Posted on December 07, 2018 in Theft

If you are convicted of grand theft in Miami, you may be sentenced, at least partly, to probation. There are a number of conditions you must follow if you are put in probation, and if you fail to meet those conditions, you may be sentenced to prison. It is always best to reach out to a Miami grand theft attorney if you have questions that relate to a charge of this nature.

In a recent case, a defendant sought to reverse the lower court's order revoking probation and his sentence of 5 years imprisonment. The appellate court reversed, concluding there was no substantial or competent evidence to support the lower court's finding that the defendant willfully and substantially violated the probation conditions that he not possess firearms or possess cannabis with intent to sell. It did find, however, that he'd violated one probation condition by associating with people involved in crime.

The case arose in 2013 when a defendant pled guilty to grand theft of a vehicle and was put on reporting probation for three years. This probation was modified and lengthened for a year in 2016. The following year while driving, the probationer was stopped by the police for an infraction. Three other people were riding as passengers in his car, in both the front and back seats. The police officer could smell marijuana coming from the car when he stopped it.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on November 07, 2018 in Civil Rights

The rule of completeness is an important rule that can offer protection against the misuse of a recorded statement you make to the police in a Miami criminal case. However, this rule has its limits. In a recent Florida Supreme Court case, the Court considered the rule of completeness, as well as the evidence rule that permits impeachment of hearsay declarants.

At issue was whether section 90.108(1) (the rule of completeness) allows a defendant to require the government to put into evidence an entire video recording of his statement to the cops where the government questioned a detective about the defendant's inculpatory statements without putting the recording into the record. Also at issue was whether the government could impeach a defendant under section 90.806(1), which permitted an attack on a hearsay declarant's credibility.

The case arose when a 68-year-old retired man took a 27-year-old man home with him from the beach. When the victim didn't arrive at his friend's house for dinner as planned, the friend went to the victim's house where he found the victim lying facedown inside. Witnesses told a detective they'd seen the victim eating with someone younger earlier that day. The medical examiner decided that the victim had the kinds of injuries that were consistent with being choked and decided it was likely that he'd been killed by force. Other evidence, including video surveillance footage from stores, showed that the defendant had used the victim's credit card.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on September 11, 2018 in Violent Crimes

In a recent Florida appellate decision, the court considered a case in which a burglar hit an 80-year-old man in the head and badly beat him up such that he suffered a brain hemorrhage. The old man was released before the hemorrhage resolved, and he died in his home. The defendant was charged and convicted of first-degree murder. He appealed on the grounds that the prosecution hadn't proven that his own actions caused the death of the old man. If you have been charged with a homicide, it is important to have a knowledgeable Florida criminal defense attorney by your side throughout the process.

The case arose when the 80-year-old victim came home after a day shopping with his adult daughter. When he and his daughter got out of their car in their garage, the defendant attacked the old man. The victim collapsed and then the defendant sat on him and kept beating him up before running away.

At the hospital, the victim underwent a CT scan. The staff found there was no bleeding in the brain. He was discharged. After he was released from the hospital, his CT scan was reviewed again, with the doctor finding there was a little bit of bleeding. He came back to the hospital again the next day and underwent more scans. The doctor found the bleeding had resolved, but after being discharged, the victim collapsed on his bed at home and passed away.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on August 04, 2018 in Theft

In a recent Florida burglary decision, two burglaries of the same home had occurred. These burglaries were separated by five days. The defendant had been convicted of burglary with more than $1,000 in property damage, but he was acquitted of the other residential burglary. He was also convicted of grand theft of property that was worth at least $20,000.

The defendant argued that the lower court had made a mistake in denying his requests for acquittal because the state failed to show: (1) the amount of property claimed in the burglary charge and (2) the value of what was stolen in the grand theft offense.

At the lower level, the defendant was charged with residential burglary with intent to perpetrate theft and triggering property damage of more than $1,000. He was also charged with burglary with intent to perpetrate theft. The third charge was grand theft of assets worth at least $20,000 from victims' homes.

The prosecutor claimed that the homeowners of the burglarized home had been away on a cruise. Their son checked on the home and found out they'd been burglarized. There was also damage to parts of the property and objects thrown all over the place. He called the police, who came to the scene. They discovered a cigarette butt from which they were able to pull DNA. The DNA matched the defendant's.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on July 13, 2018 in Sex Crimes

If you are required to register as a sex offender in Broward County, you should be aware that any discrepancies in your information or failure to register can trigger an investigation. Recently, a Florida man who was already a registered sex offender was charged with a federal criminal complaint of soliciting child pornography over the Internet. The county case was closed. Investigators claimed that a detective looking over the man's sex offender registration information found that his Facebook account was not in his true name. Accordingly, a detective sent him a friend request, in which he pretended to be a 13-year old girl.

