Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Law enforcement officials arrested an area prison guard this week, charging him with bribery, conspiracy to introduce drugs into a correctional facility, and drug trafficking, Broward criminal lawyer William Moore has learned. Police say that 30-year-old prison guard Shamel Watson was apprehended during a sting in which he attempted to purchase or receive one pound of marijuana and four ounces of cocaine. They believe he intended to take the controlled substances to the Everglades Correctional Institute, which is located in western Miami-Dade County.

Watson is also believed to have planned to take two cell phones into the facility, which is also a crime. The spokesperson for the Florida Department of Corrections stated that, despite reports of prison guard misconduct, most contraband in the prison system is brought to inmates by visitors. Still, the Department has had its history of problems, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore. In May, 21 prison officials were fired, disciplined, or forced to resign after several children were stun gunned while visiting three corrections facilities on Take Your Sons and Daughters to Work Day.

Other problems have surfaced in the past few years, as well. James Crosby, the former head of the Department of Corrections, is now in prison after a 2005 conviction of his own for bribery. While he was in office, the Department suffered many arrests and firings for a variety of problems, including the misuse of inmate labor, drunken fights, theft, and a drug ring.

In this case, law enforcement officials had been tapping phones prior to the arrest. County officials set up a sting operation when he came to collect the drugs. Police apparently learned the details of the plan when an inmate described them in detail on a prison phone call, which was monitored by police. Watson was fired from his position immediately following the arrest.

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Posted In: Prison System

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Last spring, Floridians were shocked when reports that six teenaged girls from Lakeland had savagely beaten their 16-year-old classmate, says Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney William Moore. Eight teenagers were eventually arrested for the beating. Six of those arrested were other girls who went to school with the victim, who was a cheerleader. The attackers were between 14 and 18 years of age. Two boys were also arrested for their role, keeping guard outside of the home where the beating occurred.

Broward criminal lawyer Moore has learned that Mercades Nichols, who is now 18 years old, was arrested for violation of probation. She received three years of probation at her sentencing hearing in March of this year for her role in the beating. Nichols was arrested after allegedly driving her grandmother’s car through a neighbor’s yard, destroying the lawn on June 14. Police said she will be arraigned on July 23 and, in the meantime, will be held in the county jail without bail.

The video the girls took was widely publicized and was posted on YouTube. The victim sustained a concussion during the attack, in addition to significant bruising and injuries to an eye and ear. At one point, the victim became unconscious. During the beating, the girls encourage one another and even expressed concern over the possibility of damaging furniture as they hit the girl. In the video, she appears to try to protect herself, insisting that she does not want to fight, and does not retaliate against her attackers.

The victim told law enforcement officials that her attackers indicated their intent to post the video on that site and on MySpace. Their desire to put up the video was apparently one of the main motivating factors in the battery. The clip does not show the entire incident including the beginning, when a girl rammed the victim’s head repeatedly into a wall. The video they recorded is below, but beware that it contains violent images:

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Posted In: Violation of Probation

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According to Broward criminal attorney William Moore, Fort Lauderdale’s crime statistics exceed the national average. Although decidedly less violent than neighboring Miami, violent crime rates in the city of Fort Lauderdale remain an issue, especially during a recession. Crime typically increases when unemployment is high. There are likely to main reasons: first, when people are out of work they may be more likely to engage in criminal activity in the extra time on their hands and secondly, because they have less financial resources, they are more inclined to resort to property crimes, such as theft, robbery, burglary, and particularly shoplifting, according to Broward criminal lawyer Moore.

The most recent year for which crime statistics are available is 2006 and the figures may not accurately reflect current crime trends in Broward County, says Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore. For every 1,000 residents of the city of Fort Lauderdale, approximately 67 will become the victims of a property crime in a given year. Likewise, about 10 of every 1,000 people will be violently victimized.

Per 100,000 residents of Fort Lauderdale, there were about 12 murders in 2006. Compared to national statistics, that number is high. Nationally per 100,000 people, there were seven murders. Larceny and theft occurs close to twice as often in Fort Lauderdale compared to the national average, while burglaries happen about 60 percent more frequently. Motor vehicle thefts, meanwhile, are only slightly above the national average: 599 in Fort Lauderdale compared to 502 nationally.

Residents of Fort Lauderdale are more than twice as likely to be robbed. Figures for the city are about 1.5 times higher for rape than national averages, although rape is a traditionally underreported crime regardless of the jurisdiction. Aggravated assaults are somewhat higher than the national average in Fort Lauderdale, at 439 per 100,000 residents compared to 337 nationally.

