Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

Motions to vacate plea agreements are an increasingly common option in a Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney’s toolbox. Plea agreements allow a criminal defendant to plead guilty or, in some instances, no contest to allow him or her to accept a set punishment and avoid a trial by a jury or judge. Plea agreements are often favorable because they can guarantee a smaller amount of time (or no time whatsoever) in jail, notes Broward criminal attorney Moore.

A subsequent motion to vacate the previous plea agreement can occur for a number of reasons. Most commonly, a criminal defendant is not advised of possible direct or collateral consequences of taking the plea agreement. There is also the possibility that the defendant is not fit to accept a plea agreement; if he or she is under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time the parties entered into the plea, for example, the defendant may be rendered unable to agree to its terms, according to Broward criminal lawyer Moore.

Other problems can occur when the criminal defendant is unaware of potential consequences, such as a convicted felon who will then lose the right to own firearms and other types of weapons. Felons also lose the right to vote.

Immigration consequences are another important reason why a person may want to vacate a prior plea and conviction. If the defendant was not a U.S. citizen and was not advised of the possibility of deportation associated with many pleas (such as domestic violence, theft, drugs, and numerous other charges).

An experienced Broward criminal attorney can explain, in relation to the facts of your particular case, the merits of vacating a prior plea agreement and the resultant conviction. A clean or relatively uneventful post-conviction record makes it more likely that the motion will be granted, although constitutional deficiencies during the plea process should generally result in the vacating of the plea. Even so, the prosecution may still go forward with the case. Sometimes, however, due to the passage of time, the State Attorney’s Office may elect to nolle prosse (dismiss) the charge.

Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney, William Moore, claims that many Floridians mistakenly believe that criminal defendants convicted of serious crimes will serve only a short period of time in prison before being released on parole. This misunderstanding may be due to the lenient parole systems in other states or the way parole worked many years ago. They may also hear of notorious criminals being released on parole after rehabilitation during decades in prison, says Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney William Moore. In any case, the parole system in Florida emphasizes the importance of serving the vast majority of a sentence behind bars.

If a defendant is convicted and sentenced to a prison sentence for a crime that occurred on or after October 1, 1995, according to Broward criminal attorney Moore. He must serve no less than 85 percent of the sentence before being eligible for parole. That means, for example, that a person convicted of burglary who is sentenced to ten years in prison must serve a minimum of eight and a half years. Likewise, a person convicted of sexual battery who is sentenced to 15 years must serve at least 12.8 years before being eligible to go before the parole board.

The calculations do not apply to absolutely every sentence, however, and the most notable exception is life imprisonment. A person who has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole cannot thereafter be paroled in the state of Florida. There is a separate sentence for life with the possibility of parole, which is the sentence approximately six percent of Florida inmates are currently serving, compared to five percent without the possibility of parole.

The Florida law has resulted in an increase in the percentage of a sentence that the average inmate serves in the state. In 2001, the average percentage served was 82.4 percent, reflecting a fair number of inmates whose convictions were for crimes committed before the cutoff date. By 2005, the figure had increased to 85.7 percent. Parole remains infrequent: in 2005, of all of the prisoners released, just 0.2 percent were paroled, or one of every 500 released.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Attorney, William Moore, talks about Parole and Probation " »

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.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Talks Crime Statistics" »

Broward criminal attorney William Moore has been researching the prominent criminal cases Judge Sonia Sotomayor, who was nominated yesterday by President Obama to serve as Justice Souter’s replacement on the United States Supreme Court, has ruled on in her years as a federal judge in the Southern District of New York and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Although Judge Sotomayor is perhaps best known for her ruling in the 1994 Major League Baseball strike, she has also decided several important criminal cases.

Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore is particularly interested in her record on search and seizure issues. She held that a New York City ordinance which impounded the vehicles driven by people who were suspected of driving under the influence was unconstitutional, because it did not allow a procedure to challenge the impoundment – even after many months had elapsed and even when the charges had been reduced.

Judge Sotomayor dissented from the majority in a case dealing with the use of strip searches. Teenaged girls who were being held in a juvenile detention center were subjected to strip searches without cause. Although Judge Sotomayor found that some of the strip searches were conducted constitutionally, only those that were conducted with “individualized suspicion” were legal. Individualized suspicion is the concept that the authorities must have a reason to believe that particular person was engaged in wrongdoing. Therefore, the juvenile detention center could not conduct strip searches of the adolescent girls when there was no reason to have individualized suspicion with regards to some of the girls strip searched.

