Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

A 28-year-old Lauderhill man was arrested in connection with an early morning shooting that claimed the life of a woman and her daughter and injured the man's grandmother in what police are calling a Fort Lauderdale domestic violence incident.

Domestic violence can be classified as a violent episode between family members and usually relates to a husband and wife or girlfriend and boyfriend who get into an argument. But it can also mean a more serious altercation that leads to life-altering injuries. And it can involve children, siblings or distant relatives.

Our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers have seen where these incidents can start off as minor arguments, escalate to physical fights and then lead to battery charges that carry possible long-term penalties, including prison time, probation, fines and fees, community service and other sanctions.

But simply being arrested and charged with a crime isn't proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the suspect has committed the crime. And that's the standard that is applied to criminal cases. Police officers are able to make arrests with a much lower standard of proof and that's why sometimes charges end up getting dropped by prosecutors before trial.

In this case, a Lauderhill man is charged with shooting his wife and her daughter, killing them both. The alleged incident also ended in the man's grandmother being shot, but not fatally. Police reported that the man was taken into custody without incident in Fort Lauderdale.

According to the Sun Sentinel, Lauderhill police were called to the NW 55th Avenue home because of a shooting. According to the newspaper, officers found a 34-year-old woman and her 19-year-old daughter, home from college, dead. Shot in the arm was a 73-year-old woman who police said was the man's grandmother.

Witnesses allegedly saw the man driving away from the house in a 2000 pickup truck around 6:30 p.m. The couple had been married for about two and a half years and family members said the two had a "hectic" marriage.

Police surmised that the argument started after the 19-year-old said something in response to comments the man made to his wife. Police believe she was killed first. The couple had a 7-year-old daughter together, who was at the home at the time, but was not injured.

The newspaper didn't list what charges the man will face, but it's likely he could face two counts of second-degree murder, a charge of aggravated battery or attempted murder and even a possible count of child abuse.

Perhaps the key facts in this situation will be the credibility of the witnesses who say they saw the man driving away from the house in his truck. It's obvious there will be DNA from the man at the scene because he lived there, so that's not helpful to the state. And if he was at his mother's house miles away when he was arrested more than 10 hours later, police will have to have strong proof that he was in the house at the time of the crime.

Perhaps connecting a weapon in his possession to the bullets fired at the victims would be a key piece of evidence. Without it, it may be difficult for the prosecution to prove its case. While the state sometimes tries to rely on assumptions and circumstantial evidence, this can't be the tactic used in a murder case.

When someone's life is on the line and justice must be done, the state must have solid evidence in order to convince a jury that the suspect is guilty. Anything less is unacceptable. And an experienced Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer will be there to point out the weaknesses in the prosecution's case.

Continue reading "Two Family Members Killed in Lauderhill Shooting" »

The Miami Herald reports that three people including two juveniles were arrested on charges of beating and holding at gunpoint postal carriers who were delivering mail.

Charges of armed robbery in Fort Lauderdale refer to someone taking money or property from another person by force and when using a weapon, not necessarily a firearm. In order to prove the crime, the state must show that a weapon was used. How the weapon was used is an important distinction, however.

Under Florida law, armed robbery with a firearm or other deadly weapon is a first-degree felony if the weapon was used during the crime. It can still be a first-degree felony if the defendant was simply carrying a weapon during the crime. The crime only becomes a second-degree felony of robbery if there was no firearm involved.

Witness identification can sometimes be shaky, so it's important that a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer be able to dig in from the start to begin putting together a strong defense for the suspect. Not all charges are accurate and not all those who are accused are guilty. Witnesses make mistakes and so do police officers. It's the job of an experienced lawyer to point out those mistakes.

In this case, The Herald reports, postal carriers were beaten or held at gunpoint and master keys to mailboxes throughout the area were stolen. In a few weeks, three letter carriers became victims of the crime and police began investigating.

A 19-year-old and a juvenile, whose name wasn't released, were charged with theft and robbery with a weapon. Police say the cases are not related, however. In one, a female letter carrier was beaten but not severely injured while delivering mail. Within two weeks, a juvenile held up a letter carrier at gunpoint while she delivered mail.

Police are still seeking a suspect from another incident. Nationwide, the U.S. Postal Service averages 75 to 100 robberies in any given year, so three in a matter of two weeks in one area is rare, the newspaper reports.

