Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

The terms attorney-client privilege and attorney-client confidentiality are sometimes used interchangeably, notes Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore, but in fact have very different meanings. Privilege, between clients and their attorneys or in other protected relationships, is the criminal defendant’s right not to have that person testify regarding their conversations. Confidentiality, on the other hand, refers to an attorney’s obligation not to reveal the details of the private conversations he has with his clients. Both confidentiality and privilege can be broken in very limited circumstances. Privilege may be waived by a client, for example, according to Broward criminal attorney Moore. Confidentiality may not apply where a client discloses to his attorney his plans to commit FUTURE crimes or fraud, where the attorney may need to act in order to protect, for example, someone’s personal safety. If a client calls his attorney and informs him that he is on his way to his ex-wife’s house to kill her, the attorney can and should notify law enforcement immediately in order to protect the woman. However, if a client hires a defense attorney and describes to him how he committed the crime for which he has been charged, confidentiality applies, says Broward criminal lawyer Moore. Attorneys must also abide by ethical rules that prevent their participation in or furtherance of clients’ criminal or fraudulent activities.

Privilege applies to some other relationships, as well. In some circumstances, one spouse may be able to prevent the other from testifying at a trial. The Florida rule states: “spouse has a privilege during and after the marital relationship to refuse to disclose, and to prevent another from disclosing, communications which were intended to be made in confidence between the spouses while they were husband and wife.” This means that even if the couple later divorced, the contents of the private conversations they had while married cannot be elicited from the other spouse in the courtroom.

Confidential communications between a parishioner and his clergyman (or rabbi or other spiritual advisor) are also privileged, so long as the conversations were private. Accountant-client privilege also exists Private conversations with a psychotherapist, even regarding alcoholism or other addiction problems, are privileged, although it is limited in circumstances where the patient may require hospitalization or be a threat to his own safety or the safety of others. Conversations with domestic violence or sexual assault counselors, provided they meet minimum qualification standards, are also subject to privilege.

Continue reading " Fort Lauderdale Criminal Lawyer: Privileges in Court and Confidentiality " »

According to Broward criminal lawyer William Moore, Juveniles are consistently treated differently than adults by our criminal justice system. Offenses alleged to have been committed by juveniles are labeled as “deliquent” acts, rather than criminal acts, in Florida and in many other states. Juveniles are not entitled to jury trials, unlike adults, but may be sentenced to probation or confinement in a secure juvenile program depending on the offense, the child’s prior record, and other factors. Children still have the right to a trial, but only before a judge. Diversionary programs, including community service and drug court, are sometimes available to juveniles who have been arrested in lieu of going to trial or accepting a plea deal, states Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore.

Direct file is the exception to the deliquency system. In certain cases, a prosecutor may file the charge directly in the adult criminal court rather than in the juvenile court. This procedure is generally reserved for juveniles who have very serious prior records, who have previously been placed in intensive juvenile programs, who are older teenagers, or who are accused of committing particularly serious acts, such as murder, according to Broward criminal attorney Moore.

The police must treat juveniles differently in some respects than they treat adults. When they are taken into custody, juveniles have to be held separately from adult defendants. Notice must be provided to the child’s parents and the child, if he or she is going to be held in custody, will be transported to the detention facility operated by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. In many cases, the child will be released on a monitoring program, but will have to abide by certain rules. For example, a teenager may be given an 8:00 p.m. curfew. If the state holds the juvenile in custody, the child has the opportunity to appear before a judge within 24 hours of arrest. In the event that the judge orders the child to remain in custody, the juvenile will be detained in a secure detention facility with other minors pending resolution of the case. Many juveniles will opt for a trial, which is usually faster than criminal court trials, in part because there is no jury. The juvenile can testify and can call other witnesses in his or her defense, and is entitled to discovery -- the evidence the state intends to use against the juvenile at trial.

Continue reading " Broward Criminal Attorney on Juvenile Justice Issues " »

Fingerprint technology has come a long way since the days when detectives had to wait months for laboratories to return fingerprint comparisons from crime scenes. From a criminal defense standpoint, the lack in immediate forensic results by way of fingerprinting acted as a double edge sword depending on the results of the analysis and whether or not such evidence would be available at trial.

Criminal defense attorneys remind us that it wasn't unheard of for fingerprint comparisons to arrive after criminals had been arrested, tried, and convicted based on evidence other than their fingerprints.

