Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

According to BayNews9.com, the St. Petersburg Police Department's (SPPD) "Street Crimes Unit" seized 9.3 pounds of Marijuana from two (2) vehicles Wednesday afternoon.

Police said they conducted two (2) traffic stops; one near 21st Avenue South and 16th Street in St. Petersburg and the other at 7348 U.S. Highway 19 North in Pinellas Park (its unclear why the SPPD was conducting a traffic stop in Pinellas Park).

Officers discovered nine (9) gallon-size zip lock bags in the two (2) vehicles containing about 9.3 pounds of marijuana. Apparently someone in this operation had a heavy hand and stuffed and extra 3/10 of a pound into the gallon-size bags.

Officers also found (and seized) $4,488 in cash (although I'm sure that money was legitimately earned during the suspects' day jobs and will have to be returned to them).

Three (3) men, all from St. Petersburg, were arrested for Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Distribute. They are: Floyd J. Green, 29; Gregory Thomas, 31; and Doniell Massey, 30.

No doubt, one (or more) of their attorneys will claim that the Marijuana was for "personal use."

Thomas also faces charges of Driving with a Suspended License.

The obvious lesson to be learned here: If your license is suspended, do not drive with nine (9) pounds of marijuana in your car.....

Continue reading "ST. PETERSBURG: Street Crimes Unit Seizes Nine (9) Pounds of Marijuana and Cash" »

Now that New Year's Eve is only a couple of days away, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) expects this to be one of the deadliest weeks of the year on the roads.

To combat this, law enforcement is considering a new weapon in their fight against drunk driving.

And it's a change that could substantially increase the State's likelihood to obtain a DUI conviction.

"I think it's a great deterrent for people," said Linda Unfried, from Mother's Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Hillsborough County.

Florida is among several states now holding what are called "No Refusal" DUI Checkpoints.

So, what does this mean for you as you head out to enjoy your Holiday Season?

It means if you refuse to submit to a breath test during a traffic stop, an on-site Judge can issue a search warrant allowing the police to take an involuntary blood sample (by using actual force, if necessary).

According to WTSP.com 10 News, It's already being done in several counties, and now Unfried is working to bring it to the Tampa Bay area.

"I think you'll see the difference because people will not drink and drive. I truly believe that," she said.

However, not everyone agrees with Unfried about "No Refusal" DUI Checkpoints.

"It's a slippery slope and it's got to stop somewhere," says local DUI defense attorney Kevin Hayslett. He asks "what other misdemeanor offense do we have in the United States where the government can forcefully put a needle into your arm?"

The Federal government says Florida has among the highest rates of breathalyzer refusal.

"Now you've got attorneys telling their clients, don't blow, don't blow! Because we know from the results from these machines that they're not operating as the State or the government says they're supposed to operate," said Stephen Daniels, a local DUI consultant and DUI expert witness.

"We don't want to violate people's civil rights. That's the last thing we want to do, but we're here to save lives," Unfried said.

She adds that this type of checkpoint would be heavily advertised, with the goal of deterring any drunk driving.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has recently said he wants to see more states hold similar programs.

Continue reading "TAMPA BAY: "No Refusal" DUI Checkpoints are Coming to Take Your Blood" »

According to a story on ESPN.com, a Florida International University (FIU) baseball player with a record-setting 56-game hitting streak has been charged with Rape in the Bahamas, court officials in the islands' capital said Monday.

Garrett Wittels is accused of raping a 17-year-old teenage tourist on December 20th while on a visit to the archipelago east of Florida. The 20-year-old infielder ended last season with the second-longest hitting streak in NCAA Division I history, two behind the 58-game run by former Oklahoma State star and Major Leaguer, Robin Ventura, in 1987.

.
Two (2) of Wittels' friends also face Rape Charges, officials said.

Robert Rothschild, 21, of New York, was accused of raping two 17-year-old girls, while Jonathan Oberti, 21, also of New York, was charged with raping one, according to Bahamian court officials.

Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez granted Wittels and the two others $10,000 Bail at their Thursday arraignment in Nassau. The U.S. suspects were not required to enter pleas and returned to the United States.

