Florida Criminal Defense Guide

The Florida Criminal Defense Guide was created by Victory Law Firm to help protect their future. Call our lawyers for a legal consultation.

Being charged with a crime can be terrifying. You might be worried about what is going to happen to your future if the penalties are severe. Our Florida criminal defense lawyers understand that you need support during this very troubling time. We are here to help you. We want to protect your rights. Meet with us for a consultation to get to know what your rights are and how we plan to fight your charges in hopes of getting you a better result. Call today.

Having Legal Support for Your Charges

If you are charged with a crime that carries significant penalties, then your life as you know it can change forever. We want to avoid convictions even for misdemeanors because often that means time in jail and find that you may be can’t or don’t want to have to pay.

Our Florida criminal defense lawyers want to help you if you are facing fines and penalties and even jail time. Here is a rundown of the types of cases that we can help you with:

• Drug charges: Whether you were charged with possession of drugs or you had enough of the drug on you to have been charged with the intent to sell or distribute these drugs, we want to hear from you. Charges will vary for penalties based on what types of drugs you have. The penalties are going to be harsh if you have controlled substances such as heroin or crack as opposed to something like marijuana.
• Traffic violations: We can help you if you were charged with a moving violation or other traffic violations. Most commonly people are charged with speeding or reckless driving as well as distracted driving which is one of the highest causes of accidents on the road today.
• Violent crimes: If you’ve been charged with a violent crime such as assault or battery, as well as domestic violence, we can help you with your charge. We also help people who’ve been charged with violent sex crimes, such as sexual assault.
• Additionally, we can help you with other types of crimes such as white-collar crimes or fraud, as well as weapons charges, which can often be seen in arrests for drugs and traffic violations.

Our Florida criminal defense lawyers can also help you if your child has been arrested and charged with juvenile crime.

Regardless of what you are up against and how much you think you are definitely going to be convicted, we want you to know that we believe that we can provide you with results that are better than what would happen if you did this without the help of our lawyers. We hope you reach out right away.

Issues We May Face

We want you to know that just because you were arrested and charged with a crime, even if there is an investigation happening, it doesn’t mean that you are absolutely going to have to be convicted. We want you to know that while there are obstacles in our way, we can navigate your case. We know a substantial amount about how to work around what we are given and sometimes that means getting evidence thrown out against you because it is inadmissible. Our job is to prove that you are innocent.

Here are a few things that you should know if you’ve been arrested and charged with a crime and are considering having legal representation:

• Number one, we want to tell you that if we are able to make the entire arrest seem questionable and plant the seed of doubt as to whether or not you should’ve been arrested then we can get ahead of the prosecution. Perhaps the arresting officer didn’t do it correctly and we can look at the reasons why. They have to have reason to suspect that you are guilty of a crime. If probable cause doesn’t exist, we could have a beneficial outcome.
• If you were searched and something during the search elicit in your arrest but the arrest was made without having had a search warrant or probable cause to search you than any findings at the officers make are not admissible in court because it’s a violation of your rights and we will defend you if this is the case for you.
• We will also look to see if there were any issues present if you had a search warrant against you. If we can tell that you had a search warrant against you but it was not legitimate because of issues with the authorization or it wasn’t even authorized to begin with and we are going to fight these charges hard. We don’t let violations of your rights slide.
• When you are arrested you should be read your Miranda rights by the officer who is arresting you. If you did not get this, then you are likely being violated by the arresting officer. This entire arrest can be compromised if they did not read you your Miranda rights.
• Furthermore, if the witnesses the prosecution brings up against you are not credible for any reason then we are going to make sure that their testimony cannot be hurt by a jury and a judge.
• If there is any tainted evidence against you or evidence that was found in a way that violates your rights because of perhaps it being passed around from the officer and you cannot guarantee that it is in its pure form, then we are going to challenge this evidence. This is particularly common for DNA evidence. If an item sits in several different officers’ cars with your other DNA samples, it’s completely doubtful that it’s uncompromised. We can throw this evidence away in most cases.

Our Florida criminal defense lawyers are going to work tirelessly to ensure that every piece of evidence is reviewed and any questionable evidence is challenged. You don’t deserve to face consequences if your rights have been violated and we are going to ensure that this doesn’t happen to you. We will work very hard to make sure that you are protected.

What to Do After Arrest

Immediately after you are arrested and charged, we strongly advise that you call our Florida criminal defense lawyers. Do not give statements and do not give out confessions without first talking to our lawyers. You don’t have to speak to the police officers or anyone on the side of the prosecution regarding your charges. You need to obtain counsel before you put yourself in situations that could make everything harder for us if you go into it without help from a lawyer. These early stages are really important in any given criminal charge and we want to be there with you for it.

If you were arrested and then released, we strongly encourage that you don’t talk to anyone about your arrest and you go straight to a lawyer who can prepare your case and represent you. Certainly, don’t go on social media posting about what happened. We don’t want this arrest spreading far and wide until we are prepared for this. Definitely don’t talk to any victims if your charge was against another person and don’t run away. These are very important things to think about after you’ve been arrested.

Why You Should Hire Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers

You might be wondering whether or not you should bother hiring a lawyer. You may have heard things about hiring lawyers for your case and wonder if it’s worth it.

It can feel very daunting to think about what could happen to you if you are convicted and have to face the penalties attached to the charge. Our Florida criminal defense lawyers want to work by your side and against the prosecution who are working against you. You deserve to have someone who is going to fight for your rights. This can change the results whether or not you’ve had a competent and passionate lawyer working on your case with you. We care deeply about your results and we believe that it is always worth it to have even a first consultation with us to see how we can help you.

You are given the legal right to obtain representation from an attorney even if you plan to plead innocent. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you that having a lawyer automatically makes you seem guilty. This is untrue and plenty of innocent people reach out for legal protection because they’re afraid of what would happen if they are convicted.

