Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

More and more local stores seem to be targeted under the cover of darkness in a slew of recent business burglaries, notes Broward criminal lawyer William Moore. The heists are happening in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade Counties and appear to be the work of small groups of burglars. Unfortunately, store owners are getting late-night calls from law enforcement officers telling them the bad news or sometimes just showing up to work in the morning to find shattered glass littering the stores and parking lots.

The “smash-and-grab” burglars have been conducting operations since at least last summer. Police noticed a marked uptick beginning in July. The pattern was unmistakable: a group of burglars, rather than one person acting alone, smash the glass front of the store or remove the door entirely. Oftentimes, they smash the glass storefront with a car.

Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore finds it interesting that the thieves appear to have rather varying tastes. They do not hit just electronics stores or only conduct jewelry heists. Instead, the have hit a variety of electronics stores, including chains like Best Buy and small stores such as Port Electronics, alongside a drugstore and even a Gucci location. Burglars stole prescription drugs from a Palm Beach Gardens pharmacy. In some cases, the whole incident happens in less than a minute, as was the case when six thieves smashed the glass door at Computer Sights in Fort Lauderdale.

The thieves quickly grab expensive items, including video game systems and laptops. They then escape rapidly. Later, the burglars sell the stolen items on the street. Some burglars have been “dumb,” according to local police. In Hialeah, thieves smashed and grabbed electronics from Best Buy. They were so successful that the same group hit the same Best Buy just a few days after the first time they stole goods from the store, in what police labeled a “gutsy” move. Not surprisingly, they were apprehended during the second attempt.

Stores like Port Electronics have it the hardest. The small electronics store does not carry insurance. The store was hit on January 12 and, despite the loss of thousands of dollars of electronics equipment, has managed to stay open. Still, its employees are not optimistic about the future. "I know it's going to happen again. There's no doubt in my mind," said Ed Blum, who manages the store. Likewise, General Manager Donald Blank of the CompUSA in Fort Lauderdale is leery. "You always have that in the back of your head," he said.

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Broward criminal lawyer William Moore defends a variety of drug cases, including possession and trafficking in controlled substances. Florida has tough anti-drug laws, including mandatory minimum sentencing legislation that can be devastating for people convicted of certain drug-related offenses. Possession of even relatively small amounts of some drugs, especially pain medication, can translate into lengthy terms of imprisonment under Florida law. Contact Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore with questions or concerns, or if you have been arrested for a drug-related offense, such as possession, sale, trafficking, or possession of drug paraphernalia.

Miami-Dade police officers are currently searching for a suspect who was pulled over on the Florida Turnpike last week. According to the police report, a law enforcement officer pulled over a truck traveling on the southbound side of the highway near Caribbean Boulevard. The police were drawn to the truck because a box flew out of its bed and into the another vehicle traveling on the highway prior to the traffic stop.

Although the driver pulled over, he quickly jumped out of the truck. The police officer noticed the pungent odor of marijuana as he approached the truck. Eventually, law enforcement officials found the source: nearly 150 pounds worth of marijuana plants. Miami-Dade police estimate that the plants are worth an estimated half a million dollars, in terms of street value.

The marijuana plants were confiscated and the driver remains at large. Broward criminal lawyer William Moore reminds everyone that trafficking in marijuana plants can result in years of imprisonment in the state of Florida under the mandatory minimum sentencing scheme currently in place.

On April 20, some residents in south Florida and around the nation will celebrate the unofficial holiday centered around marijuana usage, acceptance, and legalization. Advocates gathered to discuss advances in the growing movement to make medical marijuana legal and to decriminalize personal use of the drug.

The term “420” and the corresponding date of April 20 apparently date back to a high-profile group of California marijuana users in the 1970s. Every day, the group of teenagers smoked marijuana at 4:20 p.m. Groups on college campuses often stage parties to highlight the date. Other groups frequently do so as well, although often more privately. These parties have received national news coverage and been the subject of a significant amount of commentary in the news media – both positive and negative.

Below, find a video that was not made and is certainly not endorsed by Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney William Moore, detailing the High Times (a publication for proponents of the drug) party in New York City:

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The Supreme Court is set to issue a ruling regarding the strip-searching of a 13-year-old Arizona girl by school officials. Students generally have fewer constitutional rights than adults do. For example, students’ free speech rights can be curtailed to some degree. School officials may discipline a student for posting a sign at a school-sponsored event that says “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” and is apparently meaningless, but they may not do so for students who wear black armbands in protest as a matter of political speech. Likewise, student athletes and students who participate in other extra-curricular activities associated with the school can be subjected to random drug testing. Broward criminal lawyer Moore believes that students should be protected from unreasonable actions by school officials, including unreasonable searches of students and their property.