Sometimes, defendants in Broward County criminal cases had actually served their time in jail when detectives received a positive match from the labs. It was a very slow and tedious process to examine individual fingerprints and then compare them to hundreds of possible suspects.

Today, in Broward County Florida, fingerprinting has moved into the world of computer technology. With the 1999 inception of the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), prints can be compared to a database of thousands of fingerprints in mere seconds. Now, it's possible for investigators to learn the identity of a criminal suspect on the same night he committed a crime, possibly preventing him from continuing a potentially dangerous crime spree. Such immediate data also assists in eliminating potential suspects and effectively prevents the arresting of innocent Broward County citizens.

According to Broward criminal lawyer William Moore, the corruption of prison guards has been a problem since modern prisons were developed (and probably before that -- it is not hard to imagine the keeper of the king’s prisoners accepting bribes in exchange for certain favors for the prisoner). Guards are individuals charged with difficult, stressful jobs who are paid relatively little for their services. They must maintain order in the prison among an unhappy group of people, most of whom have serious criminal history and many of whom may have affiliations with gangs, notes Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore.

Prison guards have access to the outside world and are the only people besides other prisoners that the inmates see and speak to on a daily basis. Some inmates have access to significant funds outside of the walls of the prison. Others have contacts -- other gang members, girlfriends or wives, friends, or others who have some motivation to help the detained person, says Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore. Sometimes, the inmates have a drug addiction they need to feed. Other times, they want drugs to numb the boredom and general experience of prison. Having outside contacts capable of introducing contraband into the prison may also bring with it a level of prestige within the inmate hierarchy.

Few prison guards ever accept money in exchange for bringing contraband -- drugs, cell phones, or other items -- into the prisons. However, a small number do. Last year, numerous former guards at Glade Correctional Institute were caught in a corruption probe directed by the FBI. Inmates had complained that the prison was corrupt and that it was possible to obtain anything with the assistance of guards. Six employees were charged by the state with conspiracy, introducing contraband into a prison, and bribery. Sixteen individuals, of whom 11 were prison guards, also pleaded guilty to federal cocaine charges related to a cocaine trafficking ring running from Miami to the Glades institution.

Harrun Majeed is a local college student, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer William Moore. Majeed is also a veteran of the armed services. He ended up in the news this week as the sympathetic victim of an alleged theft by a man from Michigan.

Majeed apparently dropped his credit card in a parking lot at a local Florida mall by accident. He realized his mistake and, to be safe, called the bank to have the card canceled to prevent its unauthorized use, in what turned out to be a smart move, notes Broward criminal lawyer Moore. Unfortunately, the credit card company informed him of some bad news: the card had already been used at a restaurant inside the mall where he thought he had lost it.

The fast-acting college student called the police department, which dispatched two sheriff’s deputies to the location to assess the situation, says Broward criminal attorney Moore. The deputies entered the restaurant and apprehended Richard Lewis Ludwig, a 54-year-old dentist from Michigan who was visiting the Sunshine State for his child’s sports tournament. Ludwig was waiting on two large pizzas with olives, a bill that totaled $40.64.

The story gets stranger: Ludwig was allegedly also found with several hundred dollars in cash on his person and told deputies that he was “absolutely not” hurting for money. In fact, the dentist informed the law enforcement officials that he is actually a millionaire, and estimated his net worth at up to four million dollars. The facts make the allegations against him seem odd.

Ludwig is now facing multiple criminal charges in Florida. He has been charged with credit card theft, impersonation, and attempting to use another person’s identity without permission. The case has been picked up by the national media.

Ludwig, like all individuals who have been arrested, has the presumption of innocence until and unless he is proven guilty. Periodically, cases in which a person who appears to be well-to-do is caught engaging in petit theft, such as shoplifting, capture the public interest.

Credit card theft has become an increasingly bigger problem, despite enhanced security safeguards. Even a debit card, which usually requires the user to enter a PIN, can be processed as a credit card and only require a signature. Few store clerks request ID or even compare the signature on the back of the card to the one provided, especially as most are now processed electronically. Online purchases often require the user to provide the full billing address, rendering use by a stranger nearly impossible in that situation. An exception might be if the entire wallet were stolen, in which case the owner's driver's license likely contains identifying information. Still, credit card security continues to evolve, and by some reports, payment by cell phone may be widespread within just a few years.