Florida Criminal Attorneys : Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers

If you or a loved one has been arrested and charged for a misdemeanor or felony charge, it is advisable that you discuss the facts and circumstances of your arrest with an experienced Florida Criminal Lawyer.  A conviction for any offense regardless of how minor the offense will have long term consequences and could affect your ability to gain employment and obtain some government benefits permanently.  A conviction also could damage your reputation and cause you a significant amount of stress and humiliation.  Call Musca Law to understand your legal rights by discussing your case for free with an experienced and dedicated Florida Criminal Attorney today.  We can help!

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Police Say Florida Teen Planned to Attack on First Day of School

Tampa Police say a 17-year-old student who had been expelled from a local high school was planning an attack to kill students on the first day of school.

Jared C. already had a criminal record when police knocked on his apartment door earlier this week and asked to search the place.

Tampa Police say they periodically checked on the man due to his troubled past, and they had received a tip that he was plotting to bomb the high school he was expelled from the year before.

Jared’s mother allowed police to search the apartment, where they found shrapnel, plastic tubing, timing and fuse devices to make pipe bombs.

They also recovered a detailed manifesto that gave an hour by hour description of the attack he planned on carrying out.

Police say Jared plotted to kill more people than the 1999 Columbine High School massacre in Colorado.

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Casey Anthony to Appeal Probation in Check Fraud Case

Casey Anthony’s lawyers plan to appeal the court order that she must serve one year of supervised probation on a check-fraud conviction, her attorney confirmed Monday.

Anthony’s lawyer filed the motion which calls the corrected documents “a fraudulently filed product of a previously disqualified judge,” CNN has reported.

Orange County Chief Judge Belvin Perry ruled that Casey Anthony had until noon on August 26 to report to a state Department of Corrections facility in Orlando.

Anthony had been convicted of felony check fraud for writing five checks for $644.25 dollars from a friend’s stolen checkbook. Orange County Superior Court Judge ordered Anthony to serve a year probation following her acquittal of the murder charges involving her 2-year-old daughter, Caylee Anthony. However a clerk misunderstood and crafted an order that Strickland signed instructing that Casey Anthony serve the probation while in jail awaiting trial.

On August 1, the order was amended adding the words “upon release” and Judge Strickland required that Anthony return to Florida within 72 hours.

Anthony’s attorneys filed a motion to “quash, vacate, and set aside the court’s order,” making the argument that the judge cannot change his sentence, signed in January 2010, because over 60 days had passed.

“She has done her probation, if you all go read what we just filed you’ll see how blatantly clear it is and how blatantly wrong Mr. Strickland was,” said Anthony’s Attorney, who filed the emergency notion.
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Lee County Sheriff’s Deputies Give OK for Union

Lee County sheriff’s deputies ranked corporal and below will join the agency’s sergeants in forming their own union.

Almost 50 percent of the agency’s deputies, 194 of 394, voted to join the International Union of Police Associates, while 124 voted against. Seventy-six deputies did not cast ballots, according to the Florida Public Employees Relations Commission, which counted the mailed-in ballots.

Deputies first attempted to unionize in November 2009. At that time, 200 of 358 deputies voted against joining the Police Benevolent Association, with 32 other eligible voters not casting ballots.

Sheriff Mike Scott said the difference between now and then was a still-down economy and another year of no raises. Deputies last had raises three years ago.

Union spokesman Rich Roberts said he believes deputies were looking for solid representation.

“What they wanted and what they now have is the ability to go to the sheriff and other commanders with their concerns,” Roberts said. “They apparently did not have that before.”
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Clemency Cases Continue to Grow

Desmond M. served time for cocaine possession and aggravated battery, but turned his life around and overcame the drug and alcohol addictions that forced him to live on the streets of Miami.

Seven years after walking out of state prison, Desmond, 44, is in law school and helps run a halfway house for addicts. But what he wants most he can’t get: full citizenship and the right to vote.

Desmond is one of 89,833 people waiting to have their civil rights restored by Gov. Rick Scott and three statewide elected Cabinet members.

He’s in for a long wait.

Under new rules Scott and the Cabinet adopted in March, Desmond must now wait seven years for a clemency hearing. A huge backlog of pending cases means it likely will take much longer for felons to regain the right to vote, serve on a jury or run for office.

“I find it disheartening,” said Desmond, who as a second year of law school at Florida International University, could select a jury before he’s allowed to serve on one. “A person such as myself, who has rehabilitated his life, for them to tell me that in spite of all of the accomplishments I’ve made that I’m not eligible to get my rights restored, is wrong. I find it un-American.”
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New Gun Law Takes Effect Oct. 1st

Do handguns belong in South Florida’s parks and recreation centers and city halls?

They do according to the Florida Legislature.

Under a new law that takes effect Oct. 1, all of the state’s cities and counties must repeal local rules limiting gun ownership. Although the state has claimed sole right to regulate firearms since 1987, this year’s new law adds fines for local officials who fail to comply, and gives gun owners a right to sue for damages if they believe their rights have been violated.

Though the initial bill suggested a fine of $5 million, the final legislation lowered the amount to $5,000.

The result: Local leaders have begun to comply, canceling laws that kept guns out of parks and community buildings, and taking down signs warning visitors not to bring firearms to such places.