When you sit down with our lawyers, we are going to go over all of the possible avenues that this case might let us down and we are going to prepare you for every possible option. You likely have a ton of questions to ask us and we are here to help you better understand what you are going through so you feel prepared and secure. From there, we work to get you better results.

First Time Offender

If you’ve been arrested for the first time for a criminal offense, we want to hear from you right away so we can offer you our legal protection. There are ways to reduce the penalties you face or dismiss your case altogether and the sooner you reach out to our Florida first offender lawyers, the better off you will likely be. Please call today to set up your first consultation and get started on getting the help you deserve.

Most Common Criminal Defense Issues

Most commonly we see the following types of charges against people with first time offenses:

• Criminal Law
• Misdemeanors
• Drug Crimes
• Speeding and Moving Violations
• White Collar Crime
• Felonies

When you are looking for a lawyer to represent your case, you want to make sure that they have a proven track record of success handling cases like yours. If you are facing first-time criminal charges, we hope you reach out to us right away.

Defining First Offenses

When you have a first offense charge, essentially speaking, this is the first time you’ve ever been charged with this particular crime or you have no prior criminal records or convictions. Being a first-time offender means that you have a clean criminal record and this is the first time you are going through the criminal process. It also usually means that you are likely feeling lost and uncertain, which is something our Florida first offender lawyers can help with.

We understand that any new situation can be intimidating and scary especially one that involves heavy penalties like a criminal charge and you likely don’t know what to expect in the days weeks and months to come. Luckily, when you are a first-time offender, the court will be more lenient with you depending on what you’ve been charged with. This can benefit us when we litigate your case in hopes to reduce your penalties or dismiss your case.

What Should You Do?

First thing that you should know is that the penalties you are facing for first offenses are more than not lower fines and parole or probation instead of jail time. This of course is fact-based and will depend on what you’ve been charged with and what you are up against.

For example, if you were charged with a DWI, it will be litigated differently than say a theft because they are quite different and treated differently in the law. A DWI is seen as a danger to the public and can be a little bit harder for us to fight charges against as opposed to something like theft, which is not an inherently dangerous charge. It all depends on the events leading up to your arrest and the particular charges that you are facing, but our Florida first offender lawyers are well-versed in most of these criminal cases and will be able to come up with a personalized plan for you.

The Potential Serious Consequences

You might be up against serious consequences even if you are a first-time offender.

There are fines attached to most criminal offenses, including DWI. These fines can be something that scares you to have to potentially pay because perhaps it’s everything you have saved up and more and having to pay it could ruin your future for some time.

Depending on your charge, you might have a suspended license. If you had a DWI and you accumulated a particular amount of points on your license or you had a minor in the car while you were driving under the influence, your license can be suspended or revoked.

Probation is a common consequence of many types of criminal charges and even though probation seems like an alternative to jail, you can still have to go through some jail time, as well as pay fines and go through counseling in some cases.

If you were charged with a drug or alcohol crime, then you might be required to go through counseling. Especially if you are a DWI first-time offender, you will likely have to complete a course if you are convicted and go through counseling for alcohol use, which can be, but is not always, an alternative to going to jail.

In particular for first-time offenders and minors who have been charged with a crime, community service is a common penalty that you might be up against. Depending on what your charge is, you might have to spend some time in jail or do community service. It depends on what you were charged with. You will be given a minimum or maximum sentence and it is usually up to the discretion of the court for the amount of time that you will be performing community service.

If you were charged with something that is a less severe or a smaller type of crime such as public intoxication or a first-time simple assault charge then you’re less likely to see these harsh punishments as opposed to a violent crime or a DWI. Either way our Florida first offender lawyers would like to hear from you about your charges to see what we can do for you and what your penalties would be if convicted.

When you are facing charges it’s important to note that if you can avoid getting convicted of a first offense then later in life if you end up in the same position with the same type of charge it can help you avoid something like becoming a felon simply because you didn’t have the representation that you needed back then. We want to help you and we want to provide you with the legal support you desire right now. Please call us right away.

First Offenders Program

If you are a first offender with a clean criminal record, you might be able to have something other than the penalties of the charge and go through a first offender program. These are diversionary programs and they are meant to rehabilitate you instead of punishing you in the hopes of potentially correcting your mistakes and putting you in a position where you won’t make them again later in your life.

Generally speaking, this involves community service and counseling programs as well as being drug and alcohol tested on a regular basis through the rehab process. If there were victims of your crimes sometimes there are restitutions required that you pay and you also might have to go through some sort of class work as a part of the first-time offender program.

This is a federal government program for those who have been charged with certain types of crimes and they also offer one for federal drug crimes. In most cases you will have to go through a particular period of probation and you have to work Through the program’s requirements. If you do this successfully then your proceedings will be dismissed without having to go to the judge for a conviction. However, if you violate your probation then you will have to go through the proceedings and we know this is probably something you dearly want to avoid.

This might sound like an appealing offer for you if you are a first-time offender and are scared of the harsh penalties that come along with your charges. Our Florida first offender lawyers want to guide you through this process and let you explore all of your options after you’ve been charged with a crime whether it be a first offender program or otherwise. We hope you get in contact right away.

Are You Eligible?

Not everyone is going to be qualified for a first offender program. Of course, someone who has subsequent charges is not going to be eligible because they have repeated this offense. You should discuss with our Florida first offender lawyers to determine what your eligibility qualifications are and whether or not you meet it. It really boils down to what your charges are and how severe the crime was.

Most of the time the more minor crimes are going to be eligible for a first offender program while the larger and more serious types of crimes might not be. For the federal first offender program you have to have a clean state and federal drug record with zero convictions for drug crimes regardless of what state it was in and what state you currently reside in now.

Frequently Asked Criminal Defense Questions

Can a Polygraph Test Be Used in Criminal Proceedings?

