Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog

Five People Arrested in Waycross, Georgia for Growing Marijuana

Published on: December 9, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Five people were arrested for allegedly growing high potency marijuana in a house in Waycross, Georgia, which is about two hours northwest of Jacksonville, Florida, according to an article on News4Jax.com. They also reportedly stole electricity from power lines to power the lights needed to operate a marijuana grow house.

We have written a few times on this blog about the increasing number of arrests of people growing marijuana indoors in grow houses that use special equipment to grow the marijuana. Of course, that special equipment requires a significant amount of power to operate. This additional electricity use can help police track this kind of activity when they search electricity records and see an inordinate amount of power going to a particular location. Police may use electricity records and other information to obtain search warrants for the home where the marijuana plants and grow equipment are located.

In this case, when police discovered that power was being diverted to the house, it alerted the police to the possibility that marijuana was being grown inside. And because the power was being stolen, it gave the police the right to investigate that crime and any others that were taking place in the home.

Florida Football Player Arrested for DUI in Gainesville, Florida

Published on: December 6, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Star defensive player Carlos Dunlap was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) this week just days before the SEC championship game, according to an article on Gatorsports.com. The article indicates that Gainesville police received a call of a reckless driver and found Dunlap stopped at an intersection where the light was green. The police officer approached Dunlap in the vehicle and saw that he appeared to be sleeping at the wheel. The police officer indicated that Dunlap’s breath smelled of alcohol and he had bloodshot, watery eyes. Once Dunlap exited the vehicle, the officer said he had difficulty maintaining his balance and did poorly on the field sobriety tests. Dunlap was then arrested for DUI.

There are a few issues that are raised by this kind of traffic stop and DUI. Police officers are not permitted to stop a driver based on an anonymous tip that the driver is violating the traffic laws. However, the police officer can investigate further and locate the suspect. If the police officer then corroborates the tip with his own observation of a traffic violation, he can make a traffic stop on the driver. Being stopped at a green light is not necessarily a traffic violation, however, if the driver remains stopped after the light turns red and green again a few times, the police officer may have a right to investigate further. Additionally, in this case, Dunlap was not driving when the police officer found him. However, the keys were apparently in the ignition and the car was on. Under these circumstances, the state could legally charge Dunlap with DUI even though the car was not actually moving.

Cocaine Trafficking Case Thrown Out Due to Illegal Search in Florida

Published on: December 3, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

A Florida trafficking in cocaine case was recently thrown out due to the illegal search by the police officer. In this case, the police officer responded to a domestic battery call where the suspect was possibly armed with a handgun. The police officer saw the suspect near the apartment and called to him. The suspect ran and was caught near a vehicle that supposedly belonged to him. The police officer arrested the suspect and searched him but found nothing. After the suspect was placed in the patrol car, the police officer searched his vehicle and found a trafficking amount of cocaine.

The criminal defense lawyer for the suspect filed a motion to suppress alleging that the search of the defendant’s vehicle where the cocaine was found was illegal. The judge agreed and threw out the evidence of the cocaine.

The law has changed on this issue recently. In the past, the police officer could always search a person’s vehicle if he/she is arrested near that vehicle, for instance during a traffic stop. However, now, if a person is arrested near his/her vehicle but at the time of the arrest has been secured and is not within arm’s reach of that vehicle, the police officer does not have an automatic right to search the vehicle. In other words, if the suspect has no way of getting into his/her vehicle, there is no officer safety issue and the police officer cannot just search it automatically. If the officer has reason to believe that there is evidence of the crime for which the suspect has been arrested in that vehicle, then the officer may have a right to search it. But, the police officer’s search is no longer automatic when a person gets arrested at or near his/her vehicle. If the police search the vehicle of someone who has been arrested and secured without specific facts suggesting there is evidence in that vehicle, any evidence of a crime found in the vehicle should be thrown out.

