Recent Blog Posts
Florida Attorney General Aims to Vacate Convictions of Defendants Convicted in Illegal Reverse Drug Sting
It isn’t easy to get others to admit that they were wrong. You especially face an uphill battle when someone else’s wrongdoing has undermined your credibility. If you plead guilty to a crime, or if a jury convicts you on trial, you have a criminal conviction on your record, which prospective employers and landlords…. Read More »
What Is Considered Inadmissible Evidence?
In highly publicized trials, every piece of evidence presented by the prosecution or defense is a surprise to the readers or the television audience. You might wonder how, in the video footage or the courtroom sketches, the judge sits expressionless. Perhaps a flawless poker face is part of the judge’s job description; maybe this… Read More »
Is Hearsay Evidence Admissible in Criminal Court?
You know the old saying about how you should believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. Think about all the terrible things people say about each other all day long. Someone does a silly dance, and someone else films it and posts it on YouTube, and soon everyone in… Read More »
AI Meets Healthcare Fraud
You know you are old when you are nostalgic for earlier forms of web content. Not too long ago, if you wanted to take a trip down memory lane, you could type the domain name of your favorite Geocities page and read someone’s ungrammatical, but all too human, fanfiction in lavender text on a… Read More »
Don’t Be a Fugitive From Justice
News stories about fugitives are exhilarating, and fictional stories about them are doubly so. Depending on how the storyteller presents the events, you might put yourself in the place of the police pursuing the fugitive, or you might put yourself in the place of the fugitive, knowing that he is innocent or that, even… Read More »
What To Know About Problem Solving Courts
People might tell you that the purpose of the criminal courts is not to punish people, but it does not feel that way when you are facing charges that can result in monetary fines, probation, or even prison time. Likewise, no one falls for it when prisons bear signs with euphemisms like “correctional facility.”… Read More »
Domestic Violence With No Eyewitnesses
Domestic violence in real life does not look like it does in the movies. Sometimes domestic violence survivors do not tell anyone about the abuse they have experienced until years later, until they are far enough from the family member who committed the violence that he or she cannot easily retaliate. Therapists know this. … Read More »
What You Should Know About Traffic Crimes In Miami
A major part of the fun of living in Florida is bending the rules of the road. Yes, everyone knows that it is dangerous to drive at 90 miles per hour, but who are you harming if it is 4:00 in the morning, and the only witnesses to your impressive speed are the iguanas… Read More »
Everything You Emote Can and Will Be Used Against You
Interpreting someone else’s emotional affect is more difficult than it looks. How many times have you understood someone’s words but misinterpreted the person’s facial expression or vocal intonation? The emotional expressiveness of witnesses can influence jurors’ votes; only 12 people know exactly what happens in each deliberation room, but it stands to reason that… Read More »
Kratom and Its Bratty Offspring
It has been a long time since kratom was the latest big thing. In fact, kratom has not been new at any point in recorded history. The Mitragyna speciosa tree grows wild in the Indochina Peninsula and the islands of Indonesia, all the way to New Guinea, and people there have been using its… Read More »
Can I Get Arrested For Possession Of Tianeptine?
Most drugs of abuse are prescription drugs that are sometimes legal for medical use. If you have ever had surgery, you have probably been under the influence of fentanyl, albeit a tiny dose carefully monitored by an anesthesiologist. Even cocaine is Schedule II, because surgeons can use it topically to prevent bleeding during eye… Read More »
Even Possession of Psilocybin Spores Is Illegal
Birds do it. Bees do it. Everything has its own way of reproducing, but you have probably never wanted to think about how fungi reproduce. Of course, this is the age of the endless bombardment of unsolicited content suggestions, so this means that, if you are going to find out about fungus reproduction, it… Read More »
Facing Sexual Cyberharassment Charges?
Everyone knows that most of what you see online is not real, but that does not stop it ruining your day. Everywhere you click, there are digitally enhanced images of impossibly beautiful people, and even though you know that they do not look like that in real life, it still bothers you that you… Read More »
Posting Bond: The Next Best Thing to Freedom
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution prohibits excessive bail and, in the same breath, also prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. It implies that detaining defendants who have not been convicted is unjust, that requiring them to post bail in exchange for their freedom is just, and that setting the bail amounts so high that… Read More »
What To Do When Facing Money Laundering Charges
Three individuals now face up to 30 years in federal prison after being charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. The case involved a stolen Treasury check worth over $1 million, fraudulent identities, and the establishment of illegitimate bank accounts. This high-profile case demonstrates the substantial resources that federal… Read More »
Immunity From Prosecution in Criminal Cases
The Fifth Amendment is not just for when you are on the witness stand. In general, you have the right to choose not to say things in the presence of law enforcement or prosecutors, or under oath during depositions, that could lead to you being convicted of criminal charges that you are currently facing… Read More »
The Synthetic Psychedelic 2C-B
A generation ago, a literary drug adventure might have taken the form of following the recipe for pot brownies in the Alice B. Toklas Cookbook. Today, you can scroll aimlessly through subreddits about popular recreational drugs and lesser known “research chemicals.” This is a depressing state of affairs, where even drug experimentation, once known… Read More »
Charged With Sex Trafficking in South Florida?
If your goal is to have a career as a serious writer, the first rule you must learn is, “Know your audience.” If your goal is to succeed in today’s attention economy, the first rule to learn is, “Sex sells.” Even before influencers had to compete with countless competitors for an audience who would… Read More »
Socioeconomic Class and Criminal Defense Cases
It is not just your imagination that the criminal justice system treats people differently depending on their background. Jurors are more likely to look at a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks who got charged with reckless driving and drug possession as a lowlife who was fortunate enough to get caught before… Read More »
Classical Rhetoric in Florida Criminal Defense Cases
Math and science nerds may get bullied, but humanities nerds are at the bottom of the social ladder in high school. When your criminal defense lawyer was in high school, the math and science nerds taunted her about the fact that they would get careers where they could make so much money that they… Read More »
