Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Fort Lauderdale Update-

Earlier this week, Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney William Moore says that Floridians were captivated by the news story about Somer Thompson. Somer was seven years old when she disappeared this week. On Monday afternoon, she was walking home from her elementary school in Orange Park, Florida, with her 10-year-old sister and their brother. Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore has learned that because her older sister knew the younger girl had gotten into a fight at school that day, she asked Somer about the disagreement. Somer was upset by her sister’s inquiry and ran away from her siblings. Her sister last saw her with another group of children leaving the school.

Law enforcement authorities launched a full-scale search for the missing little girl. Due to her age, the search was an extremely high priority. Police officers also began examining landfills that receive waste from the community. Earlier this week, they located the remains of a child in a landfill in Folkston, Georgia. Law enforcement officials positively identified the body as Somer Thompson through the use of dental records. They have also confirmed that the load of garbage in which her remains were concealed originated in the Orange Park area, suggesting that she was killed and disposed of near her home.

Now, Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney says the community is focused on finding the little girl’s killer. So far, the police have interviewed more than 70 registered sex offenders who live within five square miles of the family’s home. At this point in time, $30,000 of rewards have been offered for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of Somer’s killer.

The sheriff told reporters, "There is a child killer on the loose. I fear for our community until we bring this person in."

The girl’s mother, meanwhile, has also spoken to reporters in her emotionally wrenched state, saying that she would not rest until her daughter’s attacker was found and that “you don't do this to a little baby and put my baby in the trash like she's nothing.”

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney Details Tragic End in the Case of Missing Florida Girl Somer Thompson " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Abuse

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Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney William Moore says that being a Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney always requires him to prepare well for every case and to put his best foot forward in the courtroom. All clients deserve the best representation. The stakes are even higher when there is reason to believe that a person accused of a crime has been wrongly arrested and charged. Although the United States has numerous constitutional protections – such as the right to counsel, a speedy trial, trial by jury, and the right to a public trial – the fact remains that, now and then, innocent people are convicted of crimes they did not commit, says Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore. Even more often, they are accused of crimes they did not commit.

Some innocent people are later exonerated. The most famous instances of these are probably those death row inmates who are found to be innocent by DNA evidence tested years after their conviction. Not all states have retained the death penalty and at this point in time, the trend is towards repealing it; a couple of states have abolished it in the last year. However, the use of capital punishment has remained fairly popular in Florida, and there is no indication that the state will abolish it in the foreseeable future.

Several years ago, the Florida Commission on Capital Cases undertook a comprehensive study of innocent people who were convicted and placed on death row in the state. The Commission reported an astounding 25 cases of wrongfully-convicted death row inmates, according to Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore. Of those, one died on death row and three were pardoned by governors. Twenty were remanded down to the trial court level, where two pleaded guilty to lower-level offenses and 10 were acquitted of all charges. Eight were not retried for various reasons, including lost evidence, unavailable witnesses, or the desire to not inflict further emotional trauma on witnesses.

Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore notes that the study is incredibly important for those who do not believe that a person is innocent until proven guilty – and for those who maintain that there are no flaws in the system. Judges and even prosecutors and police officers have an obligation to ensure that an accused person’s rights are not violated at any point in the process. After all, there is no value in catching and convicting the wrong person.

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney on Convicting Innocent People: How ‘Beyond a Reasonable Doubt’ Is Not Always Applied " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Criminal Punishment

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The State Attorney’s Office has publicly released additional information related to its case against Casey Anthony, the young mother charged with first-degree murder in her toddler’s death. Caylee Anthony disappeared during the summer of 2008, with no explanation from her mother, who was her primary caretaker. The identity of Caylee’s father has never been made public, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer William Moore. Nonetheless, the media has speculated widely about the whereabouts of Caylee’s father. Caylee’s grandparents have been considered instrumental in her care and it was her grandmother who first notified law enforcement officials when her daughter could not account for Caylee’s whereabouts, Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore has learned. Casey Anthony told investigators that she had left her little girl with a babysitter and provided them with a name and address. A woman with the same name, who resides at a different address, has since sued Casey Anthony for defaming her, saying that she had nothing to do with the child's murder. Investigators apparently found no evidence tying the woman to the Anthony family.