Seal or Expunge Your Criminal Record in Florida to Help Obtain a Job

Published on: November 30, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

We receive a lot of calls from people in Florida who are applying for a job, are up for some sort of promotion or are going through an employment related background check and run into trouble when the employer finds a past criminal record. If this is something you have faced, or may face in the future, you should be aware that the law allows you to seal or expunge a prior criminal record in Florida depending on the circumstances of those charges and the ultimate disposition of the case. If you have a criminal record in Florida but the charges were dropped/dismissed or the judge withheld adjudication when you entered a plea of guilty or no contest, you may be eligible to have that criminal record expunged or sealed. Once that process is completed, Florida law allows you to deny, or leave off a job application, the arrest that led to the charge(s) that was ultimately sealed or expunged. That prior criminal record would be something just about all potential employers would never see.

That is one question that we often get from clients- who can see my criminal record in Florida once I have had it sealed or expunged? The answer is very few people. Under the Florida statutes, once your record has been sealed or expunged, you can still get a copy of your prior record and the various police departments and prosecutors’ offices can see it if you get arrested on a new case and they want to run your record. As for potential employers, if you apply for a job with a criminal justice agency, if you apply to a state Bar to become a lawyer, if you apply for a job with the Department of Child and Family Services, the Agency for Health Care Administration, the Agency for Persons with Disabilities, the Department of Juvenile Justice or the Department of Education, they can still see it. Private employers that are not contracting with the above-mentioned entities should not have access to a sealed or expunged criminal record.

For the most part, employers are not going to see a criminal record in Florida that has been sealed or expunged when they otherwise would if you did not get the criminal record sealed or expunged. If you have any questions about whether you are eligible to have a criminal record sealed or expunged, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

In Florida, Police Cannot Stop You Solely Based on an Anonymous Tip

Published on: November 27, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

A criminal defense client asked us whether the police can conduct an investigatory stop, whether on foot or in a vehicle, based on an anonymous tip. For instance, let’s assume that an unidentified person calls the police and says that person X is out on the street with illegal drugs in his possession or person Y is driving recklessly and may be drunk driving. Can the police in Florida approach either of these “suspects” and stop them to investigate them solely based on the anonymous tip? The answer is no.

Each of us has a Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures by the police. That means the police cannot just stop someone without reasonable suspicion, i.e. specific facts, that a crime is taking place or is about the take place. When the police get a tip from some anonymous person, that by itself is not reliable enough to justify a police stop. The police would have the right to investigate further, but can only stop the “suspect” if the police officer observes certain facts that confirmed the tip him/herself .

For instance, in the case of the person who possessed illegal drugs, if the police officer observed the person making what appeared to be hand to hand drug transactions, that may be a basis to stop the person and investigate further. In the case of the alleged drunk driver, if the police located the vehicle and saw that the driver was swerving or speeding or otherwise driving recklessly, that would be sufficient for a stop and subsequent DUI investigation. However, if the police officer located the vehicle and the driver was driving appropriately, a stop based solely on the anonymous tip would be illegal.

Police Will Be Out in Force this Thanksgiving Weekend in Jacksonville, Florida

Published on: November 25, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

We have read several articles on the Internet about police and Florida Highway Patrol officers stepping up efforts to stop people speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (aka drunk driving, DUI and DWI) in the Jacksonville, Florida area this weekend. Keep in mind that police come out in force on such holiday weekends and make many more traffic stops and arrests than on an ordinary weekend.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when a police officer suspects you of driving under the influence, every question he/she asks and everything he/she does from that point forward will be designed to obtain evidence against you to support the DUI case. For some reason, a lot of people think it is a good idea to answer questions about whether he/she has had anything to drink that night and if so, how many drinks. Unless the answer is zero, answering this question will only serve to help the state prove the DUI case against you. The same goes for the field sobriety tests. A person fails the DUI field sobriety tests when the police officer says so. It is a subjective test. And this is the same police officer who already has it in his/her head that you are drunk or he/she would not have asked you to perform the field sobriety tests in the first place.

Obviously, the best plan is to either not drink or get a ride with a friend or a taxi if you have been drinking. But, if you have been pulled over and the police officer is asking questions relating to a DUI or any other crime, understand that you have a Constitutional right to remain silent. If you decide to waive that right and answer questions, your answers will be used against you.

Possession of Marijuana Case Thrown Out for Illegal Search of a Juvenile

Published on: November 22, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

In a recent possession of marijuana case in Florida, the criminal charges against a juvenile were dropped because the juvenile was searched illegally by the police officer. The police officer found the juvenile near a high school during school hours. He approached the juvenile and determined that he was supposed to be in school at the time. A police officer does have a right to detain a juvenile if he has reason to believe that the juvenile is skipping school. The purpose of the detention is to return the juvenile to the school.

