Just because an individual may be charged with a criminal offense in the State of Florida does not necessarily mean they are guilty. While a case, on the surface, may look like an individual is guilty, once the facts are completely known, the determination of guilt may not be quite so clear-cut. Everyone, no matter what the charge, is entitled to a defense, and despite what the vast majority of Americans think, a person is not automatically guilty once charged.

An example of a second-degree felony offense someone may be charged with is traveling to meet a minor that involves the attempt to engage in unlawful sexual conduct with a child or other person believed to be a child, by luring them online, attempting to seduce them, entice them or attempting to entice them. Or, by attempting to lure, solicit or entice a parent or guardian to consent to let a child participate in unlawful sexual acts. Charges laid in relation to this kind of scenario are outlined in Chapter 794 Florida Statutes, Chapter 800 Florida Statutes, or Chapter 827 Florida Statutes.

Should an individual be convicted of one of these offenses, they may face at least 15 years in Florida State Prison. In short, this is a serious charge and you need experienced legal counsel, a Lakeland criminal defense lawyer who understands the system and can explain your rights and various options open to you. Your attorney will immediately obtain any chat logs that may have been used to incriminate you. This is important evidence and the logs need to be reviewed to determine what defenses there may be against the charge(s).

If you suspect you may be under investigation for a sex crime, or have been charged with a sex crime, lawyer-up immediately. At that point, we then need to discuss if entrapment may be used as a defense, discover precisely just what your intent was and whether that intention may make a difference in your defense and talk about whether or not the police did have sufficient grounds to issue a search warrant. Nothing is open and shut when it comes to cases such as this, and do not let anyone tell you that is the case. There is a way to protect yourself and by hiring an aggressive Lakeland criminal defense lawyer, your legal rights come first.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

If a criminal has not committed a sexual offense, should he be required to register as a sex offender? This pointed question has been in the media since the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that a man must register as a sex offender despite the fact that he never committed a sexual offense. The petty thief’s name will now be logged in the registry right next to serial child rapists, sex traffickers, child molesters and child pornographers.

Being a registered sex offender also means being prohibited from living near churches, schools or parks. If the individual wishes to move, neighborhood residents in the area will pillory him before he even arrives, afraid of what he might do to their children. Does the punishment suit the crime? Should teens caught sexting be made to register as sex offenders? Where does society draw the line? Where is real justice? And, furthermore, what about the rights of the offender?

Contrary to popular opinion, offenders of any caliber do have legal rights and are entitled to exercise them, and that includes sex offenders. However, these days it appears that what constitutes a sex offender is not as clear as it may have been at one time. It is not right, nor constitutional, that those who have not committed sexual offenses bear the same stigma as those who are considered to be “serious” and dangerous offenders.

The case that caused the media uproar in Georgia deals with a man who was 18-years-old when he lined up a deal to buy marijuana from a 17-year-old girl. He and three friends did not make the buy. Instead, they robbed the girl and dumped her out of the car. This man is to be branded a sex offender. The question is “Why?” How is that justice?

A criminal defense lawyer would argue that putting a client such as that on a sex offender registry would be cruel and unusual punishment. The stigma of being labeled a registered sex offender would dog that individual for life; a life that may well be destroyed forever for only doing something dumb. The Georgia Supreme Court did not agree with that defense. Their ratio decidendi stated that the registration requirements, in and of themselves, do not constitute punishment and that “it is of no consequence whether or not one has committed an offense that is ‘sexual’ in nature.”

The truth of the matter is that most Americans consider that those listed in a sex offender registry are convicted sexual deviants. It appears that “all” of them may not be, and that does not speak well to justice in America.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

If you are driving while under the influence and get stopped at a sobriety checkpoint, you do not have to blow into the breathalyzer, walk a straight line, or perform any of the other tests law enforcement suggests you do. You hold your tongue and call an experienced Polk County criminal defense attorney. Do not volunteer anything while at the checkpoint, as everything you say and do is documented and may come back to bite you later.

