badge
badge

Published on: | by

The arrest of a child is often a traumatic and distressing experience, both for the youngster and his/her parents. Juvenile criminal activities refer to those perpetrated by anyone under the age of 18. If adjudicated delinquent, the defendant is inducted into a rehabilitation program drawn up by the Florida Department of Children and Families. If your child or someone you know has been taken into custody or accused of a crime by law enforcement officers, here’s what you need to know:

• While law enforcement officers have the right to take your child into custody, they must inform you or the child’s legal guardians.

• A child can be questioned without his/her parents or legal guardians present, but the court has the right to accept the resultant testimony based on whether the accused youngster was aware of his/her constitutional rights.

Continue reading

Published on: | by

A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences is looking at the reliability of certain forensic evidence techniques many assume are reliable such as the use of fingerprint, tire track and bite mark analyses. These techniques are commonly used by the state to prosecute and convict people accused of a crime. The report is not due until December, but there are indications that the report will cast serious doubts upon the use of these techniques in criminal cases.

It is too early to speculate, but depending on the continued viability of these forensic evidentiary methods, the report could open up arguments to have prior convictions reopened and examined. The report and its findings could also affect future criminal cases and the state’s ability to use such techniques in court. At a minimum, it may allow criminal defense attorneys to produce evidence that these techniques are questionable and certainly not as reliable as juries often assume. For instance, regarding bite mark analysis, one prior study showed that an innocent person was identified 63% of the time based on bite mark evidence.

Once the report comes up, we will have more information regarding its contents and possible ramifications.

Published on: | by

A new report from the FBI revealed that police and other law enforcement officials continue to arrest drug offenders at very high rates, particularly people who merely possess marijuana. In 2007, 1.9 million people were arrested on drug charges, 872,000 of them for marijuana offenses. Arrests for marijuana offenses increased by 5% in 2007, which is an all time high, although the overall crime rate decreased in 2007 for the fifth year in a row. It is not just marijuana traffickers and growers who are being arrested. According to the FBI report, 89% of marijuana cases are possession cases. A drug arrest and conviction, even if merely for simple possession of marijuana, can have serious effects. A person in Florida who is convicted for a marijuana related offense risks losing his/her driver’s license, professional license, access to public assistance and access to student loans.

As of 2007, police arrest more people for drugs than for any other crime. Twenty percent of state prison inmates are there for a drug related offense, and over half of the inmates in federal prisons are there for drug related offenses.

The United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars on the war on drugs and put millions of U.S. citizens in jail or prison. However, while the U.S. has some of the strictest drug laws in the world, we have one of the highest rates of drug use. Clearly, the U.S. needs to consider a different approach that sensibly weighs the cost, both in dollars and otherwise, and effectiveness of current, strict drug laws against the seriousness of the various marijuana and other drug related crimes.

Published on: | by

If Jacksonville police officers are investigating a drug crime or other felony and determine that a crime has occurred or is occurring, the Jacksonville police officers may seize money or other property that is being used in connection with that crime or is proceeds of the drug or other criminal activity. The law that allows the police to take, and try to keep, property from people that is connected to a crime is called the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. Basically, the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act (FCFA) sets up procedures whereby police can seize and ultimately forfeit property that is used in connection with a drug or other felony crime.

In Jacksonville, this seizure and forfeiture of property in connection with a drug or other felony crime commonly occurs when an officer pulls over a suspect and finds drugs and cash in the vehicle. The police officer may then seize the cash and the vehicle as well as the drugs and claim that the cash and vehicle were used to facilitate a drug crime or were proceeds of a drug crime. The government then has to notify the owner(s) of the property seized that they intend to forfeit, or keep, that property. The owner(s) then has to actively make a claim for the property, and the case is litigated through the civil court system.

It is also common for the police to seize and attempt to forfeit property that is owned by someone who has no knowledge of any criminal activity. For instance, if in the example above, the vehicle belonged to a friend or relative who let the criminal suspect borrow his/her car and had no idea drugs would be transported in the vehicle, that owner would be what is called an innocent owner. The Florida forfeiture laws do not allow the police and the government to forfeit property from someone who had no knowledge of the drug or other criminal activity that is the basis of the forfeiture. In the past and in some states other than Florida, it was up to the innocent owner of the property to show that he/she did not know and had no reason to know that his/her property was used in connection with drug or other felony criminal activity. However, under the Florida forfeiture laws, the government has the burden of proving that it is more likely than not that the owner of the property they seek to forfeit did not, and had no reason to, know of the criminal activity. If the government cannot meet that burden, that property must be returned to the owner under the Florida forfeiture laws.

Continue reading

Published on: | by

Crime statistics in Jacksonville, Florida show that violent crime in Jacksonville has increased from 2006 to 2007, although violent crime across the country has decreased. According to an article on Firstcoastnews.com, reports of violent crime (such as murders, rapes and robberies) in Jacksonville increased by over 22% from 2006 to 2007. The Jacksonville Journey is an initiative created by the city of Jacksonville designed to rectify the increasing violent crime trend in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville Journey recommends an increased police presence in Jacksonville neighborhoods along with other strategies which can be found here.

Published on: | by

The Department of Justice is considering new rules which would give the FBI more tools to investigate crimes and gather intelligence about suspected criminals and other persons of interest. The rules governing the FBI were expanded after 9/11, and these new rules would provide the FBI with additional investigative tools.

Some of the additional methods the FBI could employ to investigate crimes include: conducting surveillance in public, using confidential informants to obtain information and evidence, questioning criminal suspects and others without identifying themselves as FBI agents and conducting expanded threat assessments based on less evidence than would be required for a formal investigation. Currently, FBI agents can only conduct interviews after they identify themselves, which FBI agents argue makes it more difficult to obtain the information they need. Critics of the expanded tools for the FBI are concerned that the expanded threat assessments would be based on factors like ethnicity and race and that the new rules would give the FBI too much leeway in gathering information about U.S. residents.

