If you watch enough TV cop-and-lawyer shows, then you’ve likely heard one or more of the police characters talk about “the right to remain silent,” and the lawyer characters speak about “hearsay.” That’s because these are legitimately very big deals. If a piece of prosecution evidence qualifies as hearsay, then…
Any time you are facing criminal charges and the prosecution’s case relies very heavily on the testimony of one person, one potentially very effective – and successful — defense is to give the jury persuasive reasons to decide that the state’s witness is lying and should not be believed. When…
By now, most people are familiar with the “Florida man” meme and Florida man’s exploits, which are often criminal in nature. Sometimes, these events are actually more tragic than funny, arising as the results of severe (and often untreated) addiction and/or mental illness. If a person commits a criminal act…
One of the most well-known elements of Florida criminal law and procedure, at least among lay people, is this state’s “Stand Your Ground” law. This law can provide an important tool in the defense arsenal of a person accused of a violent crime who was, in fact, simply defending him/herself.…
There are many different ways that you or a loved one can avoid a criminal conviction in a felony case. One way that this can occur is if the trial court concludes that the defendant is not mentally competent to stand trial. If a trial goes forward against an incompetent…
There are certain rights guaranteed to every citizen. One of these is the right to legal counsel in your criminal matter. If you think that you or a loved one is suspected of a domestic violence crime, it just makes good sense to act without delay and retain the services…
The case of a father convicted of child abuse in Pinellas County back in the 1990s is back in the news again. Multiple news sources, including CNN and the Tampa Bay Times, have revisited the father’s story after the Second District Court of Appeal recently ruled that the newly discovered…
Saint Petersburg, Florida What started as a simple disagreement led to a bar fight for two local men on February 10. A 39-year-old man and the 52-year-old victim got into an argument at Angelo’s Bar and Grill in downtown St. Pete. The two men went outside and the older man…
I like the movie version better…In San Francisco, three Sheriff’s office deputies are charged with running their own “Fight Club” at a jail. They would allegedly force inmates to fight each other while law enforcement watched. Former Officer Scott Neu and Officers Eugene Jones and Clifford Chiba are now facing…
From the Washington Post, it looks like troubled singer Chris Brown is starting 2016 like he ended 2015…with allegations of a battery and yet another police investigation. Talented but troubled pop/R & B singer Chris Brown is now being named a suspect of an alleged battery of a female fan…