Miami Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

The Miami Herald reported on May 7 that just hours after a press conference announcing the arrest of two suspects in the murders at the Liberty Square housing projects last month, Miami-Dade prosecutors were expected to ask a judge to quash the arrest warrants the following morning in court. The Herald wrote that the “unusual development suggests authorities rushed to make an arrest in a high-profile killing.”

According to the Herald, homicide detectives had secured a probable cause arrest warrant that was reviewed by prosecutors and signed by a Miami-Dade judge based on the identification of an eyewitness. The Herald reported that sources said “prosecutors expressed concerns about the weakness of the evidence during a meeting with top-ranking Miami police brass and the homicide detectives on Friday, the day before the arrests.”

One suspect claimed he was shopping with his mother at the time of the shootings, and supermarket surveillance video reviewed only after the suspect was booked confirmed his claim. At the press conference, Miami’s police chief and mayor also urged the capture of a third suspect still loose on the streets. The arrest warrant for the third suspect has also been canceled, according to the Herald.

Florida’s so-called 10-20-Life law, established under § Florida Statute 775.087, has been in effect since 1999 and has largely accomplished its primary goal to sentence thousands of people to mandatory prison terms because of certain convictions involving firearms or other dangerous weapons. The prosecutor is the only person with the power to waive a mandatory minimum sentence, and judges are only allowed to deviate from mandatory minimum requirements when an alleged offender is a youthful offender. 

One key provision of Florida Statute 775.087 that was amended, however, by Senate Bill 228 (SB 228) when Governor Rick Scott signed the bill into law on February 26, 2016, related to convictions for aggravated assault involving the possession of a firearm, destructive device, semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity detachable box magazine, or machine gun. Whereas such convictions automatically triggered mandatory three-year prison sentences, SB 228 deleted that requirement. 

It now appears that more lawmakers in Florida may be trying to eliminate other mandatory minimum provisions under state law. If you were arrested for any kind of criminal offense that could carry a mandatory minimum prison sentence, it is in your best interest to immediately contact The Hoffman Firm.

In 2017, Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 477 (HB 477), adding the opioids fentanyl and carfentanil to the list of drugs that can result in mandatory minimum sentences. Now, two bills have been proposed in the Florida Legislature that could allow judges to depart from mandatory minimum sentencing requirements.

House Bill 481 (HB 481) provides that mandatory minimum sentences for controlled substance offenses may be reduced by up to specified percentage for offenders meeting certain criteria. Senate Bill 694 (SB 694) authorizes a court to impose a sentence other than a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment and mandatory fine for a person convicted of trafficking if the court makes certain findings on the record.

“This year, the momentum is stronger than ever in the Senate for real criminal justice reform,” State Senator Rob Bradley, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, told the Miami Herald. “It remains to be seen if our friends in the House share that appetite.”

SB 694 cleared the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 15-5 vote on February 22, 2018, and now heads to the Senate floor for consideration. Shortly before that vote, the Senate Justice Appropriations Subcommittee had heard from a vocal opponent of the measure, lobbyist Barney Bishop from the conservative criminal justice reform group Smart Justice Alliance.

“You’re helping drug traffickers,” Bishop said of the SB 694. “Do you know how much pot you’ve got to have to meet the trafficking minimum for this bill? You have to have 25 pounds. That’s 25 backpacks.”

With very little time remaining in the 2018 legislative session, it remained to be seen whether the Senate measure would gain any traction in the House of Representatives—where a separate measure had not moved through the chamber.

Miami Criminal Defense Attorney for Mandatory Minimum Drug Crimes

Florida Statute § 893.135 imposes mandatory minimum sentences for drug trafficking offenses involving certain amounts of controlled substances. It is important to remember that an alleged offender can be charged with a drug trafficking crime as the result of simply possessing more than a specified amount of a controlled substance—drug trafficking crimes do not require any actual or intended distribution of the illegal drug.

Mandatory minimums under this statute include offenses involving people who knowingly sell, purchase, manufacture, deliver, or bring into Florida, or who are knowingly in actual or constructive possession of any of the following:

When a person is accused of one of the crimes listed above, a judge is powerless to issuing a sentence that deviates from the mandatory minimum required. It is in the best interest of any individual facing one of these charges to immediately retain legal counsel.

Evan A. Hoffman is an experienced criminal defense lawyer in Miami who can fight to possibly get your criminal charges reduced or dismissed. Contact The Hoffman Firm today to receive a free, confidential consultation that will let our attorney provide a complete evaluation of your case.

The Miami Herald reported on January 18 that police suspected there was a “marijuana lab” inside a warehouse on 123rd Street in Medley and saw a Hialeah man park a pickup truck in front of the warehouse, go inside, and return back to the truck about two hours later. According to the police report, officers entered the warehouse with a search warrant and found “two fully functioning hydroponics laboratories,” one of which had 25 plants and the other had 11. 

The Herald reported that police also found grow equipment and chemicals and documents addressed to the alleged offender. A stolen truck was also discovered inside the warehouse during the search, with one detective noticing that the vehicle identification number (VIN) on the truck had been tampered with and determined the truck had been stolen from Broward County in 2016. 

The man was held in jail with no bond on charges that included grand theft of a vehicle, altering a vehicle’s information, and trafficking marijuana, according to the Herald. All three of those crimes are felony offenses.

The Miami Herald reported on December 7 that a 28-year-old man was arrested during a traffic stop near U.S. Route 1 and Southwest 136th Street in Pinecrest. Police set up surveillance near the Pinecrest Whole Foods on Dixie Highway where the man was spotted. According to the Herald, the alleged offender had been accused of offering rides to female students at the University of South Carolina, taking them to places other than their desired destinations, and refusing to let them out of his vehicle. 

According to the South Carolina newspaper The State, the man was arrested by the Pinecrest Police Department on two outstanding arrest warrants: one for assault and another for domestic violence. Neither warrant was related to any incident involving University of South Carolina students. 

Two women, ages 21 and 18, reported to the Columbia Police Department on November 26 that they received a ride from the alleged offender. One female reported getting out of the car after feeling uncomfortable while the man attempted to prevent the other woman from leaving, causing her to receive medical treatment for scrapes and bruises to her leg. 

On October 27, the Miami Herald reported that the principal at Wesley Matthews Elementary in Miami was reassigned on by Miami-Dade County Public Schools after she was arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) on July 21. The 46-year-old woman who has been with the school system for 23 years will work at a district administrative office, a non-school site, Miami-Dade schools spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego told the Herald. 

The Herald reported that a breath test administered following the alleged offender’s arrest showed blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.140 and 0.142—both over Florida’s legal limit of 0.08. The woman reported the misdemeanor to school officials and remained in her role as principal until the reassignment, according to the Herald. 

“We don’t usually reassign in cases such as these, but the district can and will take action if a case has the potential to cause a disruption to the learning environment we work so hard to maintain,” Gonzalez-Diego said in an email to the Herald. “Our goal is to maintain continuity of education with minimal disruptions.” 

The Miami Herald reported that a North Miami man would be spending his 60th birthday in Miami-Dade’s Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center after being arrested on September 27. The man was being held with no bond after being charged with seven counts of sexual battery on a child between the ages of 12 and 16. 

WPLG-TV reported that the arrest affidavit stated that the alleged victim told police that the man had sex with her three times, most recently at a hotel in the summer with the other two incidents occurring in the living room and guest bedroom of the man’s house. Police told WPLG that the man admitted that he went to the hotel with the alleged victim but denied having sex with her.

Sexual Battery Defense Attorney in Miami, FL