It is unclear how, or if, the charge would affect Wittels' status with the FIU program. FIU begins its baseball season February 18th and its first three (3) games are set to be televised while Wittels continues his chase of Ventura's record.

Magistrate Derence Rolle-Davis will begin a preliminary inquiry on April 18th to determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go to Trial. By then, FIU's season will be more than half over.

Wittels, who set school and Sun Belt Conference records with his streak in 2010, did not respond to a message seeking comment sent to his Facebook account. He posted congratulatory messages on his Twitter feed Sunday night after FIU's football team beat Toledo to win the Little Caesars Bowl in Detroit -- the first bowl win for the Golden Panthers' football program -- but no mention of the legal matters.

Wittels tweeted on Dec. 18 that he was going to the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas for several days.

Wittels' father, an orthopedist, told The Miami Herald that his son would be vindicated. He said his son was "devastated" by the allegations.

"Anyone can accuse anyone of anything at any time," Michael Wittels told the Miami newspaper during a Monday morning phone interview. "He's not doing well, obviously. He's blown away. He's devastated that someone would accuse him of this."

Michael Wittels, whose telephone appeared to be disconnected later Monday, told the newspaper that his son and his friends met the two girls at a casino and they later went to a private party. The girls apparently described themselves as students at the University of Arkansas, he said.

In the Bahamas, the maximum penalty for a first-time rape offender is seven (7) years in prison.

Continue reading "MIAMI: Florida International University Baseball Star, Garrett Wittels, Faces Rape Charge" »

As we enter another Holiday Season, the Blake & Dorsten, P.A. would like to wish you and yours a Happy and Safe Holiday weekend.

With the support of all of our friends, family and clients, 2010 was another excellent year for the Blake & Dorsten, P.A.. And for that, we have much to be thankful for this Holiday Season.

To our family and friends, thank you for your patience and understanding when it was necessary to work late nights and/or weekends.

To our business colleagues and our outstanding network of fellow attorneys, thank you for not only your referrals but for the trust that you have placed in the Blake & Dorsten, P.A. to provide an experienced and aggressive representation to those that you've sent our way.

And to both our former and present clients, thank you for the trust that you have placed in the Blake & Dorsten, P.A. to protect your rights and to handle your important criminal and/or traffic-related matters.

As many of you know, 2010 presented some different challenges for the Blake & Dorsten, P.A.. Without your support, we would not have been able to achieve the many successes that came our way.

On behalf of the entire Blake & Dorsten, P.A. team (Pam, Eryn, Oatie and myself), have a Happy, Healthy and Safe Holiday Season.

As always, attorney Nicholas J. Dorsten will be available throughout the Holiday Weekend. In fact, we were very grateful to sign up a new Client today and make a Christmas Eve trip to the Pinellas County Jail.

Continue reading "CLEARWATER: Happy Holidays from the Blake & Dorsten, P.A." »

BayNews9.com was first to break this major news: Inmates at the Polk County Jail will have to find a new way to pass the time while behind bars.

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd is taking out the jail's basketball goals and posts and donating them to local churches.

"Going to jail is not fun and games," Judd said. "If you want to play basketball, stay out of jail."

One of the goals will be installed at Turning Point Worship Center in Bartow in time for Christmas. Eight (8) other churches will receive basketball goals as well.

Polk County Deputies will also give out basketballs to go along with the new goals.

Judd is already known for instituting bare-bones arrangements for his county jail inmates.

In 2008, he changed the jail menu so that, instead of cornbread, inmates get crackers, while peanut butter sandwiches were swapped for bologna. Last year, Judd started charging inmates a fee to be in jail.

What is the point of this story? Or the lesson to be learned?

Do not commit crime in Polk County, Florida if you're a baller!!

Earlier this week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals (a Federal appeals Court) issued a landmark opinion in the criminal case of United States v. Warshak, finding that individuals have "a reasonable expectation of privacy in their email" and that the Fourth Amendment protects email held by an Internet Service Provider (ISP).

In other words, "[t]he government may not compel a commercial ISP to turn over the contents of a subscriber's emails without first obtaining a warrant based on probable cause." United States v. Warshak, et al., No. 08-3997, Slip Op. at 23 (6th Cir. Dec. 14, 2010).