On a different type of search case, Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney notes that Judge Sotomayor also supported the concept of individualized suspicion when conducting a search. In that case, an employee of the federal Department of Transportation was suspected of “work-related misconduct.” Therefore, the agency conducted a search of his office computer. The employee was subsequently fired based on the information found in the search.

Sotomayor, if confirmed by the Senate, will be the first Latina and only the third woman to ever sit on the Supreme Court. Her confirmation hearings are expected to occur this summer, in advance of the next Supreme Court session, which begins in October. Sotomayor grew up in the housing projects of the Bronx and, despite her Ivy League education, is considered to have a different background than any of the current Justices.

Continue reading "Broward Criminal Attorney: Sotomayor and Criminal Law" »

The death penalty remains a hot button topic for Americans, says Broward criminal lawyer William Moore. Although the United States is the only industrialized nation that uses capital punishment, many Americans favor its use for homicide or child sex crimes. A recent movement to allow states to re-institute the death penalty for child rapists failed after the state of Louisiana took the case to the Supreme Court last year. Interestingly, the Supreme Court overturned capital punishment for child sex offenses on a vote of five to four. The Court found that execution for rape was a disproportionate punishment in 1977. Although the victim in that case was actually only 16 years old, the case stood for the legal principle that the government cannot execute rapists whose victims are adults.

Figures for executions vary widely between regions of the United States, reflecting local opinion, says Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore. Currently the United States military, the federal government, and 38 states allow for capital punishment. According to 2006 figures, the South represents the vast majority of executions, with 841 since 1976. The Midwest trailed in second at 119, with the West at 65. The Northeast part of the country has executed just four people in that time frame. In 2004 alone, 125 people were sentenced to death in the United States. Sixty people were actually executed in 2005 with well over 1,000 executed in total since 1976. The vast majority of those executed were male; very few women are actually executed and less than 1.5 percent of the total inmates on death row nationally are female. Florida has only executed two women ever, although many more had their sentences commuted. Currently just one woman sits of Florida’s death row, compared to approximately 400 men. Florida has the third-highest number of death row inmates, behind California and Texas.

Canada, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, most European nations, and a number of other countries have abolished capital punishment for all offenses, notes Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney William Moore. In all, 92 countries have abolished it entirely. Thirty-two nations, a significantly smaller portion, have retained the death penalty, but it is not in active use or has not been used in at least the last decade. Russia is the largest country that keeps it available legally but does not actively use it. Ten countries, including Brazil and several other South American nations, have retained the death penalty, but use it only under special circumstances, such as war crimes. The United States is one of 64 countries that retains its use entirely.

China executes far more people than any other country, says criminal defense lawyer Moore. Next are Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and then the United States. Iraq executes slightly fewer people than the U.S. does.

A video on the Louisiana governor’s response to the decision that child rapists cannot be executed:

Continue reading "A Comparative Discussion of Capital Punishment" »

Palm Beach criminal attorney William Moore commends the United States Supreme Court for their just ruling issued yesterday in Chambers vs. United States. Deondery Chambers was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in Illinois. Previously, Chambers had completed sentences for aggravated robbery, battery, and selling drugs within the vicinity of public housing. He had also been convicted of escape – an offense which, by most definitions, does not include failing to report to prison, which was his actual offense. Chambers pleaded guilty to one count of felon in possession of a gun. Palm Beach criminal lawyer William Moore always counsels clients about all of their rights, including the right to go to trial, before pursuing plea deals on their behalf. Plea deals should only be entered into after consultation with a criminal defense attorney and careful thought on the matter, including ramifications for current probationary status and immigration.

Unfortunately, the trial judge enhanced Chambers’s sentence for the felon in possession of a firearm charged based on his prior record. Chambers was sentenced to 188 months in jail, or close to 16 years. When evaluating the prior record, the judge treated the failure to report to prison charge as an escape, as required by existing law. Any form of escape is classified as a violent offense for purposes of sentencing enhancement. Chambers failed to report for a weekend stint in the jail, as he was permitted to be out during the week.

