Walton County, Florida, Pretrial Diversion

Pretrial diversion is a hot topic, and one that is often more abused than the lay person realizes. Why? when people think they have a poor case, or if they feel remorse because they are in fact, guilty, they often begin to feel a series of emotions that cloud their thinking.

For example, we have all heard the famous phrasing of the Miranda Warning, yet people still talk to the police, spill their guts, and have their words used against them - whether they are guilty or not. Likewise, with Pretrial Diversion, people ration of lies rationalize that they will "save money" by handling their case by themselves - and this is where the legal system pulls a fast one:

• they are offered pretrial diversion when they have a stronger case than they realize. Instead of an outright dismissal, charge reduction, or charge substitution, the person takes an unfavorable deal out of ignorance.
• they lack the negotiating skill to handle negotiating terms of pretrial diversion like a skilled criminal defense lawyer. Thus the State Attorney's Office takes advantage of the person's lack of knowledge and puts burdensome terms in the pretrial diversion agreement, terms no lawyer would recommend blind acceptance to. 
• their pretrial diversion is supervised when they could have obtained an unsupervised Deferred Prosecution Agreement

For each of these things, one thing is common: the lack of a skilled criminal defense lawyer negotiating on a defendant's behalf.

Settlement negotiations are one of the most important things criminal defense lawyers do to help people when they find themselves at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and accused of being on the wrong side of the law.

Advanced Plea Bargaining in Florida Criminal Cases.

Advanced Plea Bargaining using SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) brain imaging based Diagnostic Evaluations and Treatment plans. This short video explains something I am deeply passionate about: solving the problem of crime.

Treating the problem of crime is far more effective than jail or prison, whether someone has a prior record or is a first offender seeking mitigation of sentence.

Sentencing Orders and Diversion Programs

Not to be snarky, but I think this tidbit from Amen Clinic is dead on the money:

"Psychiatrists are the only medical specialists who rarely look at the organ they treat. Psychiatrists continue to make diagnoses the same way they did 100 years ago, based on clinical exams and symptom clusters. There is a better way. SPECT imaging is a clinically useful way to look at brain function." 18 Ways that SPECT can Help You

We see this in Florida Criminal Law on a regular basis. Uniformed prosecutors, criminal defense lawyers and judges do not understand that the brain is the hardware and mind is the software. Florida Criminal Law has attempted to inch forward into the 21st century with first offender and other diversion programs such as Drug Court, Mental Health Court, and Veteran's Court. Yet these programs - and others - are quite frankly, an intellectual embarrassment. We need a change that is not incremental, but one on an order of magnitude. We need to put the money in the system up front and get the most accurate diagnostic evaluations possible, and that means the use of imaging technologies such as SPECT.

Each of these diversion programs essentially use outdated technology. Sure, they are better than expensive, harsh, incarcerative sentences, yet they usually fail in the long run. Why? They don't look at the organ sought to be treated. 

Florida Criminal Law revolves around discovery - the process of learning about the other side's case in the form of reports, witness lists, depositions, examination of physical evidence and more. Yet when it comes to diversion programs and sentencing orders designed to treat the bodily organ responsible for some of the most dangerous and damaging behaviors which are reasonably foreseeable to recur, we rely on guesswork. This is especially true for Mental Health Court, Veteran's Court, Drug Court and sentencing conditions such as Anger Management and Domestic Violence Intervention Programs. How bad can it get? A war veteran tried and convicted of quadruple homicide when he was making an obvious cry for help for several years. Four innocent people dead, including three children, and the taxpayers literally pay millions of dollars for the sentence imposed. 

For clarity, let me add this disclaimer: Not everyone needs treatment nor a SPECT scan. Yet many do, and guesswork in the place of discovery would often be a ground for a Rule 3.850 Ineffective Assistance of Counsel motion. Yet our laws, rules, procedures, sentencing protocols, treatment diagnostics and basic problem solving skills as lawyers and judges are simply tossed out of the window of common sense.  Our legal test for insanity is from the 1830's. 

Finally, there will be the doubters who question the technology or the approach, and even more who will complain about the cost. Yet these are often the same people calling for more and more prison time without mention of the cost to the taxpayers. Cost is not the excuse, cost is the biggest reason. Inadequately funding diversion programs is foolish, funding them for accurate diagnostics and verifiable treatment results just makes good fiscal sense.