In this case, the police officer detained the juvenile, searched her pockets and found marijuana. Normally, a police officer is allowed to search someone who has been arrested to make sure the suspect does not have a weapon and presents no risk to the police officer’s safety. However, truancy, i.e. skipping school, is not a crime so this juvenile was not arrested. As a result, the police officer could not use the search incident to arrest basis to search the juvenile. If the officer has a right to detain someone, as he did here, he/she can pat that person down for weapons to ensure officer safety, but the officer chose not to do that and went straight into a search instead.

Alternatively, if the police officer had some reason to believe that the juvenile was in possession of marijuana or other illegal drug, he may have been permitted to search the juvenile. If the officer had patted the juvenile down first and felt something that seemed to be drugs or a weapon, then a search would likely have been authorized. At the hearing on the motion to suppress the marijuana, the police officer testified that he searched the juvenile for officer safety because he was about to place him in his patrol car to take him back to school. But since no arrest was made, this was not a valid basis to search the juvenile under the Fourth Amendment.

Supreme Court Reviewing Florida Case That Sent a Juvenile to Prison for Life

Published on: November 19, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

The 8th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution forbids the government from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. The Florida Constitution has a similar provision. This issue normally arises in death penalty cases. However, the U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the issue of whether it is cruel and unusual punishment to sentence a juvenile to life in prison for committing a crime that did not involve a murder.

Two of the cases being reviewed by the USSC are Florida cases- one involved a 13 year old who was convicted of the rape of an elderly woman, and the other involved a 17 year old who was convicted of armed robbery and other related charges. There are 77 prison inmates who have been sentenced to life in prison for crimes that did not involve a homicide. Florida seems to have more than most, if not all, other states. The judges on the Supreme Court can decide to keep the status quo and allow criminal courts in Florida to impose life sentences for juveniles who commit serious but non-homicide crimes, abolish the practice altogether or come up with some middle ground where the judges are required to weigh certain factors before imposing a life sentence in such cases.

I Want to Seal or Expunge My Criminal Record to Help Get a Job

Published on: November 16, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

This is something we are hearing quite often these days as the economy is struggling and many people are looking for jobs. Many people contact us who are either worried that a prospective employer may see something on their criminal record that may prevent them from being hired or have applied for a job only to be told that their criminal record disqualifies them from the position they are seeking. Or in some cases, current employers have performed background checks and discovered a criminal record that resulted in the person being fired.

The ability to seal or expunge your criminal record can be a very helpful tool to make sure a past mistake does not come back to hurt you in your job search or current job. Sealing or expunging a criminal record is the best way to keep information about a past crime from potential or current employers.

If you have had a prior criminal case that was either dropped or resolved with the adjudication withheld, you very well may be eligible to have that criminal record sealed or expunged in Florida. If you have questions about your criminal record and whether or not you are eligible to have it sealed or expunged, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.

Former Football Star Charged with Hit and Run in Dade County, Florida

Published on: November 13, 2009 | by Lasnetski Gihon Law

Lawrence Taylor, who was one of the most famous linebackers in the NFL, was arrested for hit and run in Dade County, Florida over this past weekend, according to a news article. In Florida, the crime of hit and run, also referred to as leaving the scene of an accident, can be a misdemeanor or a serious felony depending on the circumstances. For instance, if a person is involved in an accident that just results in property damage and fails to stop and provide his/her information, that should be a second degree misdemeanor. However, if the accident involves an injury to another person and the driver leaves the scene of the accident, it can be a third degree felony crime punishable by up to 5 years in prison. If the accident results in a death to another person, the hit and run charge can be a first degree felony punishable by up to 30 years.

Hit and run charges are not always that easy for the state to prove. It is one thing for the state to establish that a particular vehicle was involved in a hit and run accident based on evidence of the make, model and license plate number. However, the state still needs to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was actually the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the hit and run. Oftentimes, the state just has a description of the vehicle and a vague description of the driver, if at all, and this is not enough to support a hit and run charge.