In Florida, it is fairly common for the police to make an arrest when they find a person with pills but without a prescription. This is one of the ugly side effects of the disastrous war on drugs- drug arrests are easy, they are good for stats and police often…
In the Jacksonville, Florida area, we see a lot of drug cases involving defendants who are arrested for having prescription drugs without the prescription. The drug laws in Florida are very harsh, and prescription drug cases can come with serious penalties, sometimes with lengthy minimum mandatory prison sentences. When a…
While the Second Amendment clearly gives people the right to own and carry a firearm, there are restrictions of that right. In Florida, those restrictions can come with severe penalties if a person is in violation of the law. For instance, if a person has been convicted of a felony…
The federal wire fraud statute is very broad and used often by United States Attorneys offices in presenting indictments to grand juries. Essentially, a person commits wire fraud when he/she uses a wire communication (i.e. a telephone, among other methods) to defraud someone out of money or property using false…
When a person applies for most types of jobs in this country, he/she is normally required to provide information indicating he/she is either a United States citizen or otherwise legally authorized to work here. Of course, we all know that employers do not always check that information for various reasons.…
When the police search property and find incriminating evidence, the criminal defense lawyer would file a motion to suppress that evidence if there is an argument that the search was not legal. If the criminal defense attorney is successful with the motion to suppress, the evidence that was obtained by…
E-cigarettes are often marketed as a safer alternative to regular tobacco cigarettes. There are many new companies, some of them public, that are manufacturing e-cigarettes and making a lot of money doing so. E-cigarettes are different from traditional cigarettes in that they are battery operated and heat a liquid that…
In Florida, the crime of battery is very broad and can include a lot of different actions. Basically, a battery is defined as any unauthorized touching. So, a slight push or any marginal contact can be considered a battery if the victim did not authorize the contact. A battery charge,…
In Florida, there is something called a lesser included charge or offense which can be a great benefit to a defendant who may be guilty of a crime, but not a crime as serious as the one charged by the state. Most felony charges have lesser included charges that either…
In Florida, the police are generally not allowed to search a suspect’s vehicle unless the driver or owner gives consent to search, the police have probable cause to believe there is evidence of criminal activity inside or there is an arrest of an occupant of the vehicle and there is…