A girl at the school was caught with prescription strength ibuprofen, a mild pain relieving medication which is sold at a somewhat lower strength over the counter under the brand name Advil. When she was interrogated by school officials about where she obtained the ibuprofen, she told them that the a different student had given it to her. The school’s strict “zero tolerance” drug policy includes even relatively mild drugs, like ibuprofen.

Student administrators located the student who allegedly supplied the first girl with the ibuprofen. They had no other evidence that she was in possession of an illicit substance. She did not have any prior disciplinary record. Still, when she denied having any ibuprofen, the school officials did not believe her, so they searched her belongings. They found no ibuprofen or other drugs. They were still convinced that she had drugs, however, based on the other student’s statement.

At that point, Broward criminal lawyer Moore thinks that school officials made a pretty serious decision: they decided to strip search the student do to the unfounded allegation that she possessed prescription-strength ibuprofen. Two female school officials made the girl strip to her underwear, even pulling the cups of her bra out to check inside them for ibuprofen. They found nothing. The 13-year-old girl, who had no disciplinary history and for whom there was no corroborating evidence to suggest that she possessed the drug, had been humiliated. She transferred schools as a result of the incident, which she found horrifying, and sued the school. Many criminal defense attorneys who have been following this case are anxious for the upcoming ruling.

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Tony and Jeanne Thomas live in Boynton Beach, in southern Palm Beach County. The couple’s home was burglarized several times last year, beginning in October. The burglars took expensive valuables, like jewelry and a collection of rare coins. Smaller things disappeared, too, on other occasions. The couple’s crockpot and ice cream maker were stolen. Frustrated, the Thomases had no idea who could be stealing the items from their home. Palm Beach criminal lawyer William Moore says home burglaries may increase during economic tough times, as people scramble for cash or have too much free time due to unemployment.

With the problem growing more frightening, Jeanne Thomas purchased a surveillance system that allowed her to view the video in her home from a third location. She installed the $250 monitoring system over her husband’s protests that she would never find anything with it. Jeanne did not find anything interesting at first, discovering only that the dogs played on the couches while she was at work. After awhile, she stopped watching the surveillance.

Thomas, who works at Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale, had a bad feeling one morning this week. She logged onto the surveillance system online to get a look inside her home. ''It was the strangest feeling. I had a feeling something wasn't right. When I went on, I saw a person standing in my house,” Thomas said.

Thomas dialed 911 as soon as she saw the images. She kept watching as she talked to the operator while 18 Boynton Beach police officers surrounded the home. The family pets were upset, she told the operator. Thomas watched the burglars take valuable items from her home, including a flat-screen television and a video game system.

Boynton Beach police arrested the two suspects who were inside the home. Altogether, there were four suspects eventually arrested. The young men who were arrested are Curtis Williams, 20; Steven Morales, 19; Scott George, 20; and Jonathan Cruz, 20. The Thomases knew Cruz prior to the incident. Jeanne Thomas said that her husband even gave Cruz rides when he was a child. The Thomases were friendly with him and said it had never occurred to them that Cruz would have been involved in burglarizing their home.

All of the suspects confessed to their involvement in the burglary. Palm Beach criminal attorney Moore says would-be burglars might do well to follow the advice of Jeanne Thomas: be careful, because “[y]ou never know who is watching you.”

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A number of robberies in Palm Beach and Broward Counties have police scratching their heads and searching for the so-called “Saggy Pants Robber,” says Palm Beach criminal lawyer William Moore. Law enforcement officials in both counties are working to determine if the same culprit is behind each incident.

Starting in November, 7-Eleven stores throughout the area have been robbed with alarming frequency. In Fort Lauderdale, at least five 7-Eleven stores and one Walgreen’s location have been robbed in the past few months by a man with sagging pants and a Jamaican accent. On Friday, two more Broward stores were robbed, according to Broward criminal defense lawyer Moore. Locations in Miramar and Pompano Beach were both hit the same night. Still, the Miramar police have issued a statement warning the public that it is still too early to tell if the Miramar robbery was committed by the same man who has been robbing other locations.

The Saggy Pants Robber was initially identified by Fort Lauderdale police, who pieced together an image of a man due to the similar characteristics of the robber described by clerks at each store. His voice and accent have been described similarly and he was wearing the same pair of shorts, which have a noticeable red stripe down the sides, underneath his pants in several of the robberies. Some of his victims stated that he wore a green ski mask over his face or prescription eyeglasses. His demeanor is noticeably calm and collected and he works quickly, which may explain why he is still at large. The descriptions have not all been identical, with wide variations in the man’s height given: from 5’5” to 6’0”.

Fort Lauderdale police also note that his mannerisms toward his victims are changing and he seems to be acting increasingly aggressive towards them. Detective Kathy Collins of the Fort Lauderdale police department described the change, saying, ''He used to go in and imply he had a weapon, back in December and January. But since then, he's not only displayed the weapon but in the last two robberies he has pointed at the clerk very aggressively, grabbing the clerk, and now he's really putting fear in the victims.''