Every now and then when we have clients come in for a criminal case, we get that question a lot. We get that question almost every time we do get interviewed by a potential client. Can we get a polygraph? Can they do a polygraph? Can they require a polygraph? Now, we will say that polygraphs are mostly a thing of fiction and TV. While they do exist in the real world, for the most part, they’re not allowable or they’re not viewed as reliable evidence in a courtroom.

Now, we will tell you that they can be used arguably for a different reason by the prosecuting authorities or by the police. For example, if you are arrested and charged with a crime, they may ask you to do a polygraph, which is fine. They can ask you to do that. Assuming you don’t have an attorney and you do that, they get the results from it and they could use the results to pressure you into accepting a plea or making other statements or to not call an attorney. Again, any of these types of situations where you’re involved with a criminal case and charged with criminal conduct, the most important thing to do is get an experienced lawyer involved.

As soon as you get a lawyer involved, that lawyer is going to tell you don’t take the polygraph or they’re going to accompany you to the polygraph or they’re going to set parameters on what may or may not be asked during this polygraph exam. Now, again, even in that situation, the results of the polygraph may only be used and are really only used for the most part by the prosecuting authorities or law enforcement to entice the person accused of the crime to enter a plea or to make other statements. They’ll say we asked you these questions and they came up bad for you on the polygraph so you must have done it or tell us more.

At the end of the day, an experienced attorney is going to tell you that doesn’t matter because if we were to fight that all the way and have them try to prove all this at a jury trial, polygraph exams are not sufficient to meet the reliability standards for evidence to be presented in the courtroom. Again, all of this has to do with making sure that you have protecting in the form of a competent counsel that’s going to help you work through all these issues. If you have any other questions about polygraphs and how they may or may not be used against you in the court of law or as an accused, please call the Victory law firm.

Can I Represent Myself in a Criminal Case?

We’ve spoken to potential clients about this issue in the past. They’ve come to see me. We’ve talked about their arrest here in Orlando, Florida. Here in Orlando, Florida, it’s different. It’s the same judicial circuit. It’s the city of Orlando and it’s Kissimmee. Any time we have someone from those two areas, we advise them that, sure, you can represent yourself, but we think the better question is should you represent yourself. The tactics that are used by the prosecutors in both of those counties can really affect a person who’s involved, the person who’s charged.

The person who is charged, they don’t know all the intricacies of the laws which can be numerous. The state of Florida is dictated by many laws that detail what the crimes are, what the specific sanctions are, and not only that, you have to be familiar with the actual defenses to any of those crimes, gathering of evidence, litigation protocols. At the end of the day, We would never recommend that a person who’s arrested in Florida ever try to represent themselves. If you have any other questions about being arrested in Orlando or central Florida area, please contact our firm.

Do I Need to Hire an Attorney If I Plan on Pleading Guilty?

When interviewing clients who have been arrested for any type of crime, yes, we advise that you should speak to an attorney. You should hire an attorney right away upon your arrest. It’s very critical to hire an attorney specifically when you are contemplating entering a plea. We would advise any client who’s been arrested for any kind of crime, consult with an attorney who’s experienced in representing individuals who’ve been arrested prior to entering any kind of plea. Sometimes a deal might seem too good to be true. You know what they say about that. Often it is.

Any time you are arrested for a crime and you’re charged with a crime, it is very important to speak to an attorney prior to entering any type of plea. The reason why this happens is throughout the state of Florida, prosecutors are trained to just get the plea done, get individuals who are arrested to enter a plea to a crime. The prosecutors are trained to do this by offering seemingly good pleas. They’ll offer you low ramifications or low sentences. A lot of times, people without attorneys will go ahead and take those, but down the road, those could affect you in several ways. Maybe you enter a plea and you were judicated guilty for a crime which could affect you in many different ways.

There are many specific details that could affect you for any particular crime in the state of Florida. We would highly recommend that you speak to an attorney and hire an attorney prior to entering any type of plea. If you have any other questions about a criminal case in Orlando, Florida, please contact our firm.

Do the Police Need to Read Me My Miranda Rights?

Almost all of our clients who come to see us for a criminal case ask us this question. In fact, we just had that question today. Our clients tend to point it out where they didn’t read me my Miranda. Should they have read me my Miranda rights? What are the Miranda rights? One of the things that we like to explain to our clients is, yeah, Miranda rights exist. They are on this little piece of paper that law enforcement has and it basically says you have the right to remain silent and anything you say can and will be used against you. They ask if you need a lawyer and things of that nature. These are things that we see on TV. We see them in the movies. In practice, it’s a real thing, but in reality, it only comes into play when you are a person who stands accused of a crime and you are asked to make statements.

If you have one thing to take from what you’re reading now is any time you’re accused of a crime, any time you stand accused of any type of criminal conduct, please remain silent until you have had the time to speak to an attorney because just like that little Miranda card says, whatever you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. Throughout our almost 20 years of experience, we have seen that happen many, many times.

Now, for example, if you are arrested and you don’t talk or you don’t answer any questions or you’re not in custody with law enforcement, then whether they read you your Miranda rights or not will have nothing to do with the outcome of your case. It’s really something that affects you if your case is dependent on maybe you giving a confession or what the law enforcement deems as a confession, then the reading of your Miranda rights is going to be important.

In our experience, many people nowadays are more able to recall that bit of knowledge to not speak to law enforcement or prosecutors without the presence of their attorney because, again, they can and will use those things against you. Do they have to read you your Miranda rights? They do if they want the statements they take from you to be valid and to not be thrown out in the court of law, but aside from that, there’s no other real requirement that actually affects the defense and the prosecution of your criminal case.

The important thing is to speak to an attorney, hire an attorney that knows about these types of situations, make sure that you have consulted with them before you do anything in regard to your criminal case because these can have longstanding consequences on you and your freedom. If you have any other questions about Miranda or any other issues in criminal defense, please feel free to contact the Victory law firm.

How Could My Criminal Case Affect My Immigration Case?

