In Florida, the crime of child neglect is committed when a person described under the law as a caregiver fails to provide care or supervision to a child that is necessary to maintain the child’s health or to protect a child from abuse or neglect. Child neglect is a felony,…
In Florida, if police obtain evidence of a crime after an illegal detention, the criminal defense lawyer can get that evidence thrown out. In a recent case near Jacksonville, Florida, the police saw some people smoking cigarettes in a public park. Smoking was prohibited in the park so the police…
In Florida, it is illegal to get into a traffic crash and then leave the scene without waiting for the police and providing identification and insurance information. For crashes that involve minor impacts, there must be some property damage or injury to trigger the requirement to remain at the scene.…
In any criminal case, the state has the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the crime by establishing all of the particular elements of the crime as defined by Florida law. However, the state is not allowed to present irrelevant evidence or evidence that is…
In a recent case that was well publicized in Jacksonville and throughout Florida, state law enforcement officials made many arrests of people the state alleged were involved in illegal gambling operations. According to the state, the gambling operations involved internet cafes in cities across Florida and brought in millions in…
As we have discussed multiple times in the past, the Florida forfeiture laws give the state a lot of power to take property from people suspected of crimes and then institute forfeiture proceedings to keep that property. We have seen many cases where the state takes a person’s property, usually…
In order to address federal prison overcrowding issues, among other issues, the Senate is working on a bill that would reduce the federal prison population and also address racial disparities among federal inmates. The law would be called the Smarter Sentencing Act. Notwithstanding the obvious pessimism regarding anything considered “Smarter”…
When the police approach someone and stop him/her to ask questions about a crime, it is typically considered a detention in Florida. The police are not allowed to detain someone for investigation without consent or specific evidence that the person is involved in criminal activity. It is very common for…
In a possession of marijuana with intent to distribute case west of Jacksonville, Florida, the police suspected that the defendant was selling drugs. During their investigation, they placed a GPS device on his vehicle without obtaining a search warrant. Later, the police learned that a package containing marijuana was being…
In Florida, there is a well-protected Constitutional right to privacy and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures in one’s home. While the privacy right is not as strong, one also has a similar Constitutional right in his/her hotel room. The police cannot just barge into a hotel room…