Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Our Florida DUI attorneys read that Will Allen, 31 a 31-year-old football player for the Miami Dolphins, was arrested and charged with driving under the influence in Miami Beach back in February. He had reportedly revved the engine of his Ferrari and refused to get out of his car at his police barricade.

The cornerback was later released on $1,000 bail, according to a spokeswoman for Miami-Dade County Corrections.

The arrest affidavit states that police noticed the smell of alcohol on his breath and bloodshot eyes when they pulled him over. They also administered two Breathalyzer tests as mandated by Florida law. Allen's tests showed a blood alcohol content level of 0.152 and 0.167, which is well over Florida's legal limit of 0.08.

Source: Miami Dolphins' Will Allen out on bond after DUI stop, Miami Herald, February 21, 2010

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Last month, Broward prosecutors announced that they would not file charges against Florida native and football legend Michael Irvin, who was accused of rape earlier this year. According to a memorandum, a lack of medical evidence and irregularities between what the accuser and others said were factors in the decision.

Although the woman passed a polygraph test which was reviewed by several experts, polygraph cannot be submitted as evidence in a criminal case. There was no medical evidence that the woman had been raped and she reportedly waited over two weeks to report the incident to police. The only legally admissible evidence was the woman's statement and her apparently emotional state. A lawyer for Irvin has filed a civil lawsuit against the woman for allegedly trying to ruin the football player's reputation and career.

Irvin's prior legal issues include pleading no contest to drug charges in 1996. He and a teammate were also accused of sexually assaulting a woman, but the woman later retracted her story after an investigation proved she had made it up.

Source: Broward prosecutors decline to file charges against Michael Irvin, Miami Herald, February 25, 2010

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On Monday, West Palm Beach reportedly began doling out fines to South Florida drivers using their controversial new red-light cameras. The cameras are located at four intersections (Avenue and Belvedere Road, Parker and Summit Boulevard, Australian Avenue and Banyan Boulevard, and at Australian and Belvedere) and a fifth camera, at Australian and 25th Street, will be added soon. The city and its private camera vendor plan to split the $125 fines.

These fines come after several months of "warnings" during which red-light cameras documented over 17,000 "events" and police approved over 5,000 warnings. That warning period began in November of last year and was extended after drivers argued that they had made safe right turns on red and that the camera flashes were distracting.

One West Palm Beach lawyer says the cameras are unconstitutional because they presume guilt and fine the car's owner rather than the driver who ran the red light. This debate is playing out across the state, and our law firm will be watching with interest for the outcome.

Source: Red-light cameras: Violators in West Palm Beach run risk of fines, Palm Beach Post News, March 1, 2010

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Until recently, nobody had heard the term "sexting." But this activity, meaning texting sexual photos or messages, can have an all too real impact on teens. Take 20-year-old Phillip Alpert, who was an 18-year-old living in Florida when he forwarded photos of his ex-girlfriend to get her attention.

Alpert was arrested on child-pornography charges, given five years' probation, and forced to register as a sex offender. He is also required to attend weekly sex-offender re-education classes for the duration of his probation. In sexting cases between two underage parties, the teens can feel like both perpetrator and victim, and the consequences can be life-altering, as Alpert's case demonstrates.

Alpert's lawyer took on the case as a pro bono project, partly to educate others on the serious consequences of sexting.

Source: Sexting Leads To Teen Having To Register As A Sex Offender, MTV.com, February 11, 2010

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Our Miami DUI defense attorneys have been watching the impact of social media on legal precedent across the country. In one recent case, a 17-year-old driver whose boyfriend died in a drunk driving accident had her prison sentence increased because of a post she made on Facebook. The teen driver registered a 0.13 blood alcohol level and apparently posted a photo captioned "Drunk in Florida."

She pled guilty to criminally negligent homicide and misdemeanor driving while intoxicated, and the judge said he was troubled by the teen's conduct following the crash.

The judge treated the driver as a adult rather than a youth offender, sentencing her to six months in county jail and five years of probation, during which she will not be allowed to drive and will be under electronic monitoring for the first year out of prison. The teen also had her driver's license revoked.

Source: Facebook Photo Nets Drunk Driver Longer Jail Term, IndyPosted.com, February 1, 2010

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At our Broward County traffic ticket law firm, clients often ask if it matters when they get a ticket outside of Florida. The short answer is yes. That unpaid traffic ticket from your trip to the Grand Canyon could complicate the process of renewing your Florida driver's license. However, it's a bit more complicated than that.

There are three major databases that track information on your driver's license. There's the National Driver Register (NDR, also called the Problem Driver Pointer System), which monitors drivers who have had their licenses revoked or suspended. It also lists drivers who've been convicted of serious traffic violations like driving while impaired by drugs or alcohol. There's no guarantee that your license application will get denied simply because you're on this list, but it's the not the kind of company you want to keep.