In central Florida, in Orlando, we deal with that a lot. Orlando is an area where a lot of tourists come to visit. They love the place, so they end up making it their homes or they come here to work. Being in that situation and having a potential arrest or conviction could severely affect your immigration application. There are certain crimes such as crimes of dishonesty or violent crimes that will almost be a sure bar to your immigration application and may even get you deported immediately.

It’s very important to speak with an attorney who’s familiar with the different details and nuances of what case may or may not affect your immigration case, especially which ones could be detrimental if not fatal to your immigration case because once an individual is accused of a criminal offense here in Orlando, Florida, and they enter a plea without the assistance of counsel or with the assistance of a counsel who is not specialized or has experience in that area of law, then that could adversely affect their immigration process. That’s very important if you are in the immigration process and you find yourself arrested or accused of a crime, we would highly suggest getting an attorney who knows about criminal offenses and immigration process involved in your case immediately.

Also if you find yourself in that situation, be honest with your criminal defense attorney, be honest with your immigration attorney, let them know exactly what’s going on, let them know where in the process you are in terms of the criminal case and/or the immigration case because all of these things can affect either process. As for immigration, there are certain notice requirements if you are in that situation where you’re arrested or accused, you may need to provide notice or update applications indicating the same. There are also certain crimes, as we mentioned, that if you do plea to them could be fatal.

Now, there are also regular crimes that may not be fatal if you plea to them outright, but if you enter a plea and you are judicated guilty or you don’t do it the right way, then that could be the same as entering one of those fatal pleas and it could have a detrimental affect on your immigration application process. It is very important to get an attorney who knows what those cases are and whether you can plea or whether you’re going to have to fight it, any of these things to protect the immigration process that you have started and probably have spent time and money into getting resolved. If you have any other questions about how a criminal case could affect your immigration application, please call the Victory law firm.

How Do I Bail Someone Out?

This is a question that we get very often. Sometimes we get these calls late at night, early in the morning, on the weekends, pretty much any time that someone could place a phone call. Either a loved one or themselves have been found in a situation where they get arrested and they either need to bail themselves out or they need to bail someone else out.

Now, fortunately, if you are the person who is helping someone out, it’s relatively easy to bail them out. First thing you need to do is you need to contact a local bail bondsman. We would suggest just scouring the internet, maybe do a simple Google search to find local bondsmen or bailsmen who can help you in that regard. We would speak to several. They have different rates. They have different conditions and different methods of doing things so we would definitely interview a few to make sure you find the right one that can work with you. Once you speak to them and they look into the case, they’ll find out exactly what the bail amount is set by the court and then they can act accordingly to get that taken care of.

Now, the bail is often determined by local court orders so every case, depending on the charge, has a different bail amount. Now, a bail amount is usually set at your initial appearance which is shortly after you have been arrested and you are placed into custody. If you are the person who is actually in custody, you are typically given a phone call and you’re able to contact either a loved one who can contact a bail bondsman, or you can contact a bail bondsman yourself. Many of the jail facilities do have contact information for those types of things so you are relatively able to access those easily.

Just for some peace of mind, if you do find yourself in a situation where you are arrested, there are several options to be able to get a bondsman to get that bail paid for you and get you out of jail, that way you can meet with an attorney, you can meet with family and friends, and you can discuss the next steps in the situation that you find yourself. If you have any other questions about bail, bail bondsman, or being arrested in Florida, feel free to call our office.

How Do I Choose a Criminal Defense Attorney?

When we sit down with our clients as we did just yesterday, we talk to them and we tell them to ask questions. Ask about our qualifications. We have gone to trial numerous times in criminal matters. We have experience in lowly misdemeanors to high felonies. Really what you need to do is focus on someone who handles these types of cases, who has the experience to handle these types of cases, and the experience to handle your particular case and your particular set of facts and circumstances, someone that has a proven track record, someone who has that experience in these local courtrooms. These courtrooms haven’t really changed much in the past 20 years so having been familiar with the process and the players that are all involved really gives an experienced attorney a leg up which will ultimately help the person accused of a crime to defend themselves. We think first and foremost, it’s talk to the attorney, see if they have the experience that you need for your particular case. If you have any questions about our qualifications or the cases that we handle, please contact our firm.

How Do I Choose an Attorney to Help Me with Domestic Violence?

How do you choose an attorney if you’ve been arrested for domestic violence, a domestic violence batter charge? Now, unfortunately, this does happen. Usually, when we see clients for this, we saw one just recently, it is often a situation that is between loved ones so it can be sensitive, and things can be emotional. It’s very important to be able to speak to an attorney who’s handled these cases, who knows about these situations and can look at your specific unique facts and circumstances to best help the situation out.

Many times, these involve, as we said, people who love each other, people who are in a relationship, so it’s often not a situation that you want to find yourself in but it’s definitely one that would benefit from the assistance of counsel. They can help guide you through the situation. Maybe they can even help guide the accuser through the situation in the sense that they’re given all options to understand what other options or things that they can do to help with the situation as opposed to just a direct prosecution of the case. Many times, it’s just a simple disagreement between individuals but an experienced attorney is necessary to help go through those processes to speak to the prosecuting authorities, to speak with the law enforcement. Oftentimes, prosecuting authorities have their own domestic violence division which have their own case workers and case managers where everyone can get involved and make sure that there’s the great outcome that is hoped for in these types of cases.

Another reason to get an attorney involved is that these cases, if they do escalate or if they do happen more often, they can be enhanced. A first-time domestic violence charge is different than a domestic violence charge charged twice or three times. It’s very important to make sure that any decisions you make in resolving any domestic violence case is taken under advisement and you get good advice from an attorney who has experience in dealing with these types of cases. Other situations we’ve seen are unfortunately that we have some couples that are just going through whatever situation they’re going through that’s individual to their family, but sometimes we see these cases coming out of maybe wrongfully accused, people just doing this to spite the other party or to just get back at them for some perceived injustice or wrong. These cases can be very important to get an attorney involved and quickly because we can gather the evidence, we can gather defenses, we can create a timeline to support your defenses in these cases to protect your freedom and to protect your criminal record so that you don’t have to ultimately enter a plea or enter some kind of probation for a crime that you may not have committed.