West Palm Beach criminal defense lawyer William Moore has observed the troubling trends in interpreting “career criminal” legislation, like the kind that increased Chambers’s sentence in this case. The sentence was increased in accordance with the Federal Armed Career Criminal Act. Chambers’s criminal defense lawyer contended that the escape charge was not a true escape from law enforcement and thus not a violent crime. The Department of Justice claimed that “an aversion to penal justice” such as a failure to report to prison is tantamount to escaping from prison.

The United States Supreme Court, in a decision heralded by Chambers’s criminal defense lawyer, unanimously sided with Chambers. Although the justices had different reasons for reaching the same conclusion, the lower court will have to reduce the 188 month sentence substantially.

The Federal Armed Career Criminal Act requires harsh sentencing for all felons convicted of being in illegal possession of a firearm where the felon has three previous convictions for violent felonies. In Chambers’s case, if the failure to report to prison charge is not a violent felony, he should not face the hefty prison sentences required by the law. The Federal Armed Career Criminal Act mandates prison terms of 15 years to life imprisonment for felons in possession of firearms.

Continue reading "Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer – Supreme Court Limits Definition of ‘Violent Felonies’" »

Every state has developed a mechanism to try juvenile offenders on adult charges. According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, 3.7% of juvenile offenders in the state were transferred to adult criminal court. While that sounds like a small percentage, it has risen substantially in the past couple of years. Florida criminal defense attorneys have noticed a steady rise in the number of juveniles arrested and then certified as adults. Last year, 3,408 different juveniles faced adult charges in the state of Florida.

Broward County criminal attorneys know that trying teens as adults used to be uncommon, but after a spike in violent youth crime in the late 1980s and early 1990s, states scrambled to find ways to implement harsher sentencing for the youngest offenders. The mantra “adult time for adult crimes” resonated, especially as more school shootings occurred. Arkansans were horrified when an 11-year-old and 13-year-old stormed their Jonesboro middle school with guns in 1998, killing five – especially when it became apparent that the state could not hold them beyond age 21. This concern was not unwarranted. Shortly after he was released, the public learned that the Mitchell Johnson, the older boy, was sharing an apartment with another notorious Arkansas juvenile murderer. The school shooters can even legally buy guns if they so choose. Arkansas now has a law which allows for combined juvenile and adult sentencing for very serious crimes committed by young people.

When a juvenile is arrested for a crime, it triggers delinquency proceedings. Delinquency is the juvenile equivalent of criminal. The prosecutor may decide to file adult charges instead of juvenile. The prosecutor will weigh the severity of the crime and the child’s age when making that decision. The juvenile will receive a waiver hearing, where a judge will determine if it is in fact appropriate for the juvenile to face adult charges. The juvenile’s criminal defense attorney will typically argue to keep the case in juvenile court. If the juvenile is tried and convicted in adult criminal court, the judge will take into account the youth of the offender when determining sentencing.

Continue reading "Broward County Criminal Defense Attorney: Juvenile Justice in Florida " »

When I heard about this, I silently laughed to myself. Keep in mind that the inmate uniforms were issued by the department of corrections. If enough delay was caused by this, it would be interesting to see if criminal defense attorneys might be able to file some appropriate motions on behalf of their clients (i.e. right to speedy trial, due process).

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Florida - Friday, September 12, 2008 – Circuit Judge Daniel Perry sent 71 inmates out of the courtroom on Wednesday. Thursday, he sent 39 more out. Seems these people like to wear their pants with their butts showing, but Judge Perry will have no showing off of the butt in his domain. Wearing the pants low seems to be all the rage among the younger set in Tampa. A source in Tampa has been in and out of the courthouse thousands of times over the past four or five years, and has seen people walking to the courtroom with their pants hanging down. She’s often wondered what the world was coming to, allowing saggy pants – which look very sloppy – in the courtroom.

Now it seems that inmates have figured out a way to get saggy pants. According to Bay News 9, officials with the sheriff’s office said some deputies issued some inmates uniforms that are too big. They will be rectifying the problem by making sure all the inmates get uniforms that fit properly.

Judges in Broward, Dade and Palm Beach County have been known to excuse defendants from a courtroom when not dressed appropriately, however, not when the clothes were issued by the department.

For more information about this article, contact criminal defense lawyer, William Moore.