While people normally have a pretty good familiarity with criminal laws, they do not always understand how the forfeiture laws work. The federal government has forfeiture laws that allow the government to seize and keep the property of people for a variety of reasons. The government can take and hold…
In DUI cases in Florida, many people assume that the police car has a video camera that records the DUI investigation and arrest. The DUI video can be a good thing for a defendant if the defendant looks good on the video, and it shows that the police officer is…
If the police want to search a house for drugs or other evidence of criminal activity, there are two primary ways they can do that. One, depending on how the the property is situated, the police can usually walk up to the front door, knock and ask to search the…
The Constitution protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures in Florida. What constitutes a search and/or seizure is not always obvious. For instance, if the police pull you over while driving, that is clearly a seizure under the law. If the police start searching your vehicle after the stop, that…
Ocala, Florida, a city near Jacksonville, Florida, enacted a city ordinance that prohibited “unnecessary or disturbing noises”. Normally, this comes up when a person is playing loud music in his/her vehicle. An individual was cited in Ocala, Florida for violating this noise ordinance and appealed his case claiming that the…
The Florida forfeiture statute allows the government to take the property of people when that property was used in conjunction with certain criminal activity or represents the proceeds of certain criminal activity. As an example, if the police arrest someone immediately after a drug transaction and the defendant is found…
Many drug cases, DUI cases, gun cases and other kinds of criminal cases begin with a simple traffic stop in Florida. A police officer will make a routine traffic stop and then claim to observe signs that the driver is impaired from alcohol or smell the odor of marijuana or…
We have written at length about various search and seizure issues including whether the police need a search warrant to conduct certain searches. As many people know, the Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures conducted by the government. However, in order to be afforded such protection, a…
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and a state attorney’s office in New York recently obtained a settlement with BNP Paribas, a large bank based out of France that resulted in a huge fine against the bank. The bank was charged with falsifying bank records to allow it to use the…
In Florida, as in other regressive jurisdictions, possessing the marijuana plant is still a crime. The Florida government still asks taxpayers to pay a lot of money to support the arrests, prosecutions and incarcerations of people possessing this plant. Until it becomes legal to possess marijuana, either for medical reasons…