Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

March 11, 2022

What You Should Ask Before Hiring a Personal Injury Lawyer

While an initial consultation with a personal injury lawyer is used to help you get a professional evaluation of your case, it should also be used to help you evaluate the skills and integrity of the attorney. Since the quality of your lawyer will contribute to the outcome of your case, it’s important to look for the best possible attorney to represent you.

Do You Have Experience Handling My Kind of Case?

When seeking any type of legal advice, the one thing you will commonly hear is that it’s important to seek out an experienced attorney. While this is important, it’s more important to find a lawyer with the specific type of experience you require for the handling of your case. This goes beyond differentiating between a criminal defense attorney and a personal injury lawyer in Lakeland FL or your local area.

February 14, 2022

Encounters With the Police, the Definition of Police Custody, and When the Police Must Read You Your ‘Miranda’ Rights in Florida

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Comedian Ron White once described an interaction with police outside a bar thusly: “I had the right to remain silent… but I didn’t have the ability.” The reality is that “adult beverages” have made a lot of people say things they later wished they hadn’t. If something you or a loved one drunkenly said could potentially be harmful in a criminal case, you need every resource you can get to try to exclude those statements from your trial. Make sure that the main resource you secure is the services of a skilled Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer.

Last spring was apparently a prolific time for these kinds of scenarios here in the Sunshine State. Back in April, police encountered a 28-year-old woman outside a bar in St. Petersburg allegedly drunk and offering lap dances to passersby. The police said the woman first asked them if they were going to “bang her” and, later, asked if they were going to shoot her.

In May, Ocala police responded to a report of a woman in a bikini trespassing at a motel pool. The Dunnellon woman was “verbally aggressive,” and told police that the hotel manager reported her solely because the female manager was “jealous that her body looked good.”

February 9, 2022

Reduce Work-Related Injuries: Strategies to Create a Safe Working Environment

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Every year, workers suffer from several work-related injuries that range from tendonitis to muscle sprains, and in extreme cases, nerve damage. Human resource (HR) managers, therefore, are required to oversee many tasks to provide a safe working atmosphere for their staff.

The 1970 Occupational Health and Safety Act (OSHA) is in place to ensure workers operate under safe working conditions. The act allows the enforcement of workplace safety policies and helps employers to provide a suitable working environment by offering training and research for everything related to work safety. The following are strategies that HR can use to provide a safe working environment for their staff.

Know the Rules and Regulations

January 20, 2022

Modern Technology, Remote Witness Testimony, the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment, and Florida Criminal Trials

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Modern technology has touched all areas of life. Things that would have been impossible 50 years ago are common today. Even with the application of modern technology, all the rights and privileges established by the constitution remain in place. A prosecutor inevitably doesn’t want to lose a child witness’s testimony due to the child’s fear or lose an ill person’s testimony because poor health prevented their travel. However, the Constitution still requires that a criminal defendant be confronted by the witnesses against him. That’s true whether the witness is 10 feet away in the courtroom or thousands of miles away on a video feed. Ensuring that all your rights — including the Sixth Amendment’s Confrontation Clause rights — are protected is an essential part of any criminal defense, and is just one area among the many where it pays to have a skilled Tampa Bay criminal defense attorney on your side.

Earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court issued a very important ruling in a case involving these issues of modern technology and constitutional rights.

The underlying crime was the double murder of a couple who lived together just north of Fort Lauderdale. The prosecution’s star witness was the accused man’s mother. The state wanted her to testify about the suspect’s allegedly having taken the couple’s credit cards and SUV, driven to the mother’s home in the stolen vehicle, disposed of certain pieces of evidence while there, and ultimately dumped the stolen vehicle at a Walmart store near the mother’s home.

December 21, 2021

Exposing the Holes in the State’s Evidence to Defeat the Probation Violation Charge Against You

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

When you are facing an allegation that you violated your probation, every detail matters, as each detail may represent a piece of the puzzle that is your defense. Sometimes, the difference between defeating a violation case and going back to jail for several years may be something that seems very small to you. A skilled Tampa Bay probation violation lawyer, however, can spot those seemingly-small-but-actually-very-important details and utilize them to keep you from going back to jail.

Look at the probation violation case of J.T., a Brevard County man, and you can see just much these small pieces of the puzzle can matter.

Several months after J.T. got out on probation, J.T.’s probation officer filed papers with the court alleging that J.T. was in violation. Specifically, the officer accused J.T. of reporting a false address and changing his residence without obtaining the probation officer’s prior approval.

December 14, 2021

Ticket Defense Lawyer Importance For Truck Drivers

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Truck driving is one of the most exciting professions in the country, and many individuals consider this to be a fantastic way to pursue a career. For some people, trucks travel is attractive because it can provide them with a lot of independence. There are times when truck owners find themselves far from their homes and loved ones; unfortunately, they also need to make crucial decisions regarding truck ownership, such as buying cars insurance.

