Everyone has the right to be tried by a jury of their peers, and for that trial to be fair. The many protections enshrined in Florida law to protect a criminal defendant’s right to a fair trial exist to ensure justice; in other words, to make certain an accused person doesn’t receive a conviction or a punishment not supported by the evidence. Trials often become unfair when prosecutors overstep the bounds of what they can say to the jury. The potential for prosecutorial overstep is one reason among many why, if you’re on trial, you need a knowledgeable Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer advocat ..read more

Felony battery cases are serious matters. Aggravated battery is a second-degree felony in Florida punishable by up to 15 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. People accused of felony battery crimes are entitled to put on affirmative defenses to overcome criminal liability. These include defenses like self-defense. When putting together a defense strategy, including affirmative defenses, in your felony trial, be sure your rights are protected by retaining representation from an experienced Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer. Successfully arguing self-defense can be central to the accused person ..read more

A conviction on a theft charge can have serious ramifications. A Florida judge can suspend your driver’s license even if your conviction is only a misdemeanor. If you’re facing theft charges, a skilled Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer may have many options in your case. These could include challenging the value of the item(s) in question, arguing mistaken identity, or contesting your intent to deprive the owner of their property (among other possibilities.) With all these potential avenues out there, contacting an experienced lawyer about your case is well worth your while. A well-worn phrase ..read more

Many procedural details go into the pretrial, trial, and post-conviction phases of presenting a defense. It is important to have a Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer who is fully immersed in the knowledge of all of these details, as any one of them may be the key you need to a dismissal, an acquittal, or a reversal of your conviction. One area where that’s especially true is the rules regarding discovery violations. As an example of how important a prosecutorial discovery violation can be, we have this recent drug case from Lee County. The incident began when local deputies responded to a 911 c ..read more

Certain types of alleged crimes — namely, drug and/or weapon charges — frequently arise from evidence that the police seized in a search performed without a warrant. The law generally falls on the side of disallowing warrantless searches, but the law also has many exceptions that the state can use to get items seized without a warrant into evidence. Many times, the key to a successful defense is countering those arguments and persuading the court that no exception applies and that the court should exclude the item(s) in dispute. Having a knowledgeable Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer on your ..read more

If you are placed on probation, you need to understand several things. One is that you should take your probation very seriously. Another is that you should take any alleged violation of your probation equally seriously. If a prosecutor successfully persuades a judge that you violated your probation, you could face many years (or decades) behind bars that you otherwise would have avoided. If you have questions about your potential violation of probation, make sure you’re getting reliable answers by seeking advice from a knowledgeable Tampa Bay probation violation lawyer. If you are facing a pr ..read more

The peculiar details of some domestic disturbances can generate less-than-serious coverage in the media. However, a domestic incident is always a serious legal matter in Florida, as it can potentially impact the lives of both the accused and the alleged victim in a myriad of ways. If you’re the accused, swiftly obtaining representation from an experienced Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer can greatly help you in the pursuit of a fair outcome. An incident to our north is an example. According to a report by The Smoking Gun, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office responded to a home in The Villages ..read more

In a 2001 episode of a highly popular courtroom drama, a criminal suspect is very excited. “Y’all ain’t got no probable cause… That’s poison from the fruit tree!” Garbled wording aside, the suspect was onto something… or he might have been had he not been on parole and subject to warrantless searches. While you may not know all the ins and outs of the “fruit of the poisonous tree” doctrine and its role in suppressing potentially incriminating evidence, your experienced Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer has an in-depth knowledge of this rule and more, which is why it is so important to obtain t ..read more

A lot of criminal prosecutions — especially ones related to firearms or drug crimes — involve evidence seized as a result of a warrantless search. If that’s you, one of the most important parts of your defense is contesting the legality of the search and the admissibility of evidence seized in it. When it comes to suppressing evidence seized as part of a warrantless search, having representation provided by a skilled Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer can be critical to your success. One exception to the search warrant rule is something called a “search incident to an arrest.” If the officer ha ..read more

Weapons crimes often can come with strict sentencing rules including, in some circumstances, sentence enhancements. If you are facing such a possibility, it is vital to have a skilled Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer on your side to help you establish that you do not qualify for the enhanced sentence and should not be subject to a longer time behind bars. Here’s an example from Florida of how these things can unfold. In 2013, federal authorities indicted F.S. for “possession of a firearm by a convicted felon” in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Normally, this crime would carry with it a ma ..read more