In general, larger cities tend to see much higher rates of crime than smaller communities. Although the Fort Lauderdale area has higher rates of crime than the national average, the figures do not adequately take into account the fact that Fort Lauderdale is a relatively large city. Small towns and rural areas tend to see very low rates of violent crime. For example, a rural town with only 2,000 residents would be unlikely to see any murders within a given year. Some crimes, like robberies, tend to happen much more frequently in large cities due to the relative anonymity.

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Posted In: Judicial Trends

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For several months, animal lovers in the south Miami-Dade communities of Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay have become increasingly alarmed about the slaying of a number of cats in their communities. Each of the 19 cats tied to the animal abuse spree was a family pet, says Broward criminal attorney William Moore. Now, police have made an arrest in the case, although they warn that there may be additional arrests to follow as the investigation into the case continues.

Tyler Weinman, 18, is accused of mutilating the 19 cats. The teen travels frequently between his parents’ separate homes. His father, who is a dentist, lives in Palmetto Bay, while his mother nearby in Cutler Bay. Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore says that charges Weinman is facing are serious: 19 charges of improperly disposing of animal remains, four counts of burglary, and 19 counts of felony animal cruelty. The animal cruelty charges are third degree felonies, punishable by up to five years of imprisonment on each count and carrying mandatory minimum sentencing, which includes fines of $5,000 and at least six months in jail for year charge. If convicted at a trial, Weinman would likely face more than nine years in prison and owe at least $95,000 in fines, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore.

Law enforcement officials began keeping an eye on Weinman several weeks ago, they said, after receiving information from members of the community and tracking his updates on social media websites like Facebook and MySpace. Weinman was reportedly a member of a Facebook group seeking to catch the cat killer. Many community members have expressed relief at the possibility that the person who has been mutilating and killing family pets is in police custody. One animal shelter volunteer was delighted that police have made an arrest, although she noted that “people aren’t letting their cats, or children go outside just yet.”

Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Mindy Glazer set Weinman’s bond at $249,500 at a hearing on Tuesday morning, expressing concern for Weinman’s “safety and the safety of the community.” He is being held in a county jail facility on suicide watch and will be detained for at least two days. Weinman is only 18 and the length of his criminal record is not clear because juvenile arrests and case dispositions are sealed in most cases. He was, however, arrested for possession of marijuana about two weeks prior to his arrest for the cat slayings.

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Former Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty was sentenced by a federal judge in West Palm Beach to 42 months in prison last week. She reportedly cried during her sentencing hearing and accepted full responsibility for her actions. "My carelessness and irresponsibility have humiliated and humbled me. I never thought of myself as a criminal, but I am,” McCarty told the court.

McCarty, who is 54, was taken into custody immediately and is currently being held at the Palm Beach County Stockade. She is expected to be transferred to Miami in the coming weeks. Currently, McCarty is in solitary confinement at the jail, which may be for her own protection, according to Palm Beach criminal attorney William Moore.

The former commissioner pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud, Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore has learned. In her official capacity, she committed white collar crimes to obtain money for herself and her husband. She accepted money in the form of graft and bribes from businesses and individuals. McCarty also engaged in fraudulent transactions involving local bonds.

According to her plea agreement, McCarty admitted that she did not inform the County Commission of her financial conflicts of interest regarding various matters. Instead, she participated fully, and apparently sought results which were financially beneficial to her. In her required financial disclosures, McCarty filed false or incomplete forms in an effort to hide her financial interests in the matters before the Commission.

McCarty’s husband, Lawrence McCarty, was sentenced to eight months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 for his role in the crimes committed by Mary McCarty.

From the stockade, Mary McCarty is still emailing her supporters, through her sister. She reported that the guards are “professional but kind” and that it is “very cold” in her “frozen cell.” McCarty also lamented that she is missing her 29th wedding anniversary with her husband. She also described the food as particularly bad, noting that she has been losing weight since she was taken into custody, and that she spends her one hour outside of her cell every day making collect phone calls to her family members.

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The Florida Attorney General’s Office has been conducting a statewide crackdown on child sex crimes perpetrated using the internet, says Broward criminal attorney William Moore. Called “Operation Orange Tree” by officials investigating the alleged criminal activity, the investigators rounded-up dozens of accused offenders on Tuesday. In an announcement in Tallahassee, with John Walsh present to show his support for the crackdown, the state government announced that it had apprehended and arrested 77 people suspected of engaging in illegal activity related to child sexual abuse and the internet. Of those, 17 allegedly had video guides to molesting children without getting caught in their possession, and four were already listed as registered sex offenders. All of the suspects who have been arrested are men. Several victims have been located, including a teenaged girl who has told police about her sexual abuse over the past decade. Operation Orange Tree took place over the last ten weeks, said Attorney General Bill McCollum.

