With cell phones that have the capability to record audio and video, people record other people’s communications all of the time. However, that may not be legal in Florida. There is a statute that addresses this issue, but its interpretation is not clear. The Florida statute basically says it is…
In Florida, when a police officer makes a traffic stop and claims he/she observes evidence of impairment from alcohol, that officer will initiate a DUI investigation. This usually starts with questions about where the driver has been, how much the driver has had to drink and other questions about the…
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…
Most people are aware that cell phones have GPS data that allows a cell phone provider to track and determine the location of the cell phone. This can be valuable information to police officers who are looking for a cell phone, or a suspect, at any given time. Do police…
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…
A lot of serious criminal arrests are the result of simple, seemingly harmless traffic stops. Many drug cases and gun cases originate from simple traffic violations that lead to traffic stops that lead to criminal investigations and searches and seizures. Of course, most DUI arrests are also the result of…
In Florida, the defense of necessity may be available for a defendant charged with a variety of criminal charges. When using this defense, a defendant is basically saying that he/she did commit the crime, but did so because it was necessary due to some urgent circumstances. The necessity defense has…
In Florida, the state must commence prosecution of a suspect within a certain period of time from the date a crime is committed or reported. That period of time is referred to as the statute of limitations. It provides that the state must prosecute a suspect within a certain period…
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…
Most people in Florida enjoy the Constitutional protections that prevent the police from searching a person’s home, vehicle or other belongings without probable cause, a search warrant and/or consent. In other words, police cannot just go and enter a person’s home or search something that belongs to a person without…