In the case of a daytime theft or robbery in Fort Lauderdale, as mentioned above, witnesses sometimes get it wrong. They may be too far away to get a clear view, but they want to help, so they tell police some facts, but some inaccuracies may exist.

Sometimes people fear that getting involved in cases where violence is alleged can get them in trouble with the suspects, so they back off and leave out important details that can actually lead to an acquittal. In other cases, they report to police third-hand information that is not their own. It's not until months into the case that this incorrect information comes out.

The criminal justice system in our country is great, but it does have its flaws. As Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyers, we hope to reveal the truth in every criminal case in order to provide the best possible criminal defense for clients.

Continue reading "U.S. Postal Carrier Robberies Lead to Arrests in South Florida Crime Spree" »

A man authorities have named as a suspect in the deaths of a Delray Beach woman and her two children recently pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of possessing an illegal handgun silencer, The Sun Sentinel reports.

The saga revolves around the fact that prosecutors believe the 34-year-old man killed his girlfriend because she would have been a key witness against him in the federal gun case. He has been held without bond on the charge as state investigators try to link him to the homicides.

Weapons charges in Fort Lauderdale require the experience of lawyers who have spent years as prosecutors and know how the state and law enforcement work. Understanding these tactics and knowing how case loads and office politics can affect cases are an advantage that Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorneys bring to the table.

It can be particularly dangerous when the state starts with a suspect and then attempts to work backward gathering evidence, as appears to be the case here.

The man was scheduled to go to trial in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in Miami, but instead entered the plea, which calls for a range of imprisonment of 2.75 to 3.4 years. The charge of possessing an illegal handgun silencer carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison.

The man has been in custody since March, when the bodies of a 10-year-old boy and his 6-year-old sister were found stuffed in luggage that had been tossed into a canal that divides Delray Beach and Boca Raton. The siblings had been living with the man since their mother's disappearance the previous summer, the newspaper reports.

The man's on-and-off girlfriend was the children's mother and she would have been a key witness against him on the gun charge. She was found at a Palm Beach County trash processing plant last August, the newspaper reports.

Federal prosecutors have said in court documents that they can prove the man killed the woman and that the motive was to eliminate her as a witness in the gun case. A judge admitted into evidence a secretly recorded conversation between the woman and her ex-husband, where she admitted to buying a .22-caliber revolver with a homemade silencer from the defendant in West Palm Beach.

It comes as no surprise that charges of homicide in Florida carry the most severe penalties. In fact, a person charged with murder in Fort Lauderdale can face the death penalty or at least decades or life in prison.

But gun charges can be extremely serious as well. Using a weapon while committing other crimes can lead to enhancements that add years to criminal charges. Possessing a gun if you are a convicted felon is also a crime.

But these charges can be beaten, depending on the facts of the case and the ability of the lawyer to get key evidence eliminated. Being able to disprove state witnesses, shoot holes in the police investigation and suppress statements made by the defendant are examples of ways an aggressive defense attorney can serve the client.

Continue reading "Suspect in Delray Beach Homicides Pleads to Gun Charges" »

Palm Beach County criminal attorney Douglas Leifert has been following a developing story that may impact felons in this South Florida county. Since federal law has much stricter penalties on felons who are charged with possessing a firearm, a Palm Beach County state attorney has secured a federal grant that allows a state prosecutor to be sworn as an assistant United States attorney.

A decade ago, the state of Florida enacted the 10-20-Life Law, meaning that if a felon uses a gun during a crime, they get an automatic 10 years behind bars. If they fire the gun, then the sentence doubles. If they injure or kill someone, they can be sentenced to a mandatory 25 years to life. However, that law does not apply to felons who are caught with a gun or ammunition who is not committing another crime, which is why the county felt it was necessary to implement a new program. The $92,000 annual grant is renewable in six-month increments.

In Miami-Dade County, the State Attorney's Office already has a similar program where a state prosecutor is cross-designated as an assistant United States attorney for a particular case or a set period of time. The Broward County State Attorney's office received a $480,000 federal grant in 2002 which was aimed at combating gun violence. However, the funding ended in 2006, and the state retained to unit to focus on "highly volatile gun cases."

Felons caught with guns could get stiffer sentences under new county program, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, July 4, 2009

Continue reading "New Palm Beach County Criminal Program May Mean Stiffer Sentences for Felons Caught with Firearms" »