All of these things are important to know, and at the end of the day, the critical issue is to speak with an attorney who’s familiar with these types of cases who’s worked them in Orlando, Florida, who knows the different divisions and the different resources that are available for a person charged with this type of crime in Orlando, Florida. If you have any other questions about domestic violence or any other battery type charges, please contact the Victory law firm.

How Do I Choose an Attorney to Represent My Case If I Am in the US Illegally?

Unfortunately, during these times, there are people here in this country illegally for whatever reason. They find themselves here and they find themselves arrested or in the custody of law enforcement. This is very critical, very important situation because an attorney needs to be consulted right away, an attorney who knows about these types of laws, who knows about the interaction between crimes and the immigration policies of this country is very important to get involved in this case immediately. Now, just because you’re here in this country illegally does not prevent you or bar you from hiring an attorney. You can hire an attorney to represent you in a criminal defense case if you’re here illegally.

There are different defenses that can be used to help you during this process. We would suggest finding a criminal attorney who can then reach out and maybe work hand in hand with an immigration attorney to lessen any kind of ramifications or negative consequences that may come from you being here in this country illegally. There may also be other defenses that the immigration attorney can use along with the criminal defense methods to help you in your case to get you out of that situation and to help you through that process. If you find yourself in that situation, find an attorney that can guide you through that and has experience in that. Just because you’re here illegally doesn’t mean that you are not allowed to or that you do not have the right to hire an attorney to help protect you. If you have any other questions about such a situation, being arrested for being in this country illegally, please contact the Victory law firm.

I Confessed to Something I Did Not Do. What Can I Do?

If you confessed to something that you didn’t do in Orlando, Florida, or in Orange or Osceola County, which is something that we have seen before in our experience. A year or so ago, we had a client that for some reason or another had confessed to something that he did not do and what is critical is getting an attorney onboard as soon as possible. The reason why we say that is because when you are accused of a crime, the prosecutors and the law enforcement, they’re not there to help you. They’re there to find evidence to help them, find evidence to support their claim, find evidence to put the claim to bed, so to speak, to find a responsible party. Many times, they don’t care who it is and what they have to say. They try to coerce individuals into providing some kind of false statement or they take what you say out of context.

That’s why it’s very important to make sure that any time you are accused of a crime or you’re in that situation to, one, if you don’t have an attorney, make sure that you don’t make any statements and simply ask for your attorney, and two, if you do have an attorney, you consult with him or her and you go over everything that you need to. In these situations, there are certain protocols that the law enforcement and the prosecuting authorities do have to go through. For example, they do have to, in those situations, read you your Miranda rights for that confession to be valid. For example, if you give a confession while you’re speaking to the law enforcement and they have not read you your Miranda rights and there’s no record of it, then essentially, that statement or your confession can be thrown out.

All of these things still go back to the fact that you need to find an attorney who’s experienced in these areas of law because they can look into all of these points during the investigation of the criminal case to see where law enforcement may have gone wrong, what procedures they didn’t follow and how the failure to follow those procedures can help you in gaining your freedom back, in getting you resolved or absolved of that criminal case. If you have any other questions about criminal arrest or conduct in Orlando, Florida, please call the Victory law firm.

I Have Been Told That There Is a Warrant for My Arrest. What Should I Do?

If you’ve been told that you have a warrant for your arrest here in Orlando, Florida, what we would suggest to do is something that we’ve advised clients as recently as a few weeks ago. Poor young man came into our office, he was very worried about it. He said he found out that he had an arrest warrant out there and he didn’t know exactly what to do. Of course, this is a scary experience because you don’t know. Maybe you get pulled over for a broken taillight or for some other relatively minor thing and you’re hauled off to jail for some reason unknown to you.

What we would suggest and what we suggested to our client was that if you know you have a warrant out for your arrest, the first thing you need to do is consult with and hire an attorney that’s knowledgeable in these types of matters. A criminal defense attorney, such as the Victory law firm, the attorneys we have here will know exactly what to do. We’ve dealt with this many times over our career. What happens is let’s say you have the warrant out for your arrest, and you don’t do anything. You don’t consult with an attorney. You just go about your business. One day, you’re out and about and you start talking to an officer and it’s all seemingly nice conversation. Next thing you know, they start asking questions. They run your name and they find out there’s a warrant for your arrest. You could be taken into jail at that moment. You may not have any idea what it’s for, which can be a very scary situation. You could be out of state. You could be anywhere where it would be a lot more trouble than having consulted with an attorney.

The benefits of consulting and retaining an attorney to take care of that situation is you can hire an attorney. What we’ve done in the past is you can file your notice of appearance you enter as the attorney on record on that case and then you file a motion with the court. We can file a simple motion with the court. We appear together. We go with you and we say our client is here. We have a warrant. We’d like to enter our appearance. We’d like to say we know that the warrant is here. We have bail set up. We can make that process seamless, whereas if you don’t have an attorney, you could run into some real big problems if you don’t get that taken care of.

In the past, we’ve never had a situation where that didn’t work for us and the client has been happy. They stay free. We have the ability to investigate the case and continue representing the case in the best way possible. We would highly suggest getting with an attorney as soon as you find out that there’s a warrant out for your arrest. If you have any other questions about warrants, or capias as they’re otherwise known, or bondsmen, please contact our office so that we can help you through the process.

I Was Arrested for Shoplifting, but I Didn’t Mean to Do It. How Can You Help?

