Category: Blog

          It is common knowledge that it is illegal for someone who has been convicted of a felony to possess a firearm.  But what is not so commonly known is that it is also a federal crime for a person who has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence to possess a firearm. […]

It used to be the case that anyone convicted of driving with a suspended license in Florida three or more times was guilty of a third-degree felony carrying with it a maximum penalty of five years in prison. But in July 2008 the law changed to the extent that certain individuals convicted of driving with […]

       Florida law provides that under certain circumstances an individual may have his name removed from the sex offender or sexual predator registry.  However, before that can occur, the judge deciding the matter must determine that removal of the person's name will not conflict with federal law.           In a recent case called Miller v. State […]

          A criminal conviction (which includes a withhold of adjudication) can have serious ramifications pertaining to the deportation of someone who is not a United States citizen but who wishes to remain lawfully in the U.S.           The Immigration and Nationality Act sets forth various criminally-related grounds for deportation.  Some of those grounds are: Crimes of moral […]

          According to Florida law, a person cannot be arrested for using force--even deadly force--unless the police first determine that there is probable cause to believe that the force used was unlawful.  But what happens in those situations in which the police believe that the force used was unlawful?  Are the police allowed to actually state their […]

          It seems that the thorny issue of where registered sex offenders should be allowed to live just won't go away.  In 2007, I wrote an article entitled "Sex Offenders:  Where Can They Live?," and in 2008 I wrote an article entitled "Where Can You Live in Florida if You Are a Registered Sex Offender?"  […]

BODY:           Earlier this week, Palm Beach Post writer Susan Spencer-Wendel wrote an article entitled "She's guilty of murder, but shooter's free" in which she recounted how a young woman named Ashley Ramirez was convicted of robbery and first-degree murder with a firearm even though the jury who decided her case found that she did fire […]

          Yesterday, Palm Beach Post Capital Bureau writer Dara Kam wrote an article entitled "Lantana mother of sex-abuse victim joins fight against molesters."  In her article, Ms. Kam recounted the case of a man who was repeatedly molested when he was a young boy but who waited until after the statute of limitations expired to report […]

          Do current immigration laws in the United States encourage one spouse to falsely accuse the other spouse of domestic violence?  This became an important question in a recent case of mine in which my client, who was a permanent legal resident of the United States, was accused by his wife of domestic battery.              […]

         Earlier this month, Florida's governor, Charlie Crist, signed Senate Bill 2276 which permits the police to take a DNA sample from anyone who is merely arrested for a felony offense.              In an article entitled "Crist signs law ordering DNA tests for all arrested in felonies, raising privacy fears," Palm Beach Post staff writer […]