After a highly-publicized investigation, Florida law enforcement officials zeroed in on Casey Anthony. Media outlets speculated widely due to the tragic notion of a young mother killing her toddler; the case was sensationalized by the fact that photos surfaced of Casey partying in the days after her daughter's disappearance. Ultimately, after extensive searching, law enforcement officials located the little girl's remains near the Anthony family's home last December after receiving a tip from a concerned member of the community. Casey Anthony has been charged with the first-degree murder of Caylee, says Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer Moore.

Additional documents to be used as evidence against Casey Anthony were recently released to the public. Among them is a photograph of Casey Anthony's back, featuring a tattoo on her left shoulder that reads 'Bella Vita'. The phrase translates from Italian to 'beautiful life'. Prosecutors may be theorizing that the tattoo refers to Caylee's life, but it is not clear when her mother got the tattoo or to whom or what it refers. Other additional evidence includes a shovel Casey Anthony borrowed from a neighbor near the time of her daughter's disappearance and apparent death, as well as duct tape found at the scene where law enforcement officers located the toddler's remains.

If convicted of first-degree murder in Florida, Casey Anthony could face the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, notes Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer Moore. Prosecutors have stated that they intend to seek the death penalty. The trial has been delayed significantly since Caylee Anthony's remains were located; in a fairly unusual step, her mother was charged with murder before the police had found a body.

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Lawyer -- Additional Documents in the Casey Anthony Case Made Public " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

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http://www.wmdui.com/Adonis Losada is a 45-year-old actor who is most well-known in the Latino community for his role on a popular Spanish language show that airs on Univision. Sábado Gigante is the show in which Losada assumes the role of an older female, Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore has learned.

According to police, Losada entered a chat room for older men who are interested in viewing child pornography, in this case, images of pre-pubescent children, and having sex with underage children. A law enforcement agency was conducting a sting. A Boynton Beach police officer began chatting with Losada, who discussed pornographic images of children with the police officer, officials say.

At some point, Losada allegedly sent the police officer an image of a child engaged in a sex act, says Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore. Eventually, Losada’s residences were searched. Losada is being held in lieu of a $3 million bond and is now facing 30 counts of child pornography charges. The State Attorney’s Office has described the photos as “extremely graphic.” They allegedly involve images of children in sex acts or sexual situations, Palm Beach criminal lawyer Moore says. According to prosecutors, some images involve children as young as two years of age, and at least one has been described as an explicit photo of a child no older than ten engaged in a sex act with an adult male.

Univision has suspended Losada from his duties at this point and that they are awaiting the outcome of the investigation. Additionally, law enforcement authorities are pursuing an investigation in California on the basis that Losada has or may have possession of pornographic images of children in his home on the west coast. When law enforcement officers searched Losada’s house in Miami Beach, they recovered a number of such images of children, according to documents filed in court in relation to the criminal case now pending against him. The documents also allege that Losada made incriminating statements: he reportedly told police that he is aware that he has an issue related to his interest in children.

Continue reading " Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer -- Univision Star Arrested on Child Pornography Charges " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Abuse

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A Boynton Beach area man found out the hard way that trusting people you meet online may not be the smartest strategy when making friends, says Broward criminal attorney William Moore. The Palm Beach County man, who is described as being in either his late teens or early twenties, met a woman on the popular social networking site MySpace. The pair chatted for awhile, according to Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore, who has read about the case and cites it as an example of the need for caution in the era of technology.

The two exchanged phone numbers and he called the woman to continue their conversation or to make offline plans. Apparently interested in the woman, he agreed to her request that he come over and pick her up. Once there, the pair drove around for awhile. She then asked if they could pick up her friend, too. The man agreed, driving to the location of the woman’s friend. Once the three were all back in the car, the man had driven only a short distance when their new passenger pulled a handgun on him.

Broward criminal lawyer Moore says that what happens next is unfortunate. The man was lulled into a false sense of security and was probably hopeful about his relationship with the woman. He believed that they would be returning to the woman’s home after he had dropped off her friend at another location. All along, however, the meeting appears to have been a scam designed to pan out into an armed robbery. Once the friend had pulled the gun on the driver, additional acquaintances swarmed the car, assisting the passenger in taking the man’s wallet, car keys, and even his pants. The victim fled and contacted the police.

Fortunately, the robbers did not actually take his car. The pants-less victim returned with law enforcement officials to find his car still present at the scene, although he could not drive it because he no longer had possession of his car keys. As a result, the vehicle was towed. A law enforcement officer warned, “Be careful. If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably not true…People meet on MySpace and think 'I'm gonna get the hook up' and they sure do, but not the hook up they were expecting.” The safest route is to meet potential dates or friends from the internet in a public place to avoid being victimized.