The Saggy Pants Robber is also expanding. Initially, he robbed only stores of Fort Lauderdale, but now appears to be branching out both to the north and south. He is believed to be the robber behind heists in Boynton Beach, Deerfield Beach, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, and elsewhere.

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A string of bank robberies in Broward and Palm Beach Counties has had investigators puzzled for weeks now. Tellers described the robber as middle-aged, but the defining feature that stood out was the bad condition of his teeth. He has been locally known as the “Rotten Teeth Robber” after the Broward Sheriff’s Office referred to him as a “dirty, rotten teeth bank robber” during the investigation. The Boca Raton police department was more polite about the issue, telling reporters that they were searching for a robber with “considerable tooth decay.” They also noted that bank employees believed he had a limp. Initially, some eyewitness reports gave differing descriptions of the man in terms of his height, build, and age. Broward criminal lawyer William Moore says differing accounts are relatively common and that eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable, in part because people tend to be very prone to suggestion when they remember details about a crime.

According to law enforcement officials familiar with the case, the Rotten Teeth Robber has hit at least five branches of Bank of America in the last month. On March 3, he robbed the Pompano Beach branch, then waited nearly two weeks before robbing the Lighthouse Point bank. Thereafter, he allegedly went on a bank-robbing spree, hitting Bank of America branches in Tequesta, West Palm Beach, and Deerfield Beach on March 26. The Rotten Teeth Robber then began hitting other area banks, as well. He is expected to be charged with robbing a Pompano Beach BankAtlantic on March 31 and a Wachovia branch in Fort Lauderdale on April 1.

The Rotten Teeth Robber was done in by his most recent robbery, officials say. At about 10:40 a.m. on April 1, he gave the Wachovia teller a note, demanding cash and wearing jeans, a baseball cap, and a nondescript gray shirt. The teller complied with the robber’s demand, but bank employees rushed to contact police. Fort Lauderdale police quickly nabbed Alan Weller, 47, who was identified as the robber by employees of the Wachovia branch. West Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore says it is unusual for a bank robber to hit so many banks in one area in such a short period of time.

Weller resides in Lake Worth. Prior to his capture, he was described as a white male in his forties or fifties, who was thin and about 5’7” and wore glasses. Bank employees who had been robbed consistently noted that his teeth were unusually dirty or rotten. He was seen leaving at least one bank robbery in an old green Ford Taurus. In another, he departed in a brown Chrysler PT Cruiser.

A Palm Beach County bank robbery last year:

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Criminal defendants are required to enter pleas in each In most cases, the defendant will enter a plea of ‘guilty’ or ‘not guilty,’ according to West Palm Beach criminal lawyer William Moore has experience in all kinds of criminal defense, including sex crimes and DUI. A conviction for a felony or Broward criminal lawyer William Moore. Alternatively, some defendants prefer to plead ‘nolo contendere,’ which literally means no contest, or that the defendant does not contest the criminal charge or charges he is facing. A plea of nolo contendere is not technically a guilty plea, but it is treated in much the same way.

A defendant who does not have a good defense will often take a no contest plea as part of a plea bargain. In Florida, the nolo contendere plea can be used like a guilty plea or a conviction when calculating the recommended sentencing for later criminal convictions. Sentencing is frequently enhanced based on the defendant’s prior criminal record, particularly when the defendant has a history of crimes involving the use of firearms.

In modern criminal law, the nolo contendere plea comes from our English predecessors, says Palm Beach criminal lawyer William Moore. Some scholars have argued that is original origins are actually biblical, coming from a meeting of Jesus and Pontius Pilate in which Jesus neither agreed with Pilate nor admitted any guilt to the charge of promoting himself as the Messiah. The theory maintains that this stance was the basis for the modern no contest plea.

Alford pleas are different than pleas of guilty, not guilty, and even nolo contendere. An Alford plea is one in which the defendant admits that the government has enough evidence to meet its burden of proving the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant maintains that he is innocent of the charge of which he has been accused, but declines to proceed in his defense in light of the evidence the prosecution has against him. The court then treats the defendant as though he is guilty and will impose sentencing. The judge hearing the defendant’s case must determine that there is a factual basis for the defendant’s plea, as with true guilty pleas. Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore always discusses plea options thoroughly with clients -- and frequently takes cases to trial.

The Alford plea, unlike the no contest plea, is a relatively new invention. In 1970, the United States Supreme Court heard a now-famous case from North Carolina. State law provided that a defendant who pleads guilty to a capital felony – murder, in this case – will only face life in prison. However, if the defendant preferred to go to trial, he would face the death penalty if convicted, or the jury could recommend life imprisonment in the alternative. With that in mind, Alford agreed to plead guilty, although he maintained that he was an innocent man at every step of the process. He appealed his sentence, arguing that he was compelled to plead guilty due to his fear of capital punishment. The Supreme Court ruled that he made a voluntary choice and that his constitutional rights were not violated.

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