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The other day I was covering court here or a law firm out of South Florida. They asked if I would stand in for a DUI plea, and because I had court in that courtroom anyway, I told them I would be happy to do it. After meeting the client and speaking to her for a while, she was shocked to learn that the lawyer that she hired was not a 'st. augustine attorney', but one from south florida, hundreds of miles away. In this specific case, it probably didnt matter; and I will also preface this by saying that from what I know of this particular law firm, they do a good job.
However, when someone goes to the trouble of getting on the internet and googles "attorney st. augustine' or 'attorney des moines iowa', or 'attorney wherever', that person is trying to find an attorney in that specific area. Unfortunately, what has happened is that these law offices who spend thousands of dollars advertising on google, pay so their names come up in every county. Then, even worse, is when the client calls them to ask if they are in st augustine, they will say "we have an office there'. Well, they dont. And this happens in every city nationwide. Sadly, what the client is left with, is a big fee because they believe that attorneys who cover cases statewide must be worth the money. Invariably, at the end of their cases, almost all of these clients regret the decision. I am not saying that if you get arrested in St. Augustine, you need to hire a lawyer in St. Augustine. I would, but there are plenty of capable attorneys from around the area that could help you.
The point of the blog is to be careful and look out for this. I have been doing this for 14 years and have been to many counties. In the rare event that I take a case outside of my county, I make sure to call an attorney in that county to ask what to do. The good attorneys who come down from bigger cities like Jacksonville will often call local counsel for advice. Just use common sense, the local attorneys know the local system and it is different everywhere.
Probably 95% of my practice is in St. Augustine and every time i receive a call from someone asking me to take a case somewhere else, I make sure they are aware that my only office is here. This is not to say that being from out of town is always a disadvantage, many times it isnt. There are plenty of good attorneys that are fully capable of handling out of town cases, but the hiring of a lawyer is a very important decision. The last thing you need to be concerned with is a lawyer that is trying to be deceptive. And if you are googling "attorney st. augustine' and that attorney isnt either in st. augustine or hasnt handled numerous cases in st. augustine, that is deceptive.
It is clear by the statements from Ocmulgee County District Attorney Fred Bright that the decision not to prosecute Roethlisberger was based entirely on the lack of evidence and the victim's unwillingness to cooperate. So often in sexual assault cases, it is just one persons word against the others. Often times, the victim doesnt want to prosecute because of embrassment or fear or both.
These are usually the most difficult cases for prosecutors to decide on. The prosecutor may think that the person is guilty of the crime but a responsible prosecutor will base his/her decision not on whether the person did it, yet whether he/she can prove it. Sometimes this isnt the most popular decision but it is the right decision. This case where the accusor didnt want to pursue it, plus a poorly investigated crime scene, ended without charges being filed. This is usually the case in similar situations.
It is impossible to give an educated opinion as to whether or not he committed any crime, but it is obvious that at the least , he used very poor judgment. I commend the District Attorney on the way he took the time, looked at everything he had, and made a tough, yet the right decision.
As for Roethlisberger, he definitely has some serious problems. Hopefully it is just stupidity vs. dangerous sexual predatory behavior.
1st dui, if you take breath test and are over a .08, you will be eligible to get a hardship license after a 30 day suspension (if you have completed the dui school)
1st dui, if you refused to tke the breath test, you will be eligible to get a hardship license after a minimum of 90 days (if you have completed the dui school)
2nd dui w/in 5 years, you probably will not be eligible for a hardship for at least a caelndar year
3rd dui w/in 10 years, you probably will not be eligible for a hardship for at least 2 years
possession of any type of drug (pot, cocaine, x, etc) will result in a 2 year suspension if you are convicted. the time you will have to wait to obtain any type of hardship will depend on whether or not there was a vehicle involved in the crime. the length of suspension is longer if you or the drugs were found in a vehicle.
the laws are getting a lot tougher and the legislature is imposing DL suspensions on a lot more charges.
if you have any question about any of this, you can always call our law office at 904-829-3035. It does not cost you anything to call and ask questions
In Florida now, when you plead guilty/no contest, or are found guilty of ANY drug possession charge, your drivers license will be suspended.
Just last week, a client called and told me he was caught in possession of 'a joint'. I explained to him that if he pleads guilty or no contest to this charge, his drivers license will be suspended for 2 years. This is the case now in Florida with any possession charge, whether it is pot, cocaine, ecstasy, etc.
A common misconception here is that people think if the Judge withholds adjudication (you aren't convicted), then the suspension does not go into effect. This is not correct. Any plea or finding of guilt in a possession case = a license suspension. So be careful taking these cases too lightly.
I have found that in most of my cases recently, the prosecutors are open to negotiation and will sometimes let you plead to something else instead of possession so your DL doesn't get suspended.
In the past few years, we have represented numerous clients who get hooked on prescription drugs and then end up selling the drugs to then feed their habit, which often becomes a 'one hundred to five hundred dollar a day' habit. The worst part about these cases is that so many of them start with the client innocently going to the doctor for an injury and the doctor prescribing a ridiculous dosage of pain killer that is both unnecessary and very addicting. Unfortunately, because the laws are they way they are, these doctors are almost always protected from prosecution.