As a criminal defense attorney, I've been asked the following question many times: To what extent can the police secretly view/obtain your private email? This core question, namely - what are the limits of police surveillance - was answered this week by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in a lengthy opinion (that is hyperlinked above).

On one side of the issue, privacy advocates are pleased as punch with the opinion which holds that the government/police must obtain a search warrant based on "probable cause" before it can search emails stored by Internet Service Providers (ISP's).

The case involved a Federal Fraud prosecution of Steven Warshak, an Ohio executive, whose company sold an herbal supplement which was touted for its purported ability to increase a man's, um, physical attributes. Perhaps you've seen a commercial or two for this product?

As part of its Fraud investigation, the United States government obtained about 27,000 private emails from Warshak's Internet Service Providers. Warshak moved to suppress/exclude the emails as evidence, contending that the U.S. government obtained them through an unreasonable search and seizure, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.

People have a "reasonable expectation" that emails will remain private, the Sixth Circuit stated, using some colorful language. "Lovers exchange sweet nothings" and "businessmen swap ambitious plans" all with the click of a mouse button, the Court said. By obtaining access to someone's email, law enforcement agents gain the ability to peer deeply into his activities. . . the Fourth Amendment must keep pace with the inexorable march of technological progress, or its guarantees will wither and perish."

The Sixth Circuit held that Warshak's constitutional rights were violated when investigators obtained his e-mails without a search warrant.

In a minor side note, the Court upheld his convictions. One of Warshak's attorneys, Martin Weinberg, told the Associated Press that the Court's ruling on email-privacy was helpful to his client; however, the Court should have also overturned his convictions.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation hailed the recent Sixth Circuit ruling, saying in a statement that it is the "only federal appellate decision currently on the books that squarely rules on this critically important privacy issue."

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers also weighed in with praise. "Americans expect and deserve protection from government agents who would snoop into their private communications without probable cause and a court order," the group said in a statement.

Please remember, this opinion only applies to "government agents." This opinion will not prevent your wife or girlfriend from snooping into your private email account.

BEWARE.......

Continue reading "Federal Appeals Court Rules that Emails are Protected from Warrantless Searches" »

According to a story published on TampaBay.com this afternoon, Pinellas County Court Judge Henry Andringa refused to lower the $500,000 Bail for former Clearwater Fire Chief Jamie Geer, who was arrested Monday and accused of Capital Sexual Battery (which requires a mandatory LIFE in prison sentence).

The request to lower the Bail came from local attorney Nat Kidder, who previously handled Geer's divorce case and is discussing whether to represent Geer in this serious criminal case. Judge Henry Andringa said Geer could request a Bond Reduction Hearing, in the future, to argue that Geer's bail should be reduced.

"I think everyone concerned is dismayed," Kidder said after the hearing, when asked for his reaction to the charge against the former Clearwater Fire Chief. "Like any citizen, he has the presumption of innocence."

He added: "I have not seen anything other than the basic paperwork. I don't know the quality of the State's evidence."

At the request of Pinellas County prosecutors, Judge Andringa ordered Geer not to have any contact with the girl in the case. Geer is accused of sexually abusing her for years, starting when she was 8 or 9. She is now 17.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Geno Hayes was arrested early Monday morning on charges of Disorderly Conduct and Trespassing, according to Hillsborough County jail records.

Hayes, 23, was jailed shortly after his 2:00 a.m. arrest at the Blue Martini, 2223 North Westshore Boulevard in the International Plaza mall. The alleged incident happened hours after the Bucs defeated the Washington Redskins Sunday afternoon.

According ot the St. Pete Times story, police used a Taser ("don't tase' me bro") on Hayes after he became aggressive with police during an incident that started with another man. Hayes overheard a security guard wouldn't let his friend into the lounge for being under-dressed. Police said Hayes pushed a police officer out of the way to stand between her and two (2) disruptive men.

Police said the man denied entry was verbally abusive, and police directed Hayes back into the lounge and forced the other men to leave.

Instead, police said Hayes stayed at the lounge entrance, "menacingly staring" at the officers and guards who made his friends leave. Police eventually led him to the parking lot and told him not to return or he could be arrested for continuing disorderly behavior.

