Category: Blog

If a police officer stops your car for, say, speeding and then smells an odor of marijuana when he walks up to your car window, Florida law states that that officer has probable cause to believe that a violation of Florida's narcotic's laws has occurred.  When that happens, the officer is legally entitled to search the entire […]

"Empathy" is defined as "the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another."  When selecting a jury, it is important that a lawyer try to find empathetic jurors or jurors who will be able to stand in the client's shoes (figuratively speaking).  That is to say, it is important […]

When selecting a jury, it is very important that a lawyer learn which potential jurors have leadership responsibilities at their jobs because such jurors frequently become leaders during jury deliberations.  If those jury leaders then decide to vote against the lawyer's case and are able to persuade other jurors to vote the same way, the verdict will almost […]

Florida law states that the police may break open a door leading into a home if:  The police have a warrant. The police announce who they are and what they want. The occupant of the home refuses to let the police enter his home after the police have waited a reasonable period of time after knocking […]

The law throughout the United States is that the police may not detain an individual whom they have stopped for any longer than necessary to accomplish their reason for stopping that person in the first place.   For example, say that the police stop your car because you are driving 10 miles per hour over the posted speed […]

Since the reimposition of the death penalty in the United States in 1976, 1,029 people have been executed (as of March 2007). Over one-third of those have been executed in Texas (385 as of March 8, 2007).  One has to wonder about this large number of executions in Texas in light of the fact that just […]

I am sometimes contacted by individuals who have been charged with the crime of possessing less than 20 grams of marijuana.  In Florida, that crime is a misdemeanor.   Often these individuals ask me if they can resolve their case quickly by simply going to court and pleading guilty.  I explain to them that although they may […]

When a person is charged with DUI in Florida, there are two different ways for that person's driver's license to become suspended: 1.  The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles can suspend someone's license if the person refused to submit to a lawful breath, blood, or urine test or if the person had […]

I often receive telephone calls from people asking if I can help them get their criminal record expunged.  I ask them if they are eligible to have their criminal record expunged or merely sealed.  The response is usually silence since most people do not realize that there is a distinction in Florida law between getting […]

Is Lethal Injection Unconstitutional?  The United States Supreme Court is set to decide this very important question.  The following article discusses the death penalty case that the High Court will rule upon in deciding whether lethal injection passes constitutional muster: Public Defender Builds Injection Case Published: 1/1/08, 12:45 PM EDT By BRETT BARROUQUERE FRANKFORT, Ky. […]