The man and the detective pretending to be a child engaged in multiple online conversations. Eventually, the man raised sexual activity and suggested that they meet to have sex. He again asked the detective posing as a child to meet up in person and transmitted a sexual photo a few days later. He later asked the person he believed to be a child to send him a picture of her genitals. Soon after he was arrested. In 1994, he was convicted of aggravated indecent assault in another state and his sentence required him to register as a sex offender.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on May 08, 2018 in Criminal Defense

Only hours after the Miami Herald reported that an arrest warrant was issued for New York Jets wide receiver Robby Anderson after he failed to appear for a Broward County court date on May 1, ESPN reported that the arrest warrant was being set aside. Anderson's attorney told ESPN that the missed court date was the result of miscommunication and a new court date was set for July 19.

Anderson was supposed to appear for an arraignment relating to a misdemeanor reckless driving offense in January. According to ESPN, the incident initially resulted in nine charges - including two felonies - but was reduced to the misdemeanor charge of reckless driving and threatening a public servant or family member.

ESPN reported that the Broward County State Attorney's Office dropped the felony charges in April due to insufficient evidence. Anderson's attorney told ESPN that he "never received notice from any court to appear" and called it a "clerical error."

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 28, 2018 in Criminal Defense

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.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on March 28, 2018 in Criminal Defense

On February 26, 2016, Governor Rick Scott signed Senate Bill 228 (SB 228). The legislation deleted aggravated assault from the list of convictions carrying mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment if during the commission of the offense the convicted person possessed a firearm, destructive device, semiautomatic firearm, and its high-capacity detachable box magazine, or machine gun.

Criminal charges that carry mandatory minimum sentences often put both alleged offenders and judges in difficult spots. A person who is accused of a crime that involves a possible minimum sentence may be less inclined to fight the charges at trial out of fear for the possible consequences of a conviction, giving a prosecutor substantial leverage in pretrial negotiations. Similarly, judges are powerless to deviate from mandatory minimum sentences even in cases in which an alleged offender has no prior criminal record.

While the change to the state's law for aggravated assault with a firearm or other weapon offenses was certainly a welcome one, many other criminal offenses in Florida still carry very steep mandatory minimum sentences. Any person who is facing a possible mandatory minimum will want to immediately retain legal counsel for help possibly getting the criminal charges reduced or dismissed. Contact The Hoffman Firm as soon as possible.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on January 19, 2018 in Sex Crimes

WPLG-TV reported on December 28, 2017, that a man was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to a 2010 rape in Davie. Davie Police Sergeant Mark Leone told WPLG that United States Border Patrol was notified because the alleged offender was in the country illegally.

Leone said the rape case originally went cold after saliva was collected from the woman's breast and submitted for DNA analysis, but a company was able to create a composite of the alleged offender after police recently provided the DNA evidence. The composite was used to locate the alleged offender, who consented to a collection of his DNA.

Leone told WPLG that "the test results concluded that it was a 1-in-400-billion chance" that the man arrested was not the man responsible. WPLG reported that he now faces multiple counts of sexual battery.

Fort Lauderdale Sex Crimes Defense Attorney

While the people who order or conduct forensic testing and the prosecutors who utilize it often champion the accuracy of the results, it is not unheard of for agents to exaggerate the significance of certain findings. In other cases, critical errors may lead to misleading results.

Continue Reading ››

 Posted on November 20, 2017 in DUI

The Sun-Sentinel reported on November 15 that a 48-year-old man turned himself into Broward County jail to face driving under the influence (DUI) manslaughter charges following a July 15 crash along the Davie Road Extension near North 78th Avenue. According to an arrest report, a man driving behind the alleged offender told investigators that "9 or 10" times before the crash he saw the alleged offender's GMC Sierra "drifting out of its lane and moving into oncoming traffic and that its turn signal was activated in the direction the pickup was drifting."

The Sierra struck a northbound Toyota Scion and then hit a Kia Forte, the latter collision resulting in the death of a 60-year-old grandmother. According to the Sun-Sentinel, the alleged offender fainted when being treated at the scene of the crash and again while giving consent to having his blood drawn. He is accused of having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.24, or three times the legal limit.

One week before that story was published, the Sun-Sentinel reported that a 25-year-old man was booked into the Broward County jail Tuesday in connection with the death of a 30-year-old woman and two of her children on April 24, 2016. The Sun-Sentinel reported that the alleged offender's car went out of control and overturned in a construction zone on Interstate 75 as he and the 30-year-old woman argued while he was driving.

Continue Reading ››