Articles Posted in Misdemeanor Crimes

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Is someone you know or love currently in a Jacksonville area jail?  If so, they may be eligible for immediate resolution of their case and release from the jail due to the coronavirus. And, even if their case can’t quickly be resolved, they may be eligible for an ROR bond or other nonmonetary conditions of release so they can be immediately released from jail.

On March 20, 2020, the Office of the State Attorney for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, encompassing Nassau, Clay and Duval counties issued a memorandum acknowledging its responsibility to assist with containing the spread of the coronavirus to its staff, corrections officers, civilian jail employees, court staff and the overall inmate jail population in those counties.  The State Attorney recognized “[e]very individual, business, and public agency has a duty to help flatten the curve of this pandemic’s growth.  Criminal justice agencies are no exception.” Critically, the State Attorney  announced to limit the spread of the virus it was temporarily implementing strategies “[t]o safely reduce the jail population, which from a public health perspective, includes some of the most at-risk individuals in our community.”

Therefore, effective immediately, and continuing for an as yet unspecified time, the State Attorney has implemented the following new policies and procedures in criminal cases pending in the Fourth Judicial Circuit.  First, the State has implemented an expedited case resolution procedure for inmates currently serving their sentence in jail for non-violent misdemeanors or felonies.  For those inmates, a review will be conducted to determine whether they present a danger to the community.  If they do not, then absent objection of any victims, those inmates are eligible for a time served or probation sentence and immediate release from the jail. Continue reading

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Many people believe if someone records them without their permission, the recording cannot be used in court.  A recent decision by the First District Court of Appeal, however, shows that is not always the case.

Corey Smiley was invited to the home of the women with whom he shared a two year old child.  While there Smiley and the woman got into an argument.  The woman recorded the argument on her cell phone.  The video depicted Smiley questioning the woman about the video and repeatedly trying to grab her phone.  It further showed Smiley shoving the woman and threatening to shoot her and their child.  The woman asked Smiley to leave her home several times.  The woman claimed after the recording ended Smiley brandished a gun.  She then fled with their child.

Smiley was arrested and charged with aggravated assault by threat with a deadly weapon and domestic violence battery.  Smiley subsequently sought to exclude the cell-phone video on the ground it had been illegally recorded without his consent.  The trial court denied his request and admitted the video at his trial.  Smiley was convicted of the charges. Continue reading

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In my last blog entry I discussed how to determine whether there is an outstanding warrant for your arrest.  In this entry, I’ll discuss how best to clear, or get rid of, an outstanding arrest warrant.

The Duval County Sheriff’s Office Department of Police Services has a special Warrants Unit.  The Warrants Unit is responsible for the storage and computer entry of all capiases, custody orders, injunctions for protection, arrest affidavits, writs of attachment and warrants issued by the State Attorney’s Office.

Unlike warrants, capias information which generally pertains to warrants issued by a court are electronically provided by Clerk of the Court directly to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office’s electronic warrant (e-Warrant) computer system on a daily basis. Continue reading

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If you have an outstanding warrant in Florida it is usually a good idea to deal with it sooner rather than later.  It is not only a psychological relief, but it is also much more convenient and less embarrassing to resolve an outstanding warrant voluntarily than to be caught off guard and taken to jail without any forewarning or preparation.

As a threshold matter, you may suspect there is a warrant for your arrest but you may not be absolutely certain.  If that is your situation, you have several options to use in trying to determine your warrant status.  First, you can visit The Florida Crime Information Database website.  The database contains Florida warrant information as reported to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) by law enforcement agencies throughout the state and authorized for release to the public.

Beware, however, the database does not reflect every warrant pending in the state.  Therefore, if your name does not appear on the database that does not definitely mean there is no pending warrant for your arrest in Florida.  Further, even if your name does appear in the database, you should verify the warrant with your local law enforcement agency, as the warrant may no longer be active.  Also, although unlikely, there is a possibility that a warrant contains your name or other identifying information due to the use of false information by the true subject of the warrant.  Continue reading

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There is good news if you desire to serve in the military, but you have a previous arrest for marijuana possession.  The United States Army is issuing an increasing number of enlistment waivers to those who have smoked pot and also want to serve their country.  These waivers allow previously disqualified applicants to now enter the Army.

The increase in waivers reflects the Army’s difficulty in achieving its ever-increasing recruiting goals.  In 2016 the Army enlisted approximately 63,000 recruits.  That number increased to approximately 69,000 last year.  The Army’s goal in 2018 is to enlist 80,000 recruits.  The need for new soldiers comes as Congress has reversed trends begun in the Obama administration to downsize the military.

And, the number of waivers granted for marijuana users, while relatively small, nonetheless is increasing rapidly as well.  In 2016, there were 191 waivers granted.  That number increased substantially, to more than 500, last year.  While small compared against the total number of recruits enlisted, the increasing number of waivers granted is especially significant considering that just three years ago, no such waivers were granted.  This substantial increase is one way officials are attempting to comply with directives to expand the Army’s size.  Continue reading

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I recently favorably resolved a petit theft case with a most unusual fact pattern.  I’m discussing it here to highlight how important it is for your criminal defense lawyer to investigate all the facts to get you the best possible result in your case.

The police report stated my client had gone to a beaches area bar, had some drinks and failed to pay for them.  He was then issued a Notice to Appear for the crime of petit theft.  Seems like a cut and dried case, right?  Not so fast!  Rather, as is often the case, the arrest narrative in this matter omitted several facts extremely helpful in defending my client against his charges.

My investigation of the matter revealed critical facts not contained in the Notice to Appear narrative. To begin with, the day of his arrest, my client was first contacted via text message by a friend who stated he would pay for drinks that night if my client would go out.  My client happily accepted the offer in a reply text message.  What initially looked like the beginning of a fun evening for my client ended with him needing a criminal defense lawyer.  Continue reading

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The Florida Times Union just reported on a road rage case on Thursday in St. John’s County.  According to the article, a newly licensed teen driver was with her mother and teenage brother when the vehicle behind them honked, flashed its lights and the driver gestured and yelled at them.  The second vehicle then rammed the young driver’s car three times.  The incident was witnessed by others who reported it to police.  The offending driver subsequently was arrested and charged with three counts of aggravated battery, a third degree felony punishable by up to five years imprisonment and one of leaving the scene of a crash, a second degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in the county jail.

This rather egregious example of road rage is not uncommon in Florida.  Furthermore, the number of road rage incidents involving guns is on the rise.  A study by the nonprofit news organization The Trace found there were more than 1,300 gun-related road rage incidents nationwide from January 2014 to December 2015.  And, the study found Florida reported 146 incidents during that time frame.  That is the most in the country.

In a recent interesting case reported in the Palm Beach Post, a priest was driving his red corvette (I’m not making this up) on the Florida Turnpike when he “brake checked” a pickup truck closely following his vehicle.  When the pickup driver then tried to go around the priest’s ‘vette, the priest allegedly pointed a handgun at the driver (again, I’m not making this stuff up).  When questioned by police, the priest reported the pickup driver had pulled up beside his vehicle whereupon someone rolled down a window, started screaming and then threw a drink at his vehicle.  While the priest confirmed he had a gun in his vehicle, he contended it was not loaded and it was under the passenger seat during the entire incident.  Nonetheless, the priest was arrested and charged with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, a third degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Continue reading

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The purpose of a bail in Florida criminal proceedings is to ensure the appearance of the criminal defendant at subsequent proceedings and to protect the community against unreasonable danger from the criminal defendant.  Under Florida law, when determining whether to release the defendant on bail or other conditions and what the amount of bail should be, the court must consider numerous statutorily delineated criteria.  They are: (1)  the type of offense charged; (2) the extent of evidence of guilt; (3) the defendant’s ties to the community; (4) the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and any previous incidents of flight or failure to appear; (5) any danger to the community posed by defendant’s release; (6) whether defendant’s offered bond funds are derived from unlawful activities; (7) whether defendant is already on release pending resolution of another criminal proceeding or completion of a sentence; (8) the street value of any drug or controlled substance related to the criminal charge; (9) the nature and probability of intimidation and danger to victims; (10) whether there is probable cause to believe the defendant committed a new crime while on pretrial release; (11) whether the crime charged is for a gang-related offense or one for which defendant would have to register as a sexual offender or predator; and (12) any other factors the court considers relevant.

The practice of requiring money bail for pretrial release is common in the majority of jurisdictions in the United States.  But, a series of recent lawsuits and an increasing body of research has raised concerns about its effectiveness and potential to discriminate based on race and income.

On April 29, 2017 a federal judge in Houston ordered Harris County to stop the pretrial detention of people arrested on misdemeanor charges because they cannot afford bail.  The ruling occurred in a case where a woman arrested for driving without a license spent more than two days in jail because she could not make her $2,500 bail.  In a 193 page order, Judge Lee H. Rosenthal wrote “Harris County’s policy is to detain indigent misdemeanor defendants before trial, violating equal protection rights against wealth-based discrimination and violating due process protections against pretrial detention.”  The judge pointed to statistics indicating 40 percent of those arrested for misdemeanors in the county had been detained until their cases were resolved.  Continue reading

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