Hayes was back ten (10) minutes later. He said he'd left his credit card, and police told him to sit at a nearby store while a friend looked for the card.

Bar employees told police they overheard Hayes saying, "B-tch a-- cop. You ain't gonna do nothing. I ain't leaving. I don't have to leave."

[ Note to readers: This is where things went wrong. Do NOT do this!! ]

An officer ended up using a Taser on Hayes because he continued to be combative and refused to leave, police said. His thick clothing made the device ineffective, and an officer tackled and handcuffed Hayes.

Hayes, a 6-foot-1, 226-pound former Florida State University standout, was drafted by the Bucs in 2008 and began starting games in 2009, replacing Derrick Brooks. He has started all 13 games this season, amassing 61 tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and an interception.

St. Petersburg police say a woman stabbed a man after an argument over which TV program to watch Monday night.

According to the police department, Delois Holley went to David Richard Marion's apartment to watch The Closer, but he wanted to watch Monday Night Football. In retrospect, I would have killed to not have watched my beloved New York Jets get run by the New England Patriots.

They then got into argument over money and Marion told her to leave his apartment. Police said Holley then stabbed Marion multiple times before going back to her apartment, where she was arrested for Attempted Second Degree Murder. She is currently being held in the Pinellas County Jail on a $75,000 bond.

Marion was taken to Bayfront Medical Center as a trauma alert

The incident took place at the Arlington Apartments.

According to a BayNews9.com story this morning, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange was arrested Tuesday in London on a Swedish warrant, London's Metropolitan Police said.

Assange was arrested at a London police station at 9:30 a.m. (4:30 a.m. EST) and will appear at the City of Westminster Magistrate's Court later in the day, police said.

Swedish authorities had issued the warrant for Assange so they can talk to him about allegations of Sex Crimes unrelated to WikiLeaks' recent disclosure of secret U.S. documents.

Assange's British lawyer, Mark Stephens, said his client would fight extradition to Sweden, according to Britain's Press Association. The court now has roughly twenty-one (21) days to decide whether to order his extradition, said Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association.

Assange, a 39-year-old Australian, has said he has long feared retribution for his website's disclosures and has called the rape allegations against him a smear campaign.

Sweden first issued the arrest warrant for Assange in November, saying he is suspected of one (1) count of Rape, two (2) counts of Sexual Molestation and one (1) count of Unlawful Coercion -- or illegal use of force -- allegedly committed in August.

According to an online St. Pete Times story, Clearwater Police Department (CWPD) detectives seized more than eighty (80) computerized gaming machines and a new car last week after executing a search warrant at what authorities called an illegal gambling operation on U.S. Highway 19 North in Clearwater.

The search and seizure happened around 5:00 p.m. Friday at the Rio Arcade, located at 19042 U.S. Highway 19 North. Clearwater detectives began investigating the business after receiving complaints of illegal gambling. A quick look at the Rio Arcade's website (hyperlinked above) gives the impression that this was more of a casino than an arcade.

Detectives believe the establishment was operating an illegal gambling business with approximately eighty-four (84) gambling computers. During execution of their search warrant on Friday, they seized the computers, $10,000 in cash, a 2011 Hyundai and other electronic equipment.

No arrests have been made, but the Clearwater Police Department has forwarded criminal charges against the owner and several managers to the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, which will determine whether to prosecute.

Continue reading "CLEARWATER: Search Warrant Served at Local Arcade for Evidence of Illegal Gambling " »

One after another, people came before the City Council to forcefully denounce red light cameras. They said the devices cause rear-end crashes and are really just a "money grab" by the government. They complained about a "1984 Orwellian police state." They warned, We'll remember this at election time. This was the tone of a story in today's St. Petersburg Times about red light cameras.

An elderly woman from Clearwater Beach blasted the cameras as "highway robbery," prompting a round of applause from the audience.

However, this did not stop the City Council from voting 3-2 Thursday night to bring red light cameras to some of Clearwater's most dangerous intersections.

