Author Archives: Jay Butchko
What’s In Store For Florida Cannabis Laws In 2024?
It has been a long time since anyone has gotten arrested in Palm Beach County simply for having a small bag of weed in their pocket, but Florida continues to operate under a set of sometimes ambiguous and sometimes contradictory laws about cannabis. Those laws are always changing, as some legislators want to place… Read More »
Is It A Good Idea To Testify At Your Own Criminal Trial?
Defendants in criminal cases have the right to remain silent. They also have the right to tell their side of the story. Deciding whether to testify at your own criminal trial is a big decision, as big as the decision regarding whether to plead not guilty and go to trial or to plead guilty… Read More »
Eyewitness Testimony Is Overrated
If you have gotten far enough in your criminal case that you have met with a defense attorney, then you probably know that most defendants plead guilty, and only a small percentage of cases go to trial. Some defendants plead guilty because they readily admit fault and believe that, since a guilty plea usually… Read More »
Can Defendants Win Their Case At The Preliminary Hearing?
When you first meet with a criminal defense lawyer after an arrest, you might be hoping that your lawyer will help you by persuading the jury to acquit you at your trial. The chances are that your lawyer will not do this, because trials are only the outcome in a small fraction of criminal… Read More »
What Should You Do If Someone Close To You Gets Charged With A Crime?
A brother and sister from southeastern Florida are currently facing criminal charges for Medicare fraud. Ted Albin of Stuart and Erin Foley of Loxahatchee own a durable medical equipment (DME) company that provides supplies such as wheelchairs and supplemental oxygen equipment. Their company allegedly filed more than $9 million of fraudulent claims to Medicare. … Read More »
When To Speak And When To Stay Silent In Your Criminal Case
Even though you probably already know that you have the right to remain silent while being questioned by police, the officer who arrests you must inform you of this upon your arrest, as part of the Miranda warnings. The police might try to charm you into talking. They might make friendly conversation or start… Read More »
Using An Alibi In Your Criminal Defense Case
The alibi defense, in which you claim that you could not have committed the crime because you were somewhere else when it occurred, is one of the simplest defenses that defendants can use at a criminal trial. You do not have to graduate from law school to understand the concept of alibi. It is… Read More »
The Entrapment Defense And Drug Cases
Defendants in criminal cases sometimes base their defenses on the concept of illegal search and seizure, a practice forbidden by the Fourth Amendment. In other words, they claim that they committed the crime, but the police had no right to catch them doing it. For example, this defense applies if a defendant had illegal… Read More »
Post-Conviction Relief: How And Why
Only a tiny fraction of defendants in criminal cases make it their goal to have the last word; most of them just want to put their criminal cases behind them. The vast majority of cases result in guilty pleas; defendants want their sentences to start and end as quickly as possible, so that they… Read More »
Affirmative Defenses: Do You Dare To Confess While Maintaining Your Innocence?
In civics class, your teachers make it sound like the answer to any question about whether you did what the police are accusing you of doing is a simple “yes” or “no.” You begin your adult life thinking that, if the answer is, “yes, I did it,” then your criminal defense lawyer helps you… Read More »
