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I frequently represent people who have been charged with committing traffic crimes that involved an accident (for example, DUI manslaughter or leaving the scene of an accident).  Often, the client's auto insurance company wants to take a tape-recorded statement regarding the details of the accident while the criminal case is still pending.  Whenever this situation […]

On December 8, 2007, I posted a blog entitled "Police Interrogations Should Always Be Tape Recorded."  Around that same time, an article appeared in the "Florida Defender" (a publication of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (FACDL)) which stated that FACDL had been trying for several years to get the Florida legislature to pass a […]

Entrapment occurs when the police, or someone working for the police, cause a person to commit a crime using methods that create a substantial risk that the crime was committed by someone who was not ready to commit such a crime but for the improper methods employed by the police. In order to better understand […]

The answer is yes, the police are allowed to lie to you to get you to confess.  The law in Florida is that the use of tricks or factual misstatements by the police do not by themselves make a confession involuntary.  For instance, in one Florida Supreme Court case called Burch versus State of Florida, […]

          If you have been arrested in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Belle Glade, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Lantana, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach, or Wellington, call me, attorney Ron Chapman, at 561-832-4348 to discuss your case and […]

          If you have been arrested in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Belle Glade, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Lantana, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach, or Wellington, call me, attorney Ron Chapman, at 561-832-4348 to discuss your case and […]

Just because the police handcuff you does not necessarily mean you're under arrest.  That's what the Florida Supreme Court ruled in a case called Reynolds v. State of Florida.   In Reynolds, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that it is legal for a police officer to handcuff someone if the officer reasonably believes that it […]

On February 10, 2008, I posted an article entitled "When Are Miranda Warnings Required?"  In that article, I stated that the police are required to give a person Miranda warnings only when that person is in custody and is being interrogated by the police.  After writing that article, I came across a recent Florida case which […]

For several years it has  been the law in the United States that if the police illegally seize someone, then any contraband that the police find on that person--such as guns or drugs--cannot be presented at that person's trial.  This is sometimes referred to as the doctrine of the "fruit of the poisonous tree." However, when […]

Many people who have grown up watching TV mistakenly believe that the police must always give a person Miranda warnings as soon as they begin speaking with him.    From watching television, many people know that Miranda rights include the following:   1. You have the right to remain silent—you do not have to talk. […]