Recent Blog Posts
Can An Anonymous Letter Prove A Defendant’s Guilt?
Everyone has complaints about the effect that the Internet has on our lives. Most people complain that it competes for our attention, taking it away from the things that really matter, like family and sleep. For people who work in professions where evidence matters, such as medicine and law, have a specific pet peeve,… Read More »
Look Out, Florida, Here Comes Flysky
Visits to the vet are stressful for pets and their human handlers alike. Even though our animal friends do not have the language to tell us what is bothering them, they often receive diagnoses similar to the ones that human patients receive from physicians. They suffer from the aches and pains of old age… Read More »
What Is Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel?
What does it mean to have a fair trial? The Bill of Rights sheds some light on the matter, and case law has further interpreted it. For example, a fair trial should take place soon enough after the original accusations that the defendant does not have to spend years in suspense about his or… Read More »
Lottery Winner Arrested For Assaulting Police Officer During Trip To Florida
If you win the lottery jackpot, the lessons you will learn will be more valuable than anything you buy. Money can’t buy happiness. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Be careful what you wish for. No one is above the law. News stories about lottery winners fall into two categories. Either… Read More »
Florida’s Sentencing Guidelines For Youthful Offenders
People in their late teens and early 20s are legally adults. They can engage in adult activities such as marriage and getting tattoos, but the current version of you probably resembles your 25-year-old self more closely than it resembles your 20-year-old self. The criminal justice system acknowledges that the defendant’s age makes a difference;… Read More »
Theft From The Trust Of A Deceased Person
Estate planning is a big business. People will pay a lot of money to keep people from stealing their money, or otherwise using it in ways other than what the client wants, after the client dies. You could chalk people’s efforts to micromanage from beyond the grave to a fear of mortality. They are… Read More »
Does Hearsay Count As Evidence Or Gossip?
Talk is cheap, even when it is big business. These days, it seems like everyone aspires to make a living by running their mouth on social media, giving their reactions to other people’s reactions to videos depicting events that, in the grand scheme of things, are inconsequential. It is to everyone’s benefit that these… Read More »
Credit Card Theft
Some people are outspoken about their caution regarding letting other people know their credit card numbers or bank account numbers. These same people do not hesitate to enter their credit card numbers online and agree to recurring charges when they subscribe to a service. They also do not hesitate to send checks in the… Read More »
Criminal Charges For Leaving Children Unattended
Florida law does not indicate a specific age at which children can stay home alone or for how long parents can leave children home alone before their behavior counts as neglect. Disagreements over when and for how long it is appropriate to leave children home alone are a frequent source of co-parenting disputes among… Read More »
Problem-Solving Courts Are All Around You
For years, lawmakers introduced more and more punitive responses to repeated minor offenses until people were serving life sentences for minor crimes. For example, Leandro Andrade is serving a life sentence in California for stealing VHS tapes from K-Mart because of three strikes laws that were on the books at the time of his… Read More »
