugs without a search warrant. In many cases, a police officer will call for…
The general rule in Florida is that a police officer is not permitted to enter a suspect’s home without probable cause and a valid search warrant signed by a judge or consent from someone with authorization. The Constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures provides the greatest protection in one’s…
In Florida, many drug cases arise after a suspect has given the police consent to search. We have a hard time understanding why people give police consent to search when they know they are in possession of drugs or other incriminating evidence, but they do quite often. When a suspect…
In Florida, many drug cases start out as routine traffic stops. A police officer stops a driver for violating some traffic law, suspects that the driver has drugs in the vehicle and then ultimately searches the occupants and/or the vehicle, either after walking a drug dog around the vehicle or…
As criminal defense lawyers in the Jacksonville, Florida area, we have taken on several new cases involving arrests for synthetic marijuana. These cases typically involve undercover police officers going into convenience stores and similar businesses that sell items they consider synthetic marijuana. The undercover officers will have a conversation with…