Five of those arrested are in Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties, says Broward criminal lawyer Moore. Miami-Dade resident Michael Sandoval, 35, has been charged as a result of the investigative operation, as have Samuel S. Jones, 42, of Broward County, and Eric Colin Super, 31, and Timothy J. Eliot, 21, both of Palm Beach County. All have been charged with at least one count of possession of obscene material. The nature of the materials and whether they depicted children is not yet clear.

John Walsh has been publicly involved in this venture due to his fame and because of his personal interest: his son Adam was kidnapped from a south Florida shopping center in July 1981, when the six-year-old was shopping with his mother. Part of his body was later located in an area canal, 120 miles north of the initial abduction. John Walsh is famously the host of the television show America’s Most Wanted, a television crime show that has been running for 22 years. Walsh and his wife co-founded the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children; both have been longtime advocates for children and safety. Serial killer Ottis Toole is believed to have been Adam Walsh’s killer, according to the Hollywood Police Department, which closed his case in December 2008. Toole died in prison of cirrhosis, a liver condition, in 1996 at the age of 49, but he had confessed and later recanted to Adam’s murder while he was alive.

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When most people think of graffiti, they conjure up images of crudely scrawled words and messages in spray paint in an inner city neighborhood or perhaps the New York City subway. Graffiti has changed to a large degree, however, and many graffiti artists are proud of their work, says Broward criminal defense attorney William Moore. They may go to great lengths to paint works that they believe are beautiful and which are certainly artistic, even “signing” their names – with a signature symbol or an illegible name or initials. Many are believed to like the recognition associated with the artwork, although they probably do not want to be charged with vandalism or criminal mischief.

Graffiti is extremely controversial, notes criminal lawyer Moore, and it has been hotly discussed by the Hollywood, Florida City Council in recent weeks. To many members of a community, it is vandalism, the defacing of property belonging to another or belonging to the government. The artistic value is minimal to those in that particular school of thought. Additionally, anti-graffiti community members tend to be concerned about other ramifications. The art form has long been associated with hip-hop music, as well as criminal gang activity. The gangs may use graffiti to denote the boundaries of their “territory,” a problem associated with increased violence and crimes. In Hollywood, this occurred recently when young graffiti artists were apprehended while “tagging” the water tower.

Other people see graffiti more as a form of public art. These proponents believe that graffiti as an art form can be an outlet for the community. Belfast, Northern Ireland, had public graffiti space during political and religious strife; Los Angeles has also had the same concept in ethnically and racially diverse areas. Likewise, the Berlin Wall was extensively covered in graffiti that expressed political messages.

Some graffiti artists have become relatively famous. An artist’s technique may not be limited to simply spray-painting his initials or nickname all over town, an oft-condemned practice known as “tagging.” Instead, he may use carefully cut out stencils, or even erect a colorful mural over a period of days. Tagging and other quick graffiti practices have gained favor because time is of the essence to a graffiti artist. After all, the less time an artist spends painting, the less likely it is he will be found out and arrested by law enforcement officials.

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Broward criminal attorney William Moore has dogs. He sympathizes with those who lose their pets. In Lauderhill, near Fort Lauderdale, a suspected cat-killer has made residents frustrated and angry. Law enforcement officials stress that it is not yet clear who or what is responsible for the rising toll of cat deaths in south Florida.

Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore says that some high-profile murderers got their start with animal cruelty. It is not even clear that a person was involved in the Broward County cat slayings, although officials in Miami-Dade believe there is a human perpetrator involved in the cases there. Since April, cat owners in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay, in southern Miami-Dade County, have been finding their kitties mutilated, apparently tortured, and dead, often in their own front yards. The Dade County total exceeds 25 reported cat killings in the past two months.

Meanwhile, Lauderhill residents have been alarmed recently as family cats have turned up dead in their neighborhoods, as well. Broward County officials were cautious to link the mutilated cats in Palmetto Bay and Cutler Bay to those killed in Lauderhill, however, citing the possibility that a pack of dogs was responsible for the Lauderhill deaths. Lauderhill investigators say that a pack of medium sized dogs, each weighing about 30 to 40 pounds, may have been responsible for the deaths of those family pets.

In Miami-Dade, however, investigators are looking for a human, as the cat death toll mounts and animal lovers have become enraged. The bodies of family-owned cats have been found skinned, often sliced across the stomach and disemboweled. Each cat died from its injuries, causing anguish to the owners. The dead cats were then placed in the front yards of their owners, for the family to find.

Animal control officials and private animal welfare organizations alike are urging families with cats to keep their pets inside. Additionally, several organizations and private individuals are offering financial rewards for information leading to the capture of the cat killer. Currently, rewards total at least $12,000 if he or she is apprehended. Law enforcement agencies in both counties have received a number of tips, but none have culminated in an animal cruelty arrest so far.

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Posted In: Violent Crimes

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