Published on: | by

A thirteen year old honor student was strip searched at her public school based on the uncorroborated statement of a middle school classmate that she may have been in possession of extra strength Ibuprofen (which is basically a stronger Advil or Motrin that requires a prescription but is commonly used to treat pain and inflammation). According to a recent appellate court decision from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, public school officials violated the girl’s Fourth Amendment rights when they strip searched her looking for the Ibuprofen.

In this case, the girl, Redding, was a 13 year old honor student in 8th grade at a public middle school in Arizona. She had no prior disciplinary record and no history of involvement with drugs. Another girl was caught at school with one over the counter Naproxen pill (a common pain reliever) and one extra strength Ibuprofen (which requires a prescription). After being caught with the pills, the girl said that Redding gave them to her. There was no other direct evidence that this accusation was accurate. The school officials pulled Redding from her class and asked her if she knew anything about the pills. Redding denied knowledge of the pills or how the other girl obtained them. Redding then consented to be searched. The school officials searched her backpack and found nothing. A nurse was called who then took Redding into a room and asked her to remove her clothes, pull back her bra to expose her breasts and pull up her underwear to expose her pelvic area. Redding complied, and no pills were found. Redding subsequently sued the school district and the school officials involved in the search.

After an initial decision that the school was justified in the search, the appellate court ruled that the search violated Redding’s Fourth Amendment rights. Pursuant to the Fourth Amendment, individuals have the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. What constitutes an unreasonable search and seizure depends on the circumstances of the case. Students in public schools retain their Fourth Amendment rights, but they are modified to consider the special circumstances of the school environment. In other words, public school officials are often given a little more leeway to search students and their belongings to accommodate the particular need to keep children safe from drugs and crime.

Continue reading

Published on: | by

The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is attempting to crack down on stores and store clerks who sell alcohol to people under 21 years of age, the legal drinking age in Florida, according to an article at www.News4jax.com. Jacksonville police officers are sending underage kids into various stores to try to purchase alcohol. If and when the store clerk sells the alcohol, the kid walks outside and hands the alcoholic beverage to the police officer waiting outside. The store clerk is then arrested or given a notice to appear in court for a second degree misdemeanor crime. Apparently, the Jacksonville police officers are targeting stores that have been the subject of a complaint, but they also check stores at random.

The Florida crime of selling or serving alcohol to a person under 21 years of age can be found at section 562.11, Florida Statutes. A person who is convicted of this crime faces a maximum sentence of 60 days in jail.

Published on: | by

The population of juveniles in Jacksonville and throughout Florida continues to increase, however, fortunately, the crime rate among those juveniles in Jacksonville and other areas of Florida are not necessarily matching the population increase. For instance, according to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the juvenile crime rate in Florida has decreased from 87 delinquency referrals per 100 juveniles during fiscal year 2002 – 2003 to 77 delinquency referrals per 100 juveniles in fiscal year 2006 – 2007. Placement of juveniles in residential delinquent treatment facilities decreased from 9035 to 7187 during that same time period.

As far as the crimes committed the most by juveniles in Florida, assault and battery are the number one misdemeanor crimes and burglary is the number one felony crime.

However, the news on crimes committed by juveniles in Florida is not all positive. Serious crimes committed by juveniles has increased approximately 4% between the fiscal year of 2004 – 2005 to the fiscal year of 2006 – 2007. These crimes include murder and manslaughter, armed robbery, burglary, auto theft, aggravated assault and aggravated battery, sex offenses and drug offenses involving marijuana, crack, cocaine and other illegal drugs as well as unauthorized prescription drugs like Oxycontin, Xanax, Percocet and others.

Continue reading

Published on: | by

Jacksonville, Florida is a major market for the distribution and transport of illegal drugs and drug operations, according to a recent report from the National Drug Intelligence Center. The report indicates that Jacksonville, Florida is the primary drug market in the North Florida region (which includes Duval, Nassau, Clay, St. Johns and other surrounding counties) and a significant stopping point for illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy that are then transported to other major drug markets from Miami to Atlanta. Mexican and other Hispanic groups have large criminal drug operations that work in and through Jacksonville. Indoor cannabis (marijuana) plant operations have increased exponentially in the Jacksonville area. Seizures of indoor cannabis plants have increased by 277% in the Jacksonville/North Florida area from 2005 – 2007.

The report indicates that the biggest threat to the Jacksonville area is cocaine and crack distribution and abuse due to the prevalence of the drugs, the violence associated with them and the cocaine and crack related treatment needs. The report pessimistically indicates that demand for cocaine and crack, particularly, and heroin, marijuana, methamphetamine and ecstasy to a lesser extent, in the Jacksonville area is, and will remain, strong, and Mexican and other drug trafficking organizations will continue to meet the demand. The report also notes that violent crime in Jacksonville has increased. White the study did not directly correlate the abuse of cocaine, crack and other drugs to the increase in violent crime, it did suggest, as common sense would, a likely connection. With the increase in demand and supply of these drugs in the Jacksonville area, it is reasonable to suggest the increase in violent crime would continue as well.

Contact Information
Jacksonville Office
121 W Forsyth St #520
Jacksonville, FL 32202
Office: 904-642-3332
Altamonte Springs Office
409 Montgomery Rd #115
Altamonte Springs, FL 32714
Office: 407-228-2019
Orlando Office
108 Hillcrest St, Office 2-1
Orlando, FL 32801
Office: 407-228-2019

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. The contact form sends information by non-encrypted email, which is not secure. Submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Copyright © 2016 – 2025, Lasnetski Gihon Law
JUSTIA Law Firm Blog Design