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A Jacksonville woman was sentenced to 15 years in the Florida state prison after a guilty verdict in a vehicular homicide case. According to police and prosecutors, the woman was driving after taking Ambien, Xanax, cocaine and other drugs. She hit and killed a pedestrian on the Trout River Bridge in Jacksonville before crashing her vehicle. Prosecutors ultimately charged her with vehicular homicide which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.

The crime of vehicular homicide in Florida can be committed in various ways. Most people are familiar with the term DUI manslaughter which often involves a person who is impaired by alcohol causing an accident that results in the death of another person. However, according to the Florida statute, the crime of vehicular homicide can be committed by a person who is intoxicated by alcohol, by illegal drugs, by legal prescription drugs or not intoxicated at all.

The crime of vehicular homicide does not necessarily require that a person is intoxicated or impaired, but rather focuses on whether a person is driving recklessly and causes a death. There is no clear definition of reckless driving but it is viewed as driving that is above and beyond more routine negligent driving that is likely to cause an accident with serious injury or death. An example of negligent driving which is not sufficient for a vehicular homicide charge would be speeding or running a red light. An example of reckless driving would be excessive speeding in a residential or school zone or driving while impaired by alcohol and/or drugs. In most cases, the reckless driving is caused by alcohol and/or illegal drugs. However, alcohol and/or illegal drugs are not a requirement. There are cases where a person is charged with vehicular homicide without alcohol or illegal drugs being involved. But in those cases, there is usually some very dangerous driving or some other factor that made it likely that the driver would cause a serious accident resulting in death or serious injury.

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Police in Columbia County, Florida (which is just over an hour west of Jacksonville, Florida) arrested a man after they allegedly found 112 grams of cocaine in his home, according to an article on News4jax.com. When police arrest someone for being in possession of any drug, whether it is crack, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamine or some other drug, the quantity of the drugs often dictate what the actual criminal charge will be. If there is a small amount of drugs, the charge is often simple possession of the drugs. This will be a misdemeanor if the drug is marijuana and the amount is less than 20 grams. Otherwise, for small amounts of drugs like crack, cocaine, heroine, methamphetamine and pills without a prescription, the possession charge will be a third degree felony which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison but is often considered much less seriously by the state and the judge.

However, when the quantity of illegal drugs found is larger, the possible penalties under Florida law get much larger as well. For cocaine, that threshold amount is 28 grams or more. If a person has between 28 and less than 200 grams of cocaine in his/her possession, he/she can, and likely will, be charged with trafficking in cocaine which carries a minimum mandatory sentence of three years in prison. Of course, the sentence is always negotiable by the criminal defense lawyer and prosecutor, but when the amount of drugs reaches that trafficking threshold, the state has much more leverage because of the three year minimum mandatory prison sentence.

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Police in Jacksonville seem to focus on underaged people drinking at the major events in Jacksonville. It seems as if after most, if not all, big events in Jacksonville, such as the Georgia-Florida game, the Gator Bowl, concerts and other events, there is an article in the paper about the large number of arrests for underaged drinking. As criminal defense lawyers in Jacksonville, Florida, we get most of our calls from people arrested for underaged drinking after such events. For example, at the recent sold out Monster Jam at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, law enforcement gave 38 people notices to appear citations for underaged drinking.

An arrest for underaged drinking in Florida would appear to be a fairly minor ordeal, although it is a misdemeanor crime. Many times, the police officer does not actually arrest the person but gives him/her what appears to be a ticket, or notice to appear in court at a later date, instead. Everyone must understand that on a person’s criminal record, that ticket is the equivalent of an actual arrest. For those people who are actually arrested for underaged drinking, they will be in front of a judge within 24 hours and are normally given an offer of time served upon a guilty or no contest plea.

While the misdemeanor charge of underaged drinking is hardly ever going to be serious, the problem is that a guilty or no contest plea can have a serious effect on a person’s criminal record and their ability to seal or expunge that record in the future. Florida law does allow people to seal or expunge a criminal record one time in certain circumstances, depending on the crime, the disposition and other factors. However, if a person is adjudicated guilty on any crime, the law does not allow that person to have any other crime sealed or expunged. So, if a person gets arrested or gets a notice to appear on an underaged drinking charge and enters a plea of guilty or no contest thinking that is the quickest and easiest resolution, the judge may likely adjudicate that person guilty. If the judge does adjudicate the person guilty and that person gets a more serious charge in the future that is dropped or adjudication is withheld, the old underaged drinking charge may prevent that person from sealing or expunging the second, more serious charge.

