In Florida, the police generally cannot search a person’s vehicle without consent, a search warrant or specific indications of illegal activity occurring within the vehicle. However, police can often come up with certain observations that allow them to search a person’s vehicle under certain circumstances. In a recent case near…
As most people with a basic understanding of the criminal justice system understand, the state always has the burden of proof in a criminal case. That means the state is obligated to prove, with evidence, that the defendant committed the crime with which he/she is charged. A person is always…
There is a law in Florida that is not well known that protects people from drug charges if police find drugs while assisting someone during a medical emergency due to a drug overdose. A Florida statute provides immunity from prosecution for a person who is experiencing a drug overdose and…
The right to privacy in one’s home and on one’s property is one of the strongest rights in the Constitution. The police are not allowed to come into one’s home and search or ask questions without consent from the resident or a valid search warrant. The fact that the police…
In Florida, the police are not allowed to stop a person for a drug or other criminal investigation without reasonable suspicion that the person is engaging, just engaged or is about to engage in criminal activity. This reasonable suspicion standard requires more than just assumptions. There must be some specific…
While there seems to be some growing recognition that the war on drugs is criminally wasteful and counterproductive, with more states legalizing marijuana either for recreational purposes and/or medicinal purposes, clearly we still have a long way to go before we approach a reasonable and fiscally responsible state of affairs.…
One of the myriad problems and idiotic characteristics of the monumentally wasteful and unsuccessful War on Drugs is that the marijuana plant, or cannabis, is classified as a Schedule I drug by the federal government. Schedule I drugs are the most highly restricted drugs and reserved for drugs that are…
In Florida, a lot of drug arrests stem from simple traffic stops. One way for a criminal defense attorney to attack such a case would be to challenge the legality of the initial stop. While this may be difficult when a police officer is prepared to testify that the suspect…
In Florida, it is a felony for a person to bring contraband into the jail. Many of these cases involve a person who is arrested with drugs on them and do not want to tell the police officer the drugs are there. The police officer does not find the drugs…
In Florida, many drug trafficking and other drug crimes start when a confidential information gives information to the police about a suspect. Normally, a person is arrested for a drug crime or some other crime, and in order to improve his/her position, he/she gives information to the police about some…