If you’ve been charged with shoplifting in Orlando, Florida, and you didn’t mean to do it, is a situation that we’ve dealt with many times in our career. For example, many years ago we did have a client who was shopping at a local store. She had her children with her. She had a lot of things going on. They were doing their weekly shopping. She was overwhelmed with other things that were going on with her. Unbeknownst to her, someone had put an item in her cart that she didn’t know about and ultimately attempted to leave the store with it. Here it was really no fault of her own that something like this happened.

We were able to successfully defend her in this case. There are different ways that we can do that but the most important is getting an attorney involved right away. We’ve had these situations where if you get someone involved very quickly, they’re able to do their investigation, reach out to the store, reach out to the loss prevention, maybe go over surveillance video, and all of this is going to be critical to be able to negotiate with the store in saying, look, our client had nothing to do with this. Our client didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t put this there. She didn’t know it was there. You really have to have that knowledge to be able to prosecute her. These things have worked and have helped clients in the past so we suggest if you find yourself in a situation where you’re being accused of a theft crime and you had no knowledge of it or didn’t do it to contact an attorney.

More often than not, working with an attorney who works with the store or works with the person that’s accusing you of the theft is going to be successful. If you have the concise plan and you can do it early enough and you have enough support and evidence to defend yourself in these types of cases. We’ve seen it happen many times and to great success. If you find yourself in that situation, please call an attorney who knows how to handle these cases who have dealt with similar situations. If you have any other questions about petty theft or any kind of theft cases in Orlando, Florida, please contact the Victory law firm.

I Was Arrested with a Stolen Gun. What Can Happen?

If you were arrested with a stolen gun in Florida, what can happen to you? Many of our clients have found themselves in a situation where such as one we had several weeks ago who came to our office. They talked to us about a situation they found themselves in where, unbeknownst to them, they were in possession of a stolen gun. Again, first and foremost, get an attorney involved as soon as possible. They can help guide you along this process and ensure the best possible outcome. To answer the question about what can happen, these criminal laws are set forth by Florida statute. They’re set forth what the sanctions are. Now, possession of a stolen firearm is serious in terms of being a felony as opposed to a misdemeanor. Now, felonies can carry prison sentences up to five years in prison depending on other factors. It can carry high fines and it can carry the stigma of being a convicted felon.

To avoid all of this, we suggest getting an attorney involved right away. That way they can ensure that you’re best protected, your freedoms are protected. They can go over any defenses you may have, defense such as knowledge. You didn’t know. Someone sold you the gun. You purchased the gun. Unbeknownst to you, it was stolen. You can use that as a defense. All of this information, we need to know as soon as possible so that we can help you help yourself. We can go over other defenses. Maybe you found the gun. You simply just found yourself in possession of it. All of these things can be important. They’re very critical. Only someone who’s experienced in dealing with these types of crimes will be able to gather the evidence needed to support these defenses. If you have any other questions about gun crimes or any other crimes in Florida, please contact the Victory law firm.

I Was Charged for Resisting Arrest. How Can You Help Me?

If you were charged with resisting arrest in Orlando, Florida, then it’s very important to speak with an attorney who can help you through this process. Just two weeks ago, we met with a young man who was out and about in Florida. He was expressing some opinions about his group where he was part of a group that was out there down downtown making their voices heard. Unfortunately, him and his group found themselves in a situation where they were approached by law enforcement. They weren’t given the benefit of the doubt. They weren’t allowed to do what they were doing peacefully. They were arrested for resisting an officer.

Now, resisting an officer can be charged in one of two ways. The way that we see it the most is resisting an officer without violence. You also have resisting an officer with violence which sometimes they can throw at you if they’re feeling up for it that day. We’ve seen both situations but what we’ve rarely seen is a situation where being charged with either of those crimes is warranted. Many times, unfortunately, law enforcement maybe become overwhelmed or they simply can’t handle the situation and they end up arresting someone for resisting an officer without violence. Now, the charge of resisting without violence is interesting because it can simply be just resisting the lawful commands or the commands of the law enforcement officer or even impeding their investigation.

All of that is very subjective. We’ve seen that used to the detriment of these individuals who get arrested for this type of crime. It’s very important to get in touch with an attorney who’s dealt with these issues. Get someone involved quickly. Maybe yourself gather evidence. Video footage is very helpful nowadays, people recording with their cellphones and things of that nature to really see if the facts warranted the arrest for resisting charge. Now, in our experience, that is rarely the case so it is very important to hire the attorney who’s experienced in that, that way they can look through all this and make sure that you get the best defense possible. If you have any other questions about resisting without violence or with violence in Orlando, Florida, please call the Victory law firm.

I Was Pulled Over and the Police Used a Dog Without My Consent and Found Drugs. Will That Hold Up?

If you were pulled over in the Orlando, Florida area by law enforcement and they used the canine or the dogs to conduct a sweep of your vehicle without your consent, then we would highly suggest that you contact an attorney that’s experienced in these types of situations. In Florida, law enforcement does have the ability to bring upon canines or dogs to aid in traffic stops. At its basic level, that’s allowable but if you get an experienced attorney onboard, we can find things that will help you in your case and help minimize any of the incriminating evidence that they may find or best protect you in these types of cases because just being pulled over and having the dogs brought, that’s one scenario, but you have to look at what happened before that.

If you bring in an experienced criminal defense attorney, we can focus on why they stopped you in the first place. Was the stop proper? Was the search and seizure legal or illegal? These are two huge things that many attorneys miss if they’re not experienced in this type of field. Once the dogs are there, that’s secondary and we can deal with that issue later. We tend to look at things before that. Why was the stop made? Was it within legal parameters? Because if it wasn’t, we can get everything that comes after that dismissed. If they didn’t have probable cause to stop you, if the search and seizure was illegal, then anything the dogs may or may not have found or the fact that the dogs were even there, that will just get completely thrown out.

