Florida Criminal Lawyer Blog

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

Bookmark:

Broward County and Sunrise law enforcement officers are investigating the shooting deaths of three members of a Sunrise family who were killed this weekend and found dead in their home last Sunday. Police officials mentioned murder-suicide as a possibility publicly earlier in the week, but have also stated that they are still investigating and cannot be sure about the cause of the deaths at this point in time, says Broward criminal attorney William Moore. Though the investigating law enforcement agencies have not released the names of the deceased individuals, a family friend has identified them as 35-year-old Quincy Kelly, his 32-year-old wife Lisa Kelly, and their 12-year-old daughter Soroya, who was a student at the Westpine Middle School.

Police discovered the bodies of the family members this Sunday after responding to a domestic disturbance phone call on Northwest 21st Street in Sunrise, Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore has learned. Relatives of the family members approached police officials and directed them to a locked rear bedroom. When they got to the room, police officials breached the door and discovered the bodies. It is still unknown who called the police to respond to the residence and how the family members on the scene were involved. Family friend Glen Mitchell told reporters that Quincy Kelly’s mother, Fay Kelly, and his aunt, whose name he did not know, also lived at the house with the other family members. It is unknown if these family members were the same individuals who were present when police officials responded to the scene. Mitchell mentioned that Fay Kelly and Quincy Kelly’s aunt were too shaken from the incident to speak with reporters. The news of the family members’ deaths shocked the parishioners at the Lauderdale Lakes church they attended, the Church of Atonement, Fort Lauderdale criminal lawyer Moore has learned. In the middle of this Sunday’s church service Pastor Earl Henry delivered the bad news to church members after being handed a note.

Kelly and his wife were Jamaica natives, as are a number of the members of the Church of Atonement. Glen Mitchell told reporters that he and other church members got up and left the service immediately upon hearing the news due to shock. Mitchell stated that Quincy Kelly was a very happy and humorous person and that the news took him by surprise. The Kelly family’s neighbor, Veronica Chester, also expressed her shock at the deaths, stating that “you would never expect this in our neighborhood.”

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney: Police Investigate the Deaths of Three Sunrise Family Members" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Broward criminal attorney finds it interesting how the media and the general public fixate on certain crimes, while many more go unnoticed and, in many cases, unsolved and unpunished. In the 1990s, several high-profile cases captured the attention of the masses, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the death of JonBenét Ramsey. Fort Lauderdale attorney Moore believes that those cases received the kind of media attention that Casey Anthony has been receiving over the past months.

JonBenét Ramsey was a little girl who lived with her family in Boulder, Colorado. Born in 1990, she became a star in the beauty pageants for her age group. JonBenét was reported missing on December 26, 1996, after her mother Patsy apparently found a ransom note in the family’s home. The note demanded $118,000 for the child’s safe return. The figure was the same amount as a bonus John Ramsey, JonBenét’s father, had received from his job. When police and family members were searching the home hours later, John Ramsey found his daughter’s body underneath a blanket in the basement.

The police allowed the Ramseys’ friends and family members in and out of the home for hours after it was determined to be the scene of a crime, a move that has earned the Boulder police department significant criticism about their failure to protect the integrity of any evidence. The investigation focused early on the Ramseys, which also possibly prevented the appropriate gathering of evidence at the time. At least some investigators believed from the beginning that the Ramseys were responsible for their daughter’s murder, even developing the theory that her mother had killed her after becoming enraged that the little girl had wet the bed.

Years later, the Ramseys are no longer suspects. Patsy Ramsey has died and the District Attorney notified John Ramsey last year that she was “deeply sorry” for the scrutiny and harm they had endured. New evidence, particularly DNA found on JonBenét’s clothing items years after the initial crime, has completely cleared the Ramseys and they are no longer considered to be suspects in the murder.