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Two employees of the Jacksonville Electric Authority (JEA) were arrested for grand theft after allegedly stealing reels of copper wire from the utility, according to an article on Firstcoastnews.com. The investigation began when another woman was apparently arrested in connection with $135,000 worth of copper wire taken from the JEA salvage yard.

Theft of copper wire has become a much more prevalent crime over the years in Jacksonville and throughout the country. As the price of copper wire went up in the U.S. and internationally (by more than 5 times in the mid 2000’s), copper wire thefts have increased as well. One government study estimated that $1 billion worth of copper wire is stolen each year in the U.S. These thefts often occur at abandoned homes, warehouses and construction sites. Copper thieves look for copper wire in air conditioning units, exposed pipes and many other locations. However, stealing copper can be dangerous, as these people found out when they were electrocuted trying to cut through power lines made of copper.

In Florida, theft can be a fairly minor crime or it can be very serious with significant penalties. If the value of the property stolen is less than $300, the theft is a misdemeanor crime in Florida. Because copper is so valuable these days, most copper thefts of any significance will be well above that threshold. If the value of the property is $100,000 or more, the crime is grand theft and would be a first degree felony punishable by a maximum 15 years in prison. While most theft cases are misdemeanors or in the $300 to $20,000 range making the crime a third degree felony punishable by a maximum of 5 years in prison (but often resolved with minimal jail time or probation), copper theft cases can get over the $100,000 threshold and into the first degree felony range fairly quickly.

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The Florida Highway Patrol received new information about a 2003 hit and run case that involved a fatality and are actively looking for their new suspect, according to an article on News4jax.com. The article indicates that an informant has given the police the identity of a man who was involved in an accident in 2003 that killed another man. The suspect then left the scene of the accident.

One question one may ask about this case is whether a person can be charged with a crime 7 years after the crime occurred. The statute of limitations can prevent the state from moving forward with charges if too much time has passed. The amount of time depends on the type of charges and certain other factors. However, when the crime involves a death, there is no statute of limitations in Florida.

However, in defense of the suspect, a criminal defense lawyer would obviously investigate why it took so long for this informant to come forward and identify someone 7 years after the crash. And, under what circumstances did this informant come forward? Is the informant facing charges of his own, and is he/she looking for some way to get a break from the state? Additionally, how good is the informant’s memory, and what details can he/she remember 7 years later? Are there other facts that corroborate the informant’s information?

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Police in St. Johns County, Florida arrested two people after conducting a search warrant in a home that resulted in the seizure of cocaine, marijuana plants and prescription pills, according to an article on News4Jax.com. According to St. Johns County police, they received anonymous complaints about the house and obtained a search warrant for drugs as a result. They apparently seized about $50,000 worth of illegal drugs in the house.

In a drug trafficking case like this, one of the first things a criminal defense lawyer would look at is whether the police had the right to enter and search the house. The police apparently had a search warrant, but that is not an automatically legitimate basis for searching a house. The search warrant has to be based on specific and reliable evidence that there is illegal activity taking place in the house. The article only references anonymous complaints about the house. The police may have had more specific information when they obtained the search warrant, but anonymous tips, without more, usually would not be sufficient information to obtain a valid search warrant. Anonymous complaints may be enough for police to initiate an investigation of the house, but without more specific evidence and corroboration of the anonymous complaints, the validity of the search warrant may be called into question. If the search warrant is found to be invalid in court after the criminal defense attorney files a motion to suppress, all of the drugs and other evidence found pursuant to the illegal search warrant would be thrown out of court.

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A doctor in the pulmonary medicine department at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida was arrested for allegedly obtaining controlled substances by fraud, according to an article on News4jax.com. As criminal defense attorneys in Jacksonville, we have handled many cases involving obtaining controlled substances by fraud. What that charge typically means is that someone is suspected of obtaining prescription drugs without a prescription. As opposed to well know illegal drugs such as cocaine, crack, heroin, methamphetamine or marijuana, the drugs in these cases are often painkillers such as Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin and similar drugs.

