Category: Blog

In the case of Keith Rancifer v. the State of Florida, Mr. Rancifer was convicted of trying to obtain a Florida identification card using a false name. However, the court of appeals overturned his conviction because: 1. It was undisputed that the birth certificate that Rancifer presented when he obtained the identification card was a […]

In the case of Pedro Dominguez versus the State of Florida, a police officer went to a domestic disturbance call, saw Dominguez driving his vehicle away from the home, and ordered Dominguez to return to the home. After determining that no battery occurred, the officer noticed Dominguez parked “a little crooked”, that he could smell […]

Last month I published an article about a recent case in which an appeals court ruled that it is illegal for a private company to issue traffic tickets to people for running a red light in Hollywood Florida. Because of that case, a traffic judge in West Palm Beach may soon start dismissing similar tickets […]

The following article was published last month in the Washington Post. The article was written by John Yoder, director of the U.S. Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Office from 1983 to 1985, and Brad Cates, director of that same office from 1985 to 1989. "Last week, the Post published a series of in-depth articles about the […]

People who are not familiar with the criminal-justice system often tend to believe that the most powerful person in the courtroom is the judge. But that is not always true. Earlier this month, The Economist printed the following article called "The Kings of the Courtroom: How Prosecutors Came to Dominate the Criminal-Justice System:" CAMERON TODD […]

In the case of the City of Hollywood versus Eric Arem, an appeals court ruled that it is illegal for a private company to issue traffic tickets to people for running a red light. The court said that in Florida only law enforcement officers and traffic enforcement officers have the legal authority to issue citations […]

In the case of the City of Hollywood versus Eric Arem, an appeals court ruled that it is illegal for a private company to issue traffic tickets to people for running a red light. The court said that in Florida only law enforcement officers and traffic enforcement officers have the legal authority to issue citations […]

In order to be guilty of the crime of vehicular homicide, a person has to be driving a car or some other type of motor vehicle in such a reckless manner that it is likely that he or she will cause the death of, or great bodily harm to, another person. There have been many […]

In the case of Stephen Chesser versus the State of Florida, Mr. Chesser was charged with nine counts of possession of photographs depicting sexual conduct by a child with intent to promote. All nine photographs were found in a shed located on some property belonging to Mr. Chesser's parents. Chesser later pled guilty to all […]

In the case of Jennifer Kish versus the State of Florida, Ms. Kish was convicted of the crime of culpable negligence for allowing her three children--ages 10, 8, and 7--who were sick with cold and upper respiratory symptoms, to be left unsupervised for two to three hours after school until adults arrived home from work. […]