Fleeing an Attempting to Elude: Dismissed

People have a belief that if they are not guilty of something, then the State will just dismiss the charge. Occasionally, this is true:

However, as you can see above, this is a nolle prosequi, not a no prosecution. What does that mean?

This means that someone had to fight to get the charge voluntarily dismissed. Evidence had to be collected, analyzed, and multiple negotiations were necessary to secure this dismissal. Specific to this case, a joint review with the ASA of the dash cam evidence.

People often still try to represent themselves and wonder why their case blows up in their face, but this Okaloosa County client wisely hired counsel early on, and months later, obtained a dismissal.

Felony Plea Bargaining in Florida

Many people underestimate the value of a skilled criminal defense lawyer when it comes to negotiating a felony plea bargain. Specifically, a plea bargain is the process by which the State and the defense hammer out an agreement to be ratified by a presiding judge for sentencing.

Felony sentencing is much trickier than misdemeanor sentencing because felonies invoke the Florida Punishment Code.

Under the FPC, points are assessed for a variety of factors, and a total point number is very important: above 44 points, and a sentence must be a prison sentence unless a lawful downward departure is demonstrated.

Finding downward departure grounds is time consuming, difficult, yet can make all of the difference in the world between going to prison or getting community supervision.

Okaloosa County's Mental Health Court

Okaloosa County has a unique diversion program: Mental Health Court.

Mental Health Court addresses a very serious and expensive problem: what do we do with people who have chronic mental health conditions and find themselves getting arrested because they cannot control their behavior?

The normal answer, lock them up in jail or send them for years to state prison, is increasing looked upon as a last resort. Frankly, a growing consensus is leaning towards a more damning indictment - stupid.

The target population is not deterred by incarceration. Probation equals violation. Jail becomes a revolving door. Here is a common example:

John Doe is arrested for trespass at a liquor store after he refuses to leave. Drunk and obnoxious, he is taken to jail and processed. Since he cannot make bond, he stays. Worse, he has to be kept in special housing because he is a management problem, requires expensive medical care including mental health medication, and he will ultimately be sentenced to time already served. He will be medically stable for a short time, but this is temporary. He will be penniless when he is released, run out of medication, and within a few weeks or months, get arrested again.

A normal inmate will cost around fifty dollars ($50) each and every day in jail. (Please spare me the 'make them pay' nonsense - stupid is not the new smart). However, John Doe will cost almost twice that amount and will be arrested twenty to thirty times in his lifetime.

Florida's Mental Health Court is a step in the right direction, however, there is little funding for proper diagnosis and virtually no funding to study the program's effectiveness. Brain imaging based diagnostics would be the most cost effective way to solve this problem, yet once again the powers that be prefer penny wise and pound foolish: the money for a proper diagnosis is never provided and another bandaid measure is the law of the State.

Diversion programs in Florida: How they are abused

Florida has many forms of "diversion programs" or "specialty courts" where the key selling point in the complete and total dismissal of all criminal charges. Sounds awesome, right?

There is a catch.

First, this selling point usually fools people into thinking that they do not need legal counsel. After all, they reason, why not save on legal fees? They have messed up, so they reason, saving on legal fees is seen as a form of damage control.

Second, charges get dismissed: isn't that a great outcome? So, people often try to DIY, and:

• make incriminating statements to law enforcement in the field prior to or just after the arrest
• make incriminating statements to government officials 
• are unable to understand why they have so many burdensome requirements
• are frustrated by the intense level of government snooping supervision which seems worse than probation
• find out that they have to wait months and months for the ever elusive dismissal
• find out how easy it is for that dismissal to evaporate upon the slightest reason - being $5 short on a payment, late for a single minute, miss an appointment because the car breaks down, etc.
• Having entered a plea of guilty or no contest in order to get the dismissal, discover that the slightest mistake results in a jail or even a prison sentence
• learn they still have criminal history and often do not find out until months or even years later
• discover they actually had legal defenses that would have beaten the case or worse . . . 
• learn that the whole process would have been less burdensome, easier, quicker and result in zero criminal history if they had hired a skilled criminal defense lawyer.

These are just some of the problems that go with 1) the carrot of a charge dismissal, and; 2) the reality instead of the illusion.

A good rule of thumb for when to hire a criminal defense lawyer is simple: is any aspect of the potential penalty a jail or prison sentence? If the answer is yes, then hiring a criminal defense attorney is a no brainer. A skilled criminal defense lawyer can help you navigate the mine field of Florida criminal law and negotiate for the best terms for settlement, especially if a diversion program may be on the table.

Over 120+ Florida Criminal Law Educational Videos

Many years ago, I began spending time in front of the camera producing educational videos about Florida Criminal Law. Now, many years later, it gives me great pride to announce that we have over 120+ educational videos on our Youtube Channel and will have over 500+ by the end of the year.

I've always enjoyed shooting film on various different aspects of my profession, but now with the assistance of Lisa Northern Photography, more video is being produced than ever before. Entire series are in the works, and I could not produce this much material without LNP's assistance.

So, here is the introduction to the Cobb Law Firm channel. Hope you enjoy.

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.

How the CJS manipulates Complaining Witnesses after a Domestic Violence Arrest

When someone has been arrested for a domestic violence charge, one of the key areas for legal guidance concerns what to do about a Florida no contact order. As you read this entry and watch the video below, here is your fact pattern: Complaining Witness and Defendant are drinking, have an argument, and 911 is called. The police respond, separate the parties, and start interrogating. The woman is crying, the man refuses to talk, so he goes to jail. She is devastated, and begs the police not to take him to jail. 

I could make a more interesting fact pattern, but the one shared above is one that is a daily occurrence - not "frequent," daily.

No contact orders are usually imposed as a condition of bond at first appearance. This is obviously problematic, since a) a criminal defendant is presumed innocent, yet b) he or she is kicked out of their residence after spending a night or two in jail. Since this article is designed for practical advice, I'll spare you the gender politics that led us to this highly biased and unnecessary knee jerk reaction that poisons every case. However, be advised that no contact orders are automatically imposed in every case unless the complaining witness shows up at first appearance begging for the defendant to be allowed to return home, or the defendant is somehow able to obtain legal counsel.

Usually, no contact orders are lifted at a separate hearing due to the absence of legal counsel. They are then transformed into "No Violence Contact" orders while the case is pending. This allows the parties to have nonviolent contact, and the defendant usually can then return home.

If you think the system is rigged, this area of criminal law virtually proves it: the system is set up for no contact orders as the default in every domestic violence case. Worse, the Complaining Witness is often given bad advice in order to help convict the defendant.

For example, in many cases, the Complainant is told to "go to the State Attorney's Office and ask to have it lifted" or to go there and "ask to have the charges dropped." This has the appearance of being helpful, but exposes the Complainant to outright manipulation: many are told that if they lied, that perjury is a felony. However, they are also told that if they recant, they have filed a false police report and will go to jail immediately - how do you think this impacts their statements? Worse, many are sent to "victims" propaganda classes as a condition of their request for a change in bond conditions to even be considered.

In other words, the criminal justice system is set up to manipulate to purported victims of domestic violence in the same manner that their "counseling and empowerment" classes warn about. Therefore, the best way to handle this situation is with an experienced criminal defense lawyer, preferably one who is certified as an expert in the field.