Unfortunately, Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney Moore says that many crimes are never solved. The shoddy police work that occurred in the Ramsey case can happen when investigators prematurely hone in on a potential perpetrator, which can lead to the failure to observe or preserve contrary evidence – evidence which could not only lead to the real perpetrator, but also exonerate another suspect.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney – JonBenét Ramsey Flashback" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Broward criminal lawyer William Moore has been following the Casey Anthony saga since it began last summer. A little girl, Caylee Anthony, was not quite three years old when she disappeared. The girl’s grandmother reported her missing in July after she could not extricate information about Caylee’s whereabouts from her daughter Casey.

For months, the news media has reported on this story. Casey was arrested in connection with Caylee’s disappearance in October. She was charged with the first-degree murder of her daughter. Making the case more problematic for the prosecution, however, was the fact that Caylee’s body had not been located. According to Broward criminal attorney Moore, not have her remains makes it more difficult to prove that she is even dead. Additionally, it makes forensic research difficult for detectives and the state’s expert witnesses. The information found on or near human remains can lead to a conviction – or an exoneration – in murder cases.

Caylee Anthony’s remains were eventually located very near to the Anthonys’ home in December. Casey Anthony maintains that she left her daughter with a baby-sitter by the name of Zenaida Gonzalez and that she had not seen the girl since. Gonzalez has filed a civil lawsuit against Casey Anthony for defamation, saying that the accusations “ruined” her entire life. She says she has never met Casey Anthony or Caylee and that she certainly was not entrusted with the toddler to care for her.

Initially, the State Attorney’s Office indicated that it would not seek capital punishment for the murder of Caylee Anthony. However, that was shortly before Caylee’s remains were found. Now, prosecutors have backtracked from their earlier position: they stated this week that they will seek the death penalty for Anthony.

The news comes as a surprise to many familiar with the case. Few women ever face the death penalty in the United States, making Casey Anthony’s case unusual and even more likely to attract media attention. Prosecutors say the death penalty is necessary. In a filing with the court, they stated that the “aggravating circumstances” of Caylee’s death make the death penalty a more viable option.

Bob Jarvis, a professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, believes prosecutors may be pushing for the death penalty for leverage. Anthony has been unwilling to plead guilty. He believes that even if she is convicted by a jury, they will not be inclined to execute her. "We don't execute women in Florida. Juries find it very difficult to send young women to death row," Jarvis said.

Continue reading "Follow Up: Death Penalty Sought for Casey Anthony" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Broward criminal attorney William Moore has learned that four people are facing charges following a murder in Lauderdale Lakes. Henry Mancilla, who was 24 years old, was shot to death after being caught in the crossfire between a friend of Mancilla’s and another man. The incident apparently arose due to another man’s jealousy over a former girlfriend.

Broward criminal defense lawyer Moore, who follows local crime closely, knows that bullets frequently have unintended victims and unintended consequences. In this case, Mancilla was killed while sticking up for a friend, according to the police report. Mancilla intended to marry soon and he was the father of a three-year-old boy. He had recently relocated to south Florida. "He was a loving brother, a loving son, a loving father. He passed away being there for one of his friends," Alonso Mancilla, 21, the younger brother of Henry Mancilla said.

Angel Luis Cruz, 24, of Lauderdale Lakes; Peter Jacob MacDonald, 18, of Hollywood; Lernio Colin, 19, of Royal Palm Beach; and Cruz’s brother Christopher Thomas Harter, 29, who resides in Oregon, have been arrested in connection with the fatal shooting. The charges are murder and attempted murder.

According to the police report, Mancilla and his friends had a bout of trouble with the four men who were later arrested. The men allegedly “jumped” them, but they were able to escape. Later, those men confronted them again, this time heavily armed. The confrontation came after one of Mancilla’s friends exchanged heated text messages with one of the perpetrators. The men knew each other prior to the crime. Altogether, between six and eight shots were fired. One of the bullets struck Mancilla fatally in the chest. The defendants were allegedly armed with a baseball bat and a walking stick in addition to at least one gun. Cruz’s former girlfriend was the woman at issue in the dispute, but it is not clear which of Mancilla’s friends was the actual target.