The law highlights differences between those Floridians who see guns as tools of criminals and those who see them as sporting goods, tools of self-defense or symbols of freedom.

“This probably passed because of someone from the NRA, someone who doesn’t care about urban conditions,” said Aaron Campbell, vice mayor of Miami Gardens, where last week a young couple were fatally shot while filling up at a gas station. “It’s sad that a piece of legislation can pass like this.”

Now the only restrictions on concealed weapons are those approved by the Legislature. Guns still aren’t allowed in schools or bars. They may be brought into government buildings, although an exception allows them to be excluded while a city council, school board or county commission is meeting.

Private businesses still get to decide whether to allow guns inside.

“You’re not going to have every Tom, Dick and Harry carrying a firearm on their person up and down the streets and into buildings because it’s a felony” unless the person has a license to carry a concealed weapon, said longtime National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer. “Only close to a million people in the state are licensed to carry concealed.”
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Judge Rules Against Drug Law

A federal judge has struck down a Florida drug law that convicts suspects of a drug offense even if they are unaware that the controlled substance is illegal.

U.S. District Judge Mary S. found the 9-year-old law unconstitutional in a decision Wednesday and called for the resentencing of Mackle S., who had faced 18 years in prison.

The ruling could pave the way for drug cases currently in the courts to be thrown out.

“Obviously, we are immediately drafting motions and pursuing this line on behalf of our own clients’ (cases) that are pending, but we can’t do much retroactively since those cases are closed,” said Bob Wesley, public defender for Orange and Osceola counties. “I think it will be a robust line of litigation for all of us who appear in Florida criminal courts.”

When the law was passed in 2002, Florida became the only state not to require that a suspect have knowledge that a controlled substance is illegal to be convicted. The law shifted the burden from prosecutors having to prove that a suspect knew to the defendant having to assert ignorance about the illegality of the controlled substance.

Attorney General Pam Bondi’s office says they are currently reviewing the case. Many thing the state will appeal the decision.

It truly is about time. And if you’ve been accused of a drug crime, whether you knew the substance was illicit or not, you should promptly contact a Florida criminal attorney at our firm to discuss your legal options and defense. Call 1-800-687-2252 now to schedule a free phone consultation.

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NBC: Florida Number 1 in Cargo Theft

The NBC2 investigators takes you inside a theft ring so big, Florida law enforcement says you’re likely a witness to it each time you hit the intestate. Commercial cargo theft runs in the billions of dollars, hitting a record high last year. NBC2 Investigator Andy Pierrotti explains its impact to consumers.

Last year, criminals stole a cargo container every two days in Florida, costing more than $26 million.

Marion county detectives know the problem all too well.

“They’re professional drivers. They know what it feels like to pick up a trailer, “says Marion County Detective Erik Dice.

To combat the issue, his office sets up undercover sting operations where they put cargo containers in nearby gas stations in hopes of someone stealing it. Criminals take the bait too.

Video obtained by NBC2 shows the county putting up a helicopter just minutes after a device attached to the cargo container notifies authorities it’s stolen and on the road. In less than 15 minutes, investigators pull the driver over and arrest him.

The operation highlights a billion dollar black market business where criminals steal cargo containers right under drivers’ noses.

“They’re just like the ninja. They’re here, there and they’re gone,” said driver Tom Strang.

Criminals then sell it to the highest bidder. “They’ll steal anything. From race car tires, to bottled water hurricane supplies to pharmaceuticals,” said Det. Dice.

In 2008, Lee County Sheriff’s deputies recovered an empty stolen tracker trailer behind a gas station near the airport. It was once filled with more than $6 million of pharmaceutical drugs.

“That’s a typical case that we come across on a daily basis,” said Lt. Twan Uptgrow, with Miami-Date Police. He leads a taskforce that combats cargo theft in South Florida called TOMCATS, or the Tactical Operations Multi- Agency Cargo Anti-Theft Squad.
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Fort Myers Teen Added to Crime Stoppers Most Wanted List

A Fort Myers teenager, who’s been previously arrested on several felony charges has been added to Southwest Florida Crime Stoppers’ most wanted list.

Jarquel J., 19, is wanted on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. According to detectives, Jarquel approached a group of men standing in a driveway Saturday and began to assault one of them, while pointing a gun at him.

The victim said he didn’t resist for fear of being shot. He knew Jarquel and was well aware of his criminal history.

After a witness intervene, Jarquel left the area, still armed with a handgun.

Jarquel has been jailed for several violent crimes in the last few years. Known on the streets as “Cricket,” Jarquel was first arrested at age 18 for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
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Punta Gorda Police Arrest Man After Allegedly Reporting Own Crimes

A Florida man called 911 to report a crime, but he didn’t know he was alerting police to his own crimes.

Police in Punta Gorda say 22-year-old Martin C. called to report that his TV was stolen.

When police officers responded, the TV was gone, but while they were investigating, Martin mentioned a string of air conditioning units thefts in the neighborhood.

When officers came out the next day to investigate five stripped AC units, they found foot prints leading from the units to Martin’s apartment.

He was arrested and remains in jail on a $7,000 bond.

If you’ve too been charged with a theft crime in Punta Gorda or elsewhere in Florida, there’s no reason you shouldn’t contact an attorney in light of avoiding being convicted. For a free legal consultation with a Florida criminal attorney at our firm, call 1-800-687-2252 now.

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