Ticket defense lawyer importance for truck drivers has been rising for the past few years due to the greater number of regulations enforced by state and local governments. Ticket defense lawyer importance is especially essential for commercial truck drivers that receive citations for regulations specifically related to their occupation, including speeding, driving within a percentage range of BAC, following too closely behind other vehicles, defective equipment violations, violation of CDL regulations, and more.

Truck driving is not just a job; it’s a way of life. Many truck drivers believe that the only time they’re pleased is when they’re driving their rig down an open highway on their way to destinations unknown or familiar. For many people, what matters is how much do truck drivers make their earnings, and this is considered an ideal lifestyle. Still, with the added responsibility of ensuring you arrive safely at your destination, there are where things can get stressful if you run into problems along the road.

November 19, 2021

What the Rittenhouse Case in Wisconsin Can Teach Floridians About Affirmative Defenses, Burdens of Proof, and Criminal Trials in This State

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Many people across the country were riveted these past few weeks by the homicide trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Many people were happy with the outcome; many more were profoundly disappointed. Regardless of one’s feelings about the trial’s result, there are certain things that we can all learn from the trial and why the jury decided as they did. Although the Tampa Bay area is 1,200+ miles from Kenosha and Wisconsin’s laws are not Florida’s, one thing that is nearly universal is how important the right defense strategy can be. That’s why, if you or a loved one is on trial or potentially facing charges here, it pays to have a knowledgeable Tampa Bay criminal defense attorney on your side.

For those unfamiliar with the background events, Kyle Rittenhouse was a teen who lived 20 miles south of Kenosha and who traveled to the city on August 25, 2021, after a series of protests the day before had included arson, vandalism, and property damage. (The protests had begun after local police shot and paralyzed a Black man.)

During the night of August 25, Rittenhouse was involved in a pair of confrontations with protestors. During those confrontations, Rittenhouse shot at four men, hitting three and killing two.

November 8, 2021

Vehicle Air Fresheners in Florida: What a 16-Year-Old Ruling Says About When the Police Can (and Can’t) Pull You Over

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Many criminal cases, including those here in Florida, begin not with a police search executed pursuant to a valid search warrant, but with a traffic stop. In a significant percentage of those cases, that initial stop was unlawful, which means that all the evidence obtained as a result of that stop should be suppressed at trial. Getting that gun, those drugs, or other evidence excluded from your criminal case requires a skillfully crafted and coherently advanced motion to suppress, and that represents just one of the multitude of places where a knowledgeable Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer can make the difference between conviction and acquittal.

Traffic stops have, of course, been in the news lately, including to our north. D.W., a Minnesota man, was pulled over by police and, eventually, was fatally shot by one of those officers. Police said that they pulled D.W. over for an expired license plate but, shortly before his death, D.W. told his mother that he believed the police had pulled him over for the air fresheners hanging from his rearview mirror.

In Minnesota, things like air fresheners and fuzzy dice hanging from your rearview mirror are a valid basis for pulling you over. But here in Florida, the air freshener you have hanging from your rearview mirror cannot be the grounds for a valid traffic stop and, if the police do that, then any evidence they find is something you potentially can get suppressed. We know this because of a 2005 case decided by the Second District Court of Appeal in Lakeland.

October 22, 2021

What to Do When the State Has Overcharged You in Your Florida Criminal Case

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Putting up “the best possible defense” can mean different things in different cases. Sometimes, it’s about establishing your complete and total innocence. Other times, it is about demonstrating that, even if you did something wrong, the prosecution has advanced charges that do not fit the facts. Whatever form your “best defense” looks like, be sure you have retained an experienced Tampa Bay criminal defense lawyer to help get the best outcome available to you under the law.

Some cases have an “only in Florida” flair because they involve the misguided exploits of Florida Man (or Florida Woman.) Other times, a case has an “only in Florida” flavor for reasons wholly unrelated to the alleged perpetrator involved.

This criminal case is an example of the latter. First, as background, it is important to understand that the State of Florida takes the illegal collection and sale of alligators, alligator hatchlings, and alligator eggs very seriously. So much so that, a few years ago, the Florida Wildlife Commission set up a sting operation at an alligator egg processing facility in DeSoto County.

September 17, 2021

Lessons to Take Away from the Court Ruling that Overturned Bill Cosby’s Criminal Conviction

by Blake & Dorsten, P.A.

Public perception of the criminal justice system can be skewed. People follow cases on TV or the internet, they form opinions, then they want the “bad guy” punished. They often don’t care about the finer points of proper criminal procedure… right until they are the person facing a potential criminal conviction. That’s when they gain a whole new understanding of the importance of fundamental fairness in a criminal case. Part of ensuring fundamental fairness in your case is exercising your right to obtain a skilled Tampa Bay criminal defense attorney.

Back in late June, in a ruling that made headlines around the world, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania tossed the sex crimes conviction of famed comedian and actor Bill Cosby.

A lot of people were very angry about Cosby being set free. Undeniably, the things of which he was accused were abhorrent. However, if one digs deeper into what the Supreme Court ruled, one can see the fundamental notions of fairness that undergird our criminal system required the outcome the court reached.