In another tragic headline, Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney Moore reports that the Broward County Sheriff’s Office is investigating a Deerfield Beach incident. So far, they believe that Francisco Dacunha, 68, and an unidentified woman died in a murder-suicide at Dacunha’s apartment on April 18 or 19. Law enforcement officials recovered a weapon alongside the bodies. The police received a 911 call requesting that they check on Dacunha. The responding police officer peered through the apartment window and saw blood. Police officers forced entry into the apartment, only to discover the pair already dead.

Continue reading "Fort Lauderdale Criminal Lawyer: Murders Frighten Local Residents" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Broward criminal lawyer William Moore’s clients are always informed about the private nature of their conversations with him. Attorney-client privilege or confidentiality has two components. First, there is the confidential nature of conversations between a client and his Broward criminal lawyer. The criminal defense attorney cannot share information that the client tells him in the talks that they have privately or with only necessary legal office staff present without the client’s permission. Generally, a Fort Lauderdale criminal attorney will only have reason to disclose that information insofar as it is necessary to build his client’s case. For instance, Broward criminal attorney William Moore’s client X is accused of robbing Y at 9:00 p.m. on the corner of L and M Streets. However, X says that there is no way he could have been the robber, because he was with his pal T at that time. In most cases, X would give his criminal defense lawyer permission to contact T to verify the alibi. The Broward defense lawyer could not call up his friend Q to tell him about the all of the juicy stuff X said for his own entertainment.
(Fort Lauderdale Criminal Lawyer Source)

The second kind of attorney-client privilege is related to evidence in court. A lawyer who currently represents or formerly represented a client cannot testify against that client in court without the client’s express permission. Only the client can waive the privilege, not the attorney.

The main loophole in attorney-client confidentiality is known as the crime-fraud exception. If a Broward criminal lawyer’s client told him of her plans to blow up Dolphin Stadium when the Patriots come to town, the lawyer can and should disclose that information to prevent the commission of the crime. Information a client tells her lawyer about crimes or fraud she plans to perpetrate in the future are not confidential, although past misdeeds are. A criminal defense lawyer should always avoid having their advice used to formulate future crimes.

The issue of lawyer-client confidentiality is in the spotlight right now in a murder case in Broward County. An inmate charged with murder made calls to his attorney from the Broward jail, which were recorded and subsequently sent to prosecutors, who listened to the tape. Now, the criminal defense attorney and the prosecutors are fighting in court about whether or not the murder trial should continue. The defendant’s lawyer says that the two discussed legal strategy and that the defendant is too prejudiced by this development for the trial to continue. Meanwhile, the prosecutors have argued to the court that the defendant waived confidentiality by answering ‘yes’ to automated prompts indicating that the call was being recorded. Generally, calls to phone numbers lawyers list with the Florida Bar are not recorded, but the lawyer had provided the client with a different number.

Continue reading "Broward Defense Attorney: Attorney-Client Confidentiality & Monitored Phone Calls in Broward Jail" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

In Ocala, Florida, a co-defendant who was charged in connection with a double homicide pleaded to no contest to lesser charges last Friday. In exchange, he agreed to testify against the fourth and final remaining defendant in the homicide case.

Twenty-eight year old Carlose Arrellano was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder. However, after pleading no contest to being an accessory after the fact to the first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder (both considered first-degree felonies), the native of Mexico was sentenced to a decade in the Florida Department of Corrections and another ten years of probation.

Court records show that Arrellano was arrested in Chicago earlier this summer and extradited to Florida where he was formally charged. Authorities believe that the December, 2001 double murder was a drug-related homicide.

Co-defendant in double murder pleads to lesser charges, Ocala.com, September 2, 2008

Continue reading "Florida Man Accused in Double Murder Gets 10 Years in Jail " »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Florida investigators have charged a Wellington, Florida man with first-degree murder. They claim that the man introduced the victim to his killer. Bryan Rhodes, 24, went voluntarily to the Greenacres Police Department and shared his side of the story last week, according to police.

