In all court proceedings, both civil and criminal, the Florida Evidence Code prohibits the admission of hearsay statements. Hearsay is defined as an out-of-court statement offered at trial for the purpose of “proving the truth of the matter asserted.” As is often the case with many statutes, there are exceptions to the general hearsay rule. Florida Evidence Code,…
If you have been pulled over by a law enforcement officer for any traffic violation, the officer may ask to search your car. He or she may simply say, “Do you mind if I search your car?” in a way that is conversational, catching you off guard so you agree to allow the search. Or,…
A Motion to Suppress is a pretrial motion filed by the defense and must follow the Florida rules of Criminal Procedure. It presents the argument to the court that evidence was obtained in violation of the defendant’s constitutional rights and should therefore be inadmissible at trial. If the court agrees there were constitutional violations and decides in…
A Motion to Dismiss is a formal request to the court asking it to stop the prosecution and dismiss the charges against the defendant. The Jacksonville criminal defense attorney who files the motion must include all the relevant facts of the case. According to the rules for Florida Criminal Procedure, the Defendant must swear the facts…
The statute of limitations (SOL) in a criminal case means the time within which the state must file charges against you. If the state misses the deadline, it is barred from filing charges against you. For example, if the statute of limitations is one year, and the state does not charge you within one year…
The state of Florida is one of 38 states that conducts random sobriety checkpoints. The U.S. Supreme Court approved such checkpoints if certain requirements are met. Just a few of those are: The location of the checkpoint must be published to the public, or the checkpoint must be clearly visible to drivers. It is legal…
Domestic violence is a serious issue. The news media routinely reports on allegations of domestic violence that have been made against professional football players, famous athletes or actors. The public becomes outraged and decides the one charged must be guilty without waiting for a trial or resolution of the issue. There generally are serious consequences…
Receiving a phone call informing you that your child is in police custody is generally life-changing. Although your first impulse might be to let your child suffer the consequences of the bad behavior that led to the arrest and detention, you need to ignore that reaction. There are serious implications for a juvenile arrest, detention…
In Florida, as in all other states, driving with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.08 or greater is illegal. If law enforcement stops a driver on suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), one common test they administer is a Breathalyzer. When you drink, the alcohol in your blood stream flows through your…