That traffic ticket would actually follow you across state lines through the Driver License Compact (DLC) and the Non-Resident Violator Compact (NRVC). Basically, the DLC makes a traffic violation in another state the equivalent of a violation here in Florida. With a few exceptions, if you fail to pay a traffic ticket from another state, your home state can suspend your license until you resolve the issue.

Source: Do Speeding Tickets Follow You From State To State?, AOL Autos, February 16, 2010

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Our criminal defense attorneys recently read an article on South Florida's fugitive unit. The region apparently attracts fugitives for several reasons. One is that South Florida is a relatively easy place for foreign criminals to enter without permission. Another is that South Florida's multiracial, multilingual environment makes it easier for fugitives to blend in.

According to a supervisory deputy, marshals captured roughly 36,000 federal fugitives in 2008 and assisted in the capture of 73,000 state and local fugitives. Many of these arrests occurred in South Florida. During a 10-week period in 2008, marshals collaborated with officers from the Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force and arrested over 2,000 people on outstanding warrants for crimes such as murder, rape, and gang violent. The campaign was called Operation Orange Crush.

Marshals says they are able to track fugitives based on friend or family connections or if they try to use a credit card or buy property. Getting stopped for a traffic violation can also result in a fugitive arrest.

Source: Rogue roundup: Marshals lasso many in South Florida outlaw haven, Palm Beach Post, January 21, 2010

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Our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorneys have learned that Oliver McCall, the former world heavyweight champion was arrested earlier this month on a drug offense. According to Fort Lauderdale police, McCall was arrested on cocaine possession charges and is also charged with violating probation for a previous offense.

The 44-year-old fighter has had previous drug-related issues and served jail time for charges including crack cocaine possession.

Some boxing experts predict the arrest could mark the beginning of the end for McCall, who has since been removed from headlining an eight-fight card that was scheduled for last Tuesday. However, McCall's son Elijah will still be part of the fight.

Sources: Former world heavyweight champion Oliver McCall arrested in Fort Lauderdale, South Florida Sun Sentinel, February 15, 2010

Former Heavyweight Champs in Trouble, About.com, February 16, 2010

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Our Miami defense attorneys have been following a case involving a South Florida school principle and a teen who was suspended for setting up a Facebook page criticizing one of her teachers. The student took down the page and later sued the principle for violating her First Amendment rights.

The principal had attempted to have the suit thrown out, but a magistrate judge ruled that the teen will have her day in court. The Florida lawsuit is moving forward, and it could create a precedent for punishing students for speed outside the classroom as well as students' free speech on social networking sites.

A lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said the law needs to adapt to the changing internet landscape.

Source: Facebooking Teen Wins Day in Court, NBCMiami.com, February 16, 2010

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By now, most of us have seen video clips of the University of Florida student who was tasered and arrested at a John Kerry forum in 2008. But while the verb "tase" has become part of our pop culture lexicon, Tasers can inflict serious harm. That's why a recent editorial decries the use of Tasers by police, particularly in cases where the suspect has not resisted arrest.

According to the editorial, over 350 people have died in Taser-related incidents. In some case, a 17-year-old died when officers tasered the teen without talking to or identifying him. Tasers by definition give a sudden shock to the central nervous system which not everyone can withstand.

Our South Florida criminal defense law firm is very concerned about this issue and urged police officers to treat Tasers as they would any other potentially lethal weapon.

Source: Don't Tase us, bro, ConnectSavannah.com, February 16, 2010

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Our South Florida traffic attorneys read a recent article in the New York Times about unlicensed driver who have had their cars seized by police at sobriety checkpoints. This is fast becoming a trend, particularly in some areas that need the extra revenue from the impounded vehicles. In fact, police are often more likely to seize a car than to catch a drunk driver.

According to a study by the Investigative Reporting Program at the University of California, Berkley, impoundments at checkpoints in California brought in an estimated $40 million in police fines and towing fees statewide. Most cities split the revenue with towing companies. The checkpoints do catch some drunk drivers, but in some cases police are pulling over sober motorists and seizing vehicles from unlicensed drivers, often illegal immigrants. Some of these impounded vehicles are then sold at lien sales if they go unclaimed.

While officials say that demographics are not a factor in determining where police set up checkpoints, records indicate that cities with a large Hispanic population are impounding cars at three times the rate of other cities with a smaller minority presence.

Source: Sobriety Checkpoints Catch Unlicensed Drivers, New York Times, February 13, 2010

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Our Fort Lauderdale Criminal Lawyers recently read an article about how police in Fort Lauderdale will begin using license plate readers to scan cars. Rather than typing in a suspicious car's license plate number into a computer, the software would conduct searches automatically, looking for stolen vehicles, and suspects on terrorist watch lists, among other things.

Several other communities in South Florida are already using similar technology. The Broward Sheriff's Office, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, and police departments in West Palm Beach and North Miami Beach reportedly already have tag readers.

A police spokesperson would not divulge how many patrols will get tag readers, but he said it could be a small number to start. The technology will be paid for with grant funds.

Source: Lauderdale police move toward car-tag scanners, South Florida Sun Sentinel, February 1, 2010

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