The three (3) council members who support the red light cameras -- Mayor Frank Hibbard, Vice Mayor John Doran and council member Bill Jonson -- passionately insist that it's not about revenue, but instead it's about driver safety. They view the cameras as a tool for fighting an epidemic of red light running in the area.

Clearwater is the fourth city in Pinellas County to approve the cameras, behind St. Petersburg, Kenneth City and South Pasadena. Oldsmar is expected to approve them Tuesday.

Clearwater's first cameras are to be installed sometime next year. At the mayor's suggestion, they'll start by posting cameras at just a couple of intersections, which are yet to be determined. After six (6) months, the city will study the data from those locations before deciding whether to continue.

Ultimately, city officials have about ten (10) dangerous intersections in mind for the cameras, mostly along Gulf-to-Bay Boulevard.

A 2009 state law allows cities to install cameras at intersections and charges a $158 Fine to the registered owner of any vehicle caught on camera running a red light.

The cameras take a photo of the red light runner's license plate. A traffic officer reviews the image, verifying the infraction. A notice is sent to the vehicle's registered owner. If the owner wasn't behind the wheel at the time of the infraction, that person has thirty (30) days to file an Affidavit declaring as much.

Violators are fined $158 for a Nonmoving Violation, which means no points are taken from their driver's license.

From each ticket on city and county roads, the state Department of Revenue gets $70, the state Department of Health gets $10, the brain and spinal cord injury trust fund gets $3 and the locality gets $75. For tickets on state roads, the state gets $100, the locality $45 and the trust funds $10 and $3, respectively.

For more information on red light cameras in the Tampa Bay area, please check out the hyperlinked video interview that I did for My FOX Tampa Bay last October.

Continue reading "CLEARWATER: Red Light Cameras Are Coming....." »

According to a story in today's St. Pete Times, six (6) jurors deliberated for more than two (2) hours Wednesday afternoon but went home for the evening before deciding whether 49-year-old Maurice Bayless bred and trained pit bulls to fight.

To me, the first thing that came to mind after reading this story was NFL quarterback Michael Vick and his involvement in a similar dog fighting ring that landed him in a Federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas for almost two (2) years.

A Tampa jury will continue to deliberate today and possibly decide Bayless' fate.

For two (2) days, this Tampa jury looked at photos of filthy, chained and wounded pit bulls. Eight (8) puppies and ten (10) adult dogs were seized from his home. All older dogs were deemed too aggressive for adoption and were euthanized.

On a video, jurors saw one lunging at another and a man saying, "Go get him."

Assistant State Attorney Natalia Silver told them that man was Bayless, and that he exercised his pit bulls to exhaustion in hopes of making them champions, pumped them with nutrients and drugs to make them strong, and forced them to breed so he could sell future fighters.

Defense attorney Mark Rodriguez, however, told them prosecutors did not prove any of it -- not that the dogs were wounded while in Bayless' care, not that the puppies were products of a champion fighting bloodline.

"The state can't prove a thing that Mr. Bayless did or did not do with any of the animals that were found on his property," he said.

Evidence the state presented as proof of dogfighting was, on its own, legal. But it was the state's burden to prove Bayless' intent to use it illegally.

Jurors saw weighted collars prosecutors said were used in rigorous training regimens and surgical tools they said Bayless used to stitch up dogs after fights.

Could the collars have been used to tire and calm aggressive dogs? The tools used to legally clip dogs' ears? Rodriguez, as defense attorneys always do, tried to cast reasonable doubt on the State's case.

In another interesting part of the trial, jurors saw a tattoo on Bayless' arm depicting a dog and the words, "scratch to win."

A lottery reference, the defense attorney posed.

Marine lingo, Bayless' twin brother, Michael, said.

Jurors saw blood sport magazines and records of fights. Rodriguez noted some of it was a decade old and said it was just "ancient history" strewn about a messy house.

But Silver responded, "We covet what we keep, and that is what this is about."

"Yeah, it started a long time ago," she said. "But there is no evidence that it ever stopped."

Regardless of whether Bayless if found Guilty of these charges, what is plainly clear is that these dogs suffered. And, as a dog lover, that's a shame.

Continue reading "TAMPA: Dog Fighting Trial in the Hands of a Hillsborough County Jury" »