Don't get me wrong, probably 80% or more of the health professionals out there do not do this. Furthermore, there are probably another 10% that are making judgment calls, and who am I (who knows nothing about medicine) to be the one calling these doctors out. But, so may stories of clients going to the doctor with a mild injury and leaving with a high milligram oxycontin prescription, it is just unreal that they get away with this.
There are few drugs nowadays more powerful and addicting than oxycontin and once the cycle begins of a)client prescribed oxycontin, b)client gets addicted to oxycontin, c)client needs oxycontin every day d)client sells oxycontin to feed habit, there is really nothing that can stop it but death, arrest, or becoming a victim. It is very common that you see undercover officers going out and arresting the drug dealer in the bad neighborhood selling $20 of cocaine to a junkie. Yet, tens of thousands of doctors (and i hesitate to the call them doctors because they are an embarassmnent to the profession) can look at an MRI and know nothing is wrong with a person, yet prescribe an amount of drugs that they know the patient will become dependant on.
Not to mention, the 'corner drug dealer' is usually making 1/20th of what the clown falsely precribing this medication does. The purpose of this blog is not to condone any sort of drug dealing. The undercover detectives in our county do a great job, put their lives on the line, and our helping remove some of the most dangerous people from our streets. But working on so many of these cases, we all share their frustration with the worst kind of drug dealer, the guy in the nice office which a Dr. behind his name that is actually turning out more drug dealers than the worst neighborhoods around.
People call all the time asking whether or not they can get prior criminal offenses of their records. In Florida, it is pretty simple. For the most part, if you only have 1 prior arrest and the case was either dropped or the judge 'withheld adjudication' (meaning you were not convicted), then unless the crime is one of the few that are exempt, you are eligible to get this removed from your record. There are however certain crimes (ie sex crimes or domestic victim crimes) which can only be removed from your record if the case was completely dropped.
So often people call because there is something on their record from years ago that potential employers, schools, etc may see. In Florida, the process to wipe the slate clean takes about 6 months from beginning to end. You fill out a little application that is sent off to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Tallahassee. From there, they review your eligibility and if they agree, they will send an approval back which ultimately gets signed off by the Judge.
The biggest misconception people have is that they think something is 'automatically' erased from the record after a period of time if it is was a juvenile crime. This is not true. Just like adult crimes, you need to apply to get it off your record, it does not just go away. The other big misconception is that people think even when getting it off the record, that a prosecutor may not see it in the event there is another arrest later on. This is not true. The prosecutor will always be able to see any arrest history you have. They have access to systems which allow them to see any and all criminal history someone has.
At our office, we charge $650 to do this. You will find that price is competetive and not excessive. There are some jurisdictions where hiring a lawyer is not necessary, and if you dont need one, we will explain to you what you need to do to do it yourself.
The legal terms for this procedure are 'sealing' and/or 'expunging' your record. You are eligible to have the record sealed you pled guilty or no contest but the Judge withheld adjudication. You are eligible to have it expunged it the case was dropped or never filed on by the state. There is really no difference between being sealed and expunged as far as what others can see. Sealed means the Judge orders the records to be sealed out of sight. Expunged means that the records are actually destroyed.
If you have any questions about this process, please call the Law Office of Shortein and Lee at 904-829-3035.
I think the most common question I get asked as a criminal defense attorney is "what do I do if get pulled over for DUI?, do i blow or do i refuse?". There is no simple answer to this question. If you take the breath test and blow over a .08, your license suspension is shorter but it may make it easier for the State to prosecute you.
What most people don't understand when they get charged with this crime is that not only do you have to deal with the prosecutor, you also have to deal with Department of Motor Vehicles, who doesnt really look at other factors and will suspend your license for sure if you either blow over a .08 or refuse to take the test. In Florida, when you are arrested for DUI, the officer will give you a ticket, and that ticket is actually your license for the next 10 days. In that period of time, you can elect to have a hearing in front of a DMV hearing officer who will decide whether to suspend to your license for a period of time, the length of which depends on whether you blew or refused and whether it is your first, second, etc. If you dont elect to have a formal hearing, the DMV officer will make a decision on whether or not to suspend your license solely on the information given to them by the Police Officer. Alternatively, you can elect to have a formal hearing in front of a Department of Motor Vehicles hearing officer.
Unlike the prosecutor, who will almost certainly let your attorney present any mitigating factors you may have, the DMV is almost robotic in their approach. The DMV hearing officers (although to a person, very nice people) are taught that if there is any evidence of alcohol, if you are driving, and either you blow over a .08 or refuse, to suspend your license. This often confuses people because there are many cases we have where the prosecutor, for any number of reasons, may choose to reduce the charge to reckless driving, but it does not change what the DMV does. In almost 90% of cases, the DMV has decided whether or not to suspend your license long before a prosecutor makes a decision on what to do about actually prosecuting you. And as someone who has represented hundred of people with DUI arrests, the most frequent concern among clients is the consequences on their driver's license.
I don't know if this blog will serve as a deterrent to people drinking and driving. For most people, it is not something they intend to do. However, there a few things worse in this world than not having a driver's license and whereas most lawyers who have experience in defending these types of cases can tell many stories of getting cases reduced from DUI's to reckless drivings (mostly because of the kindness of the prosecutor vs. the intelligence or work of their attorney:)), even the best attorney can rarely do anything about the DMV!!!
For more information about DUI's, you can go to our website at http://www.shorsteinandlee.com/DUIDefense.aspx
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