It’s very important to get an attorney who is knowledgeable with these laws and who’s knowledgeable with the traffic stops, knowledgeable with the probable cause required for these stops to get on your case as soon as possible. This could have huge impact on the final outcome of your case. If you have any other questions about traffic stops and how they relate to drug offenses or any other crimes, please feel free to contact the Victory law firm.

If I Am Released on Bail, Do I Have to Return to Court?

Many times, we get clients who come in who want to retain our services to represent them in a criminal case here in Orlando, Florida. One of their main questions is We’ve posted bail. We’ve paid the bail bondsman. I got released. Do I have to go back to court? Do I have to do anything else after I post that bail? The answer is yes. Once you post your bail and you get out of jail, you have an obligation to make sure that you appear for all court appearances that are ordered by the court. If you do not, there’s a possibility that you could relinquish that bail and lose out on that money and also you will be put back in jail. The short quick concise answer is, yes, you do have to appear back in court and we would advise you to do that because there are some adverse consequences if you fail to cooperate with the guidelines that are set upon your release after you post that bail. If you have any other more detailed questions about what your next steps are after you’ve been released from jail and bail, please call our office so we can help you through this process.

If I Get Offered a Plea Bargain, Should I Take It?

If you are in a situation like many of our clients find themselves in, if you’re arrested here in Orange or Osceola County, which is Orlando or Kissimmee, if you do not have the benefit of a lawyer, many times, the state attorney, which is the one that’s going to be going against you in prosecuting your case, will oftentimes make a plea offer to you. Sometimes they get sneaky about it and they make those plea offers to you while you’re sitting in jail. What do you want to do while you’re sitting in jail? You want to get out. Many times, many past clients, they want to get out regardless of what the consequences can be.

Unfortunately, they are in the system. They don’t know that if they speak to an attorney, that those things could be different. You could get a bondsman. You could bail out. You can do anything and then investigate the case and determine whether this plea is good for you. If you’re ever in that situation, we advise our clients never accept that plea without speaking to an attorney. If you want to go ahead and accept that after the consultation with your attorney and investigation to the case, then that can be decided at that time. An initial offer from a state attorney, we would highly recommend and advise against accepting that offer. If you have any other questions about plea bargains or offers made by the state attorney, please contact our office.

Is There a Difference Between Probation and Parole?

What is the difference between probation and parole in Florida? Probation is a period of supervision which is imposed and supervised by the court system. For example, if you are charged with a crime and you agree to a sentence which includes probation, that probation is supervised by the local department of corrections office and it’s a sanction or sentence imposed by the court. Now, parole is different in the sense that if you had a criminal case that you plead out to or you were convicted of and you spent some time in the prison system in the state of Florida, parole is basically an early release of your sentence while you are in prison, which is different from probation in the sense that you’re released while you are serving a prison sentence and it’s supervised by the prison commission as opposed to your local department of corrections office. If you have any other questions about parole or probation in the state of Florida and specifically in Orlando, please feel free to reach out to our office.

Should I Use a Public Defender?

We get this question every now and then. In fact, two weeks ago, we were speaking to a client who came in and they had been arrested. They bonded out. They were assigned a public defender upon their arrest and their time in jail and they wondered why they should hire an attorney. Why should I pay extra money to defend this when I could get representation from the public defender that they assigned me in the courthouse?

Public defenders can be overworked, and they can be inexperienced. What you’re dealing with oftentimes are inexperienced attorneys and attorneys that have the lack of resources. Public defenders often manage thousands of cases at a time, so they really don’t have the time to devote to your case one on one.

If you hire an attorney, they have the experience, they have the wherewithal, and more importantly, they have the time to devote to your individual case. Though the price may seem unnecessary at the time, this is really your freedom and your rights that need to be protected. Can you go with the public defender? Should you? We wouldn’t recommend it if you have the means or the ability to hire an attorney that has the time and the dedication to advocate for your rights because at the end of the day, your freedom is at stake so we think it’s very important to hire an attorney that is outside in the community dealing with these issues on a daily basis. If you have any other questions about being arrested or charged with a crime in Florida, please give us a call.

The Police Raided My Home. How Can You Help Me If I Was Arrested for Selling Drugs?

If the police have raided your home for selling drugs here in Orlando, Florida, we would suggest, as we suggest to all our clients who find themselves in the same situation, is you really need to find an attorney who’s experienced in dealing with drug crimes. Drug crimes in Florida range from simple possession to sale, sale and possession to trafficking, depending on the amount of drugs. To help in the type of situation where the law enforcement is kicking down your door or raiding your home or apartment, that’s very important to get an attorney involved.

The reason why is because your home, your apartment, that’s where you live. That’s your castle. The point of this is that the police, the law enforcement, they really need a high standard of probable cause to be able to enter into your castle and charge you with these types of crimes. Only hiring a defense attorney that is knowledgeable in these types of crimes and the way to defend them, you’re going to be able to properly defend your case, protect your freedom, and make sure that you have the best possible outcome. The first thing we would do is get on the phone with a lawyer, let them know what’s going on, meet with a lawyer, take photos or videos, obviously, if the police are there, sometimes they frown upon that but just do it as best you can. Make sure to contact loved ones. Make sure to make sure that your side of the story is detailed, that way that can help you in the future defense of your case.

Really the most important thing is getting the attorney involved that knows about these issues because once law enforcement is breaking into your castle and accusing you of crimes, you really need someone on your side to advocate for you. If you have any other questions about this type of crime or any other drug crimes, please feel free to call the Victory law firm.

What Defenses Can Be Raised in a Drug Case?

When we have a client come in who’s been arrested and charged with a drug crime, which can vary from a simple possession to selling or trafficking drugs, we have to advise them of everything. We’ll tell them what the possible sentences are, what the possible sanctions are, we can go over what the prosecuting authorities will look for, we’ll go over what to expect during the entire process, and very importantly, we’ll go over what defenses, how can we help you go through this case, how can we help you keep your freedom, regain your freedom, or minimize the impact that a criminal case like this can have on you. There are several defenses that can be used.