His arrest report states that Rhodes served as middle man in a drug deal on July 25 that resulted in the death of Kenneth James Torres, 28. An unnamed suspect told Rhodes he planned to rob Torres of 300 oxycodone pills and give Rhodes 75 pills as payment.

Rhodes did not alert Torres of the plans.

Greenacre police arrived at the 6000 block of Seven Springs Boulevard after Torres was shot outside his vehicle. Torres later died at Delray Medical Center. Rhodes is behind bars on charges of first-degree murder with a firearm, armed robbery with a firearm, and being a principal in the crime.

Man charged involved in deadly drug deal charged with first-degree murder, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, August 23, 2008

Continue reading "Florida Man Charged with First-Degree Murder" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Law enforcement officers from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Miami-Dade, Pembroke Pines, and Fort Lauderdale are searching for the man who shot a federal agent on Tuesday in front of a Pembroke Pines post office.

Donald J. Pettit, 52, was married with two children and had a long history of service in the military and the US Customs and Border Protection. Petit’s daughter watched from inside the car as her father was shot in the head following a traffic dispute.

According to Florida Today, authorities would not confirm the circumstances leading up to the shooting. However, sources close to the investigation believe an argument lead Pettit and a motorist to pull into the parking lot of the South Florida Mail Processing Center for a confrontation. Pettit was unarmed, but his gun was later found in his car.

The suspect, described as a fiftysomething man about six feet tall wearing a short-sleeved, plaid green shirt, fled east on Pines Boulevard. Police say they are looking for witnesses. Anyone with information should call Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477 or go online at www.browardcrimestoppers.org. A $175,000 reward is being offered for tips leading to the suspect’s arrest.

Manhunt on after federal agent is killed by motorist, Miami Herald, August 6, 2008

Continue reading "Police Search for Killer of Federal Agent in South Florida" »

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark:

Given the number of drivers on the road, we've all become accustomed to impatient drivers. Those who drive erratically and dangerously, and those that are just plain rude. Last week, Hygens Labidou of Wellington, Palm Beach, was the victim of what police say was a racially motivated road rage attack that left one person dead. Police say that Steven Lonzisero, 43, and Edward Borowsky, 28, both white, approached Labidou, who is black, after they became upset with the way he was driving. According to reports, the two men blocked Labidou's truck with their own truck and began screaming racial slurs at him. Lonzisero and Borowsky dragged Labidou from his truck at knife point, Labidou told detectives.

Witnesses told police that Lonzisero, who is 6 feet tall and 350 pounds, kicked Labidou's door and demanded he get out of the truck. Labidou, who has a concealed-weapons permit, pulled his gun and shot at both men. Borowsky died as a result of the shots four days later. Lonzisero survived and police say he will be charged with felony murder under state law that provides that partners in crime can be charged with murder even if they did not fire the fatal shot.

This incident was not Lonzisero’s first run in with the law. Neighbors described him as a hot head who confronted a neighbor who was walking his dog in front of his yard. In 1999, Lonzisero pled guilty in New York Federal Court to one count of conspiracy to commit murder in furtherance of racketeering activity and one count of unlawfully taking a motor truck in an interstate shipment case, according to court records. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by three years of federal probation, which he completed in South Florida in 2001. Court records show that in June 2005 Lonzisero was sentenced to time served, a year of house arrest and two years of federal probation for possessing and affecting commerce in firearms after he was reportedly stopped on his way to commit a home invasion robbery. Lonziero was on house arrest when the incident happened last week; however, he had permission to leave his house for work. Labidou, a business owner in Riviera Beach, has declined to comment further on the incident. Police say that Labidou acted in self-defense and will not be charged. Statistics demonstrate that Florida is among the worst states in the country for road rage.

Posted by William Ryan Moore | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Murder

Bookmark: