Grand juries are embedded into our constitution. Their purpose is to determine whether there is probable cause to believe that a federal felony was committed. A grand jury consists of 16-23 citizens from the community. If 12 of those jurors find there is probable cause, it is signed by the prosecutor which then becomes an indictment: a formal charge the government must prove at trial.
However, there can be several reasons why you may have received a grand jury subpoena:
From the moment you awake in the morning to the second you lay your head down to go to bed, there will have been 550,000 shoplifting incidents in the U.S.
Although most think of shoplifting as one of the more “harmless” crimes, it is considered “retail theft” in the state of Florida. According to the Florida Senate, a person commits theft if he or she knowingly obtains or uses, or endeavors to obtain or to use, the property of another with intent to either temporarily or permanently:
(a) Deprive the other person of a right to the property or a benefit from the property.
By Brian Bandell – Senior Reporter, South Florida Business Journal
December 23, 2020
Philip Esformes will be released from federal prison after President Donald
If you’ve watched enough law movies and drama shows, chances are you have at some point seen a character plead insanity as a defense. According to a PBS article, less than 1 percent of county court cases involve the insanity defense, and that of those, only around one in four were successful. Despite this statistic, there are instances when this defense is successful. The first successful attempt at this defense was in 1843 when an Englishman shot and killed the secretary of the British Prime Minister, believing that the Prime Minister was conspiring against him. More recently, a teenager in Iowa was found not guilty of murder by reason of insanity in the death of his 5-year-old foster brother. So what exactly determines “insanity”?
First, the defendant must prove that he did not have control over his conduct similar to sleepwalking or being in a state of hypnosis. Secondly, the defendant does not have the ability to form criminal intent. They have no understanding of conduct that is “evil” or considered wrong by society’s standards. For example, if someone commits a crime and then tries to purposely mislead officers, they demonstrate an awareness that they did something wrong even if their behavior was mentally imbalanced. Due to these two factors in play, a defendant’s behavior is likely to be repeated again and again. As a result, there is no punishment or sentence that would rehabilitate the person. The only appropriate remedy is to treat their mental condition.
It is important to note that just with other areas of law, the insanity defense varies from state to state. Below are rules states use to define “insanity”:
The 2020 elections brought along with it a lot of blue, a lot of red, and a little bit of green. Many cannabis policy reform bills were introduced throughout the country and resulted in four states legalizing marijuana. According to an article by Forbes, an estimated 40,000 people today are incarcerated for marijuana offenses only. This number increases into the millions for those Americans with past marijuana-related criminal records. Due to COVID-19, the unemployment rate in the country is 6.9%. However, for those who have a criminal record, the unemployment rate is 35%. This differs drastically from the seemingly positive approval for cannabis policy reform bills we saw this year. In Florida, possession of 20 grams or less of marijuana is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum sentence of one-year imprisonment and a maximum fine of $1,000. Possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana is a felony punishable by a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $5,000. Although medical marijuana is legal, it is only permitted for legal use under certain health conditions. So, what should someone do if they are caught in this predicament?
We have listed 3 tips below on what to do:
1. Did the officers illegally coerce the marijuana out of your home, vehicle, or during a body search? This can be used to dismiss the charges.
Larry Modena and William Dabbs were friends. Their lives intersected on many different levels. In addition to sharing their private lives they also worked together at Modena’s contracting and construction company, Atlantic Coast Builders. Their relationship seemed nothing out of the ordinary until a fateful day in October 2011 in Boynton Beach when Dabbs shot his friend to his death as they argued in a Home Depot parking lot where both of their cars were parked side by side. Dabbs shot Modena five times before he fled the scene.
When police were dispatched to the location of the shooting, they pursued Dabbs who was operating his work van leading them on a high-speed chase that at one point had Dabbs turn and point his .38 caliber pistol at one of the officers. The officer returned fire, but neither were injured as Modena lay dying in his car.
After Dabbs was taken into custody without further incident he was ultimately charged with first-degree murder, fleeing and eluding law enforcement and armed aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.
The Amber Alert sounded in the early morning of May 22 trilling cell phones and the emergency broadcast system on local television networks, as well as sending the alert to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Network, a division of the US Department of Justice.
The Amber Alert was posted after the mother of Alejandro Ripley urgently called police emergency telling the 911 operator that her son had been abducted in South Miami. She frantically if not incoherently told police dispatch that two men of whom appeared to be of Afro-American descent cut off her car bringing it to a stop at the intersection of SW 158th Avenue and Kendall Drive.
The alert that went out through the airwaves stated that her son Alejandro is 4’11”, 120 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes. The child also suffers from a condition of severe autism and for all intents and purposes is non-verbal.
This post is a continuation of a breaking news story found under Case Results on my Website relating to my Motion on behalf of Alexandra Slovkovic’s Request for Compassionate Release.
At approximately the same time I entered the Motion on behalf of my client Alexandra Slovkovic, Correctional officers at the federal women’s prison in Tallahassee filed a complaint in reference to the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) including masks, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The officers filed what’s known as an “Imminent Danger Report” with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (USOSHA). The USOSHA is the federal agency that oversees and enforces workplace safety. Simply stated the mid-April complaint specified that the actions and non-action taken by the U.S. Bureau of Prisons (BOP) are increasing the capacity for the spread of the potentially deadly contagion.
At the time the complaint was recorded one Correctional officer had tested positive for the coronavirus and three other employees were quarantined. Additionally, one inmate had been awaiting test results as of the time the complaint was documented.
Originally charged with second-degree murder which carries a potential life sentence if found guilty, a Coral Springs woman had the charges against her downgraded to second-degree manslaughter after prosecutors said they reviewed the evidence and the law.
The suspect, Yvonne Serrano was arrested late last November after calling 911 when she said she discovered the body of Daniela Tabares in her driveway with one foot still in her car at 6:00 in the morning. At the time police arrived at her home Serrano told them she was leaving for the gym when she stumbled upon the dead woman’s car and body that was found with a gunshot wound to the center of her forehead. At the time police noted that Mrs. Serrano wasn’t dressed for a gym outing.
During initial questioning by police Serrano told them that she remembered going to a local bar with her friends the previous night, blacked out and woke up in her bed. At the time she could not detail to detectives how she got home from the outing the night before.
As the Coronavirus spreads exponentially across the United States many local and states have been releasing thousands of low-risk inmates who could be at risk, particularly the elderly and those with underlying medical conditions. Additionally, many criminal-justice reform advocates have urged the president to use his power of clemency to commute the sentences of numerous inmates who may be eligible for “compassionate release”.
In the opinion of many experts it has been said that each Governor should name a high-level health coordinator to address the growing problem faced by low-risk state prisoners.
The federal prison system is coming under intense pressure to take similar action, however, as is the case, especially with those who have been sentenced to prison terms and are currently incarcerated already know that the needs of those in federal custody usually face a long drawn out process.
South Florida Criminal Attorneys Blog