These crimes most often involve people who have developed an addiction to highly addictive painkillers rather than people distributing or trafficking the drugs for profit. Quite often, the person developed the addiction after being prescribed the drugs after an injury or medical procedure and is unable to withstand the pain without the drugs after the prescription runs out. This makes this kind of crime less serious, in our opinion, than more traditional drug crimes.

However, the Florida legislature has enacted laws that provide for extremely harsh penalties for people charged with this kind of crime. For instance, it only takes a few pills to reach the trafficking in controlled substances threshold which, at the lowest level, carries a minimum mandatory sentence of three years in Florida state prison. For this reason, any charge involving obtaining prescription drugs or controlled substances by fraud must be taken very seriously and addressed at the earliest opportunity.

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Law enforcement authorities in Jacksonville and throughout Florida made several arrests of convenience store owners for alleged food stamp fraud according to an article on Jacksonville.com. The article indicates that at least four Jacksonville convenience store owners were arrested for food stamp fraud relating to the Ethio Shell station and the M&Y Food Store and at least 17 more people were arrested across the state. The arrests were apparently part of an ongoing undercover operation into alleged food stamp fraud with more arrests likely according to the article.

The food stamp system in states across the country, also called the Electronic Benefit Transfer system, authorizes people to purchase certain items from stores that are authorized to accept food stamps. In the past, the food stamps were actual paper coupons, but now the system has been modernized so that people in the food stamp program get a card that looks like a regular credit or debit card.

Traditional food stamp fraud involves people lying on their application for food stamps and receiving the benefits when they were not entitled to receive them. However, in this case it appears that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) was looking into a different kind of possible food stamp fraud. Because food stamps are only permitted to be used for certain merchandise, it is against program rules and the law for food stamp recipients to use, and store owners to accept, food stamps for unauthorized items such as liquor, cigarettes and prescription drugs.

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A recent client of the Lasnetski Gihon Law firm asked whether a person can be charged with and convicted of a crime in Florida based upon words alone and no overt actions. The answer is yes. One example of a crime that can be committed based on words only is obstruction of or resisting a law enforcement officer without violence. This is a misdemeanor crime in Florida, but it is a first degree misdemeanor crime that carries a maximum penalty of one year in jail. A person commits the crime of resisting, or obstruction of, an officer without violence by resisting, opposing or obstructing an officer in the lawful execution of his/her duty without any violence.

This kind of crime is often committed by a person who physically resists an arrest by refusing certain commands of a police officer without being violent towards the police officer. However, it can be committed by using words alone. For example, if a police officer is lawfully searching for a suspect, lawfully arresting a person or lawfully seeking assistance and someone says something to the police officer to prevent him/her from performing the job, that person can be charged with obstructing/resisting an officer without violence.

An example occurred recently in a criminal case south of Jacksonville, Florida. The police officer had a court order to be served on an individual, and he had reason to believe she was in a particular apartment. The defendant answered the door and said the woman was not there and that he had not seen her for several days. The police officer soon learned that she was hiding in a closet in the next room. When he found her, she told the police officer that the defendant was covering for her. The defendant was charged with and convicted of obstructing the officer in his lawful duties.

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In Florida, when a person obtains a driver’s license and is afforded the privilege to drive, he/she impliedly consents to a lawful breathalyzer test. This does not mean that the police can lawfully ask a person to take a breath test at any time. It also does not give the police the right to force anyone to submit to a breath test. What it means is that if the police have probable cause to believe that a person is driving under the influence of alcohol to the extent that his/her normal faculties are impaired (i.e. DUI), the law says that the police officer can request a breath test and a person can be punished under the law for refusing the breath test. This punishment typically takes the form of a suspended license, but can be a misdemeanor crime in Florida for a second refusal.

However, assuming the police officer has probable cause to believe you are impaired, he/she still must ensure that your agreement to submit to the breath test is free and voluntary. The police officer cannot give you false information to trick or otherwise encourage you to submit to the breath test.

For instance, many people have a right to a hardship license after having their license suspended pursuant to a DUI case. In a recent case, the police officer gave the defendant false information about his right to a hardship license. For instance, if, in order to get the defendant to submit to the breath test, the police officer told the defendant that he is entitled to a hardship license if he agrees to the breath test but would not be entitled to the hardship license if he refuses the breath test, that would be inaccurate. In that case, the defendant’s criminal defense lawyer would make a motion with the court to throw out the results of the breath test because the defendant’s agreement to submit to the breath test was not freely and voluntarily obtained, which should invalidate the test results.

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