The first and foremost is, again, this goes back to if you’re driving or if you’re in a vehicle or if you’re in a home, how did they find the drugs on you? Look to that first. Did the way that they find the drugs, did they comply with all laws and regulations? Was the search of you or your vehicle or your home or anything, was that legal? Did they do that properly? Did they have enough probably cause, reasonable suspicion? All of these things that we look for at the very beginning to see whether they even had the right to talk to you, to look in your home, to look in your pockets to find drugs. If we can get answers to those questions, then we can stop the case there. Then the case will be resolved in your benefit because law enforcement didn’t have the authority to look for the drugs or to stop you or to access any of that.

If that’s the case, that is usually the best place to look. Many times, law enforcement will just try to get an arrest or they’ll try to do an investigation without following these procedures. If you find an attorney that is knowledgeable in dealing with these procedures, have dealt with these cases, they know exactly what to look for, and that can be a big help in getting your case resolved, it’s a big help in getting your case dismissed or not prosecuted. At the end of the day, that is a great success for the client. Other things, other defenses aside from stopping it from the beginning, such as the search [02:38] is possession. Maybe they found drugs, but they were in the back seat of the car you were in. They’re not on your person. They’re outside of your reach. Why are they saying that they’re your drugs? We can use these defenses. That’s called constructive possession defenses. Maybe they found the drugs on the side of the house, on the street, by your feet, there are many different ways that we can attack the possession drugs.

Knowledge is also one. Maybe you’re wearing someone’s jacket, and unbeknownst to you, they have drugs in there. All these little details and all these defenses are really only going to be known and they’re able to be articulated by an attorney who’s knowledgeable with this who has the experience to deal with these types of cases. It’s very important to get an attorney involved early on so we can pinpoint and set the tone for and set the support for and find the evidence for these defenses, which at the end of the day, could be critical to your case. If you have any other questions about any of these defenses for drug crimes or any other crimes, please call the Victory law firm.

What Should I Do If I Was Arrested for Battery?

What should you do if you’re arrested for battery in Orlando, Florida? Unfortunately, this is one of the most common cases that we have. Many clients come in to see us for this type of charge. Battery, which is the unlawful touching or striking of another individual, is commonly charged throughout Orlando, Florida. Orlando, Florida has a lot of outdoor venues. We have a lot of places where people congregate or come together. It’s just a normal city where there’s a lot of activity going on and people come into contact with each other, some for good reasons and some not for good reasons. If you find yourself in a situation where you’re charged with battery, the first thing that you should do is get an attorney involved because that attorney who’s experienced in dealing with these types of cases, they will be able to gather all the evidence quickly which will end up supporting your defense of your case.

What’s very important is to know that a battery case can vary. You can have a simple battery which is demeanor and then you can have more serious batteries where battery maybe resulted in extreme harm or death or injury to the individual. Now, only an experienced attorney is going to be able to walk your through that process, explain to you what defenses you may or may not have, and at the end of the day, try to minimize any damages or effects to you as a result of the battery.

Another defense is that the person accusing you is lying. We’ve seen that many times in many of our cases where maybe out of spite someone says that they were hit by you or that they were attacked by you. Getting an attorney involved, getting that evidence together is very critical. That way we can narrow the facts down. We can get everything that we need to do to defend your case. Timing is very important. Also, we’re able to go out to the locations where they’re at. Maybe we can pull security footage which often is not retained for a very long time. In that footage, we can look through that footage and find other defenses. Maybe you were attacked or provoked and were simply defending yourself.

These are the things that we can only access if we’re consulted right away. If we’re consulted a year down the road or six months down the road, that’s not going to help you if there was a video out there that was erased after 20 days. It’s very important to get someone involved as soon as possible. Battery, depending on whatever level it is, is considered a violent offense so that could have other long-lasting ramifications for you and your criminal record as you move forward through life. It’s essential that you get an attorney to protect you from any of these negative consequences and to help defend you and your freedom. If you have any other questions about battery in central Florida or Orlando, Florida, please contact the Victory law firm.

What Should I Do If ICE Contacts Me While I Am in the Local Jail?

If for some reason you find yourself arrested and confined in a jail here in Florida or anywhere in Orange or Osceola County, that includes Kissimmee, if you find yourself in jail for whatever crime and you’re contacted by an ICE agent, the customs and enforcement of the United States, and they want to talk to you, we would suggest asking for an attorney before you make any statements. More importantly, if they try to do that while you are on a telephone that is through the jail, we would strongly advise against that. Oftentimes, those calls are recorded and any of those recordings can and will be used against you in any type of criminal proceeding or deportation or immigration proceedings.

It’s always important to get an attorney who knows about criminal defense and how it interacts with immigration policy in the United States. Get them involved in the case right away. Speak to them before you speak to anyone else and don’t speak to any ICE officials or any other law enforcement officials without first speaking to an attorney or being in the presence of an attorney that you retain. These are important rights that once you give up are very hard to get back. It is very important to make sure that you are protected and the best way to do that is to contact and hire an attorney that can handle these types of cases. If you have any other questions about criminal arrest and how they interact with immigration or with ICE enforcement, please contact the Victory law firm.

Call Our Florida Criminal Defense Lawyers Today

Call our office today if you are looking for strong and dependable representation from Florida criminal defense lawyers. We are passionate about helping people in troubling situations get better results. Call today to get your first consultation with our lawyers.

If you are up against a criminal charge for the very first time, we want to hear from you right away. Our Florida first offender lawyers want to be able to defend your charges and we don’t want you to go after this alone. The court system is intimidating and fierce against certain crimes over others and depending on what happened to you having a lawyer by your side can make or break your future.

Depending who you have by your side can change the outcome of your case and you want to make sure that in your one opportunity to fight these charges you have someone who cares about the outcome fighting for you. Please get in touch with us right away.