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Theft

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Criminal activity takes many forms, says Broward County criminal lawyer William Moore. It therefore is motivated by a number of factors. In his experience, Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney says that the variety of motivating factors is broad and notes, of course, that not all people accused of a crime are guilty -- the presumption of innocence is a vital component of the American justice system.

One issue is simply ignorance or even a mistake. Ignorance of the law is, unfortunately for clueless criminals, never a defense to violating the law. The type of crime that could occur involving lack of awareness of the law could be white collar, such as tax errors. Undersized lobster fishing is an ongoing hot button issue among fish and wildlife groups in Florida. Fishing an undersized lobster (one not large enough to reproduce) is a criminal violation in this state, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore. Therefore, if a law enforcement officer stops a fishing boat and measures the lobsters caught by the revelers or fisherman on board, anyone who caught a too-small lobster may be charged with a misdemeanor -- even out-of-staters from landlocked areas in which undersized lobster fishing is not an issue who are unaware of the Florida law.

The desire to have something is another motivator. For example, a woman who spies a pair of pretty but expensive earrings cannot afford them. She has recently been laid off and is under a lot of stress due to her precarious financial situation. She wants the earrings, so she quickly stashes them in her bag when the sales clerk is facing the other way, attending to a different customer.

Anger is a third motivating factor, often behind violent crimes such as domestic battery or simple assault and battery, says Broward criminal defense attorney Moore. A man who is angry with his wife, over his job, at his disciplinary problems with his child, and/or other factors may lash out and hit someone, especially if he is under the influence of drugs and alcohol. Substance abuse is another factor that motivates many people to commit crimes, frequently from the defendant's urgent need to fund the addiction. Unfortunately, this type of behavior can lead to theft, even from family members, all the way to armed robbery and burglary.

Continue reading " What Causes Criminal Behavior? A Discussion About Motivation " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Legal System

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An investigation by the Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel has revealed that despite a state law requiring background checks of workers at the child care centers, flaws in the systems have allowed thousands of people with criminal records, including violent felonies, to be hired by day care centers throughout the state, Broward criminal attorney Moore has learned.

Even though a Florida state law passed in 1985 requires all employees who have been hired by day care centers in the state to undergo background checks, people who have prior criminal records have fallen through the cracks of the systems due to two loopholes in the law. The first loophole allows employees to begin working at day care centers while their background checks are pending, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore. The length of a person’s background check depends largely on the manner in which the person’s fingerprints have been submitted. Though digital fingerprints can be processed by the state within 24 hours, in cases where the potential employee has inked his or her own fingerprints and sent the fingerprints by mail to the Department of Children and Families, the wait for completion of the background check can take up to six weeks. Officials estimate that approximately half of criminal background applicants submit their applications for a criminal background check using traditional, non-digital fingerprints, Broward criminal lawyer Moore has learned from the results of the investigation. In addition to the wait during the processing period, backlogs at regional DCF offices can add up to an additional two month period in processing the applicant’s criminal background checks. These delays can mean that convicted criminals, including felons and people who have committed crimes against children, can remain working at child care facilities for months while their applications are pending.

The second loophole in the law requiring background checks for day care workers is a provision allowing employees with criminal histories to apply for a hardship exception which allows them to continue working at the day care center despite a criminal record. These exceptions are not available for other state jobs that require background checks, such as school teachers and bail bondsmen. One woman was granted an exemption by an administrative judge despite prior convictions for battery and child abuse. Seven months after she earned her exemption she was charged with trafficking in pain pills, says Broward criminal lawyer Moore. Her boyfriend at the time was charged with trafficking in cocaine and ecstasy. Additionally, state officials have cited many local day care centers with non-compliance with the background check requirements set forth in state law. As a result of these flaws in the background check system there have been several violations where children at day care centers were improperly supervised by employees with criminal records. For example, a young boy in Ocala nearly died after being left in a van by a day care employee with a lengthy theft record and a baby suffered severe burns in Lauderhill while being supervised by a woman on felony probation. DCF officials claim that they are working on fixing the state’s system for checking the backgrounds of day care employees.

“Common sense says there is no substitute for putting children in anything but a safe environment," said Linda Alexionok, executive director of the Children's Campaign, a child-advocacy group in Tallahassee. "No parent should ever, ever have to be worried about that."

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney—Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel Investigation Reveals Serious Flaws in the State’s Background Check System for Day Care Workers " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Child Abuse

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