While you may not think your behavior after drinking or doing drugs is erratic, others, including cops, may think and suspect otherwise. What are they looking for at a sobriety checkpoint? Often law enforcement watches first and foremost for erratic driving, or unusual behavior behind the wheel, like turning lights off and on, or jack-rabbiting a car down a road. While these odd actions may be the result of wearing the wrong glasses or an equipment failure, they are enough to get you stopped.

Police are trained to look for a variety of things at a sobriety checkpoint, things both subtle and glaringly obvious. They may include, but are not limited to: bloodshot eyes; drooping eyelids; slurred speech and odd speech patterns; talking too loudly or too slowly; a rumpled appearance; a slow response to questions asked by police, or no response at all when questioned; an uneven, wobbly gait; exaggerated movement; difficulty maintaining balance; stumbling and fumbling when asked to produce vehicle registration or identification; and the most obvious, the smell of alcohol or other odors, that suggest the driver is under the influence of something.

The one thing you need to remember, if you are ever stopped at a sobriety checkpoint, and are about to be charged with DUI/DWI, is that you need a criminal defense lawyer. Do not speak to anyone other than your lawyer. It is their job to figure out if the procedures used at the checkpoint were legally and properly executed. They will look at which defenses may be used on your behalf, should your case go to court.

There is the possibility that your case may be dismissed before it gets that far, but that depends on the circumstances of your arrest. If you speak out of turn and offer your own defense, you are asking for trouble. Leave the defense up to the criminal defense lawyer. Let them determine whether or not your arrest was legal and if not, how they might go about having the charges thrown out.

Should it be determined that the arrest was legal, your criminal defense attorney will be the one to deal with getting your charges reduced or mitigated, if possible. Your first call to an experienced Polk County criminal defense attorney is the smartest move you will ever make.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

If you are driving while under the influence and get stopped at a sobriety checkpoint, you do not have to blow into the breathalyzer, walk a straight line, or perform any of the other tests law enforcement suggests you do. You hold your tongue and call an experienced Polk County criminal defense attorney. Do not volunteer anything while at the checkpoint, as everything you say and do is documented and may come back to bite you later.

While you may not think your behavior after drinking or doing drugs is erratic, others, including cops, may think and suspect otherwise. What are they looking for at a sobriety checkpoint? Often law enforcement watches first and foremost for erratic driving, or unusual behavior behind the wheel, like turning lights off and on, or jack-rabbiting a car down a road. While these odd actions may be the result of wearing the wrong glasses or an equipment failure, they are enough to get you stopped.

Police are trained to look for a variety of things at a sobriety checkpoint, things both subtle and glaringly obvious. They may include, but are not limited to: bloodshot eyes; drooping eyelids; slurred speech and odd speech patterns; talking too loudly or too slowly; a rumpled appearance; a slow response to questions asked by police, or no response at all when questioned; an uneven, wobbly gait; exaggerated movement; difficulty maintaining balance; stumbling and fumbling when asked to produce vehicle registration or identification; and the most obvious, the smell of alcohol or other odors, that suggest the driver is under the influence of something.

The one thing you need to remember, if you are ever stopped at a sobriety checkpoint, and are about to be charged with DUI/DWI, is that you need a criminal defense lawyer. Do not speak to anyone other than your lawyer. It is their job to figure out if the procedures used at the checkpoint were legally and properly executed. They will look at which defenses may be used on your behalf, should your case go to court.

There is the possibility that your case may be dismissed before it gets that far, but that depends on the circumstances of your arrest. If you speak out of turn and offer your own defense, you are asking for trouble. Leave the defense up to the criminal defense lawyer. Let them determine whether or not your arrest was legal and if not, how they might go about having the charges thrown out.

Should it be determined that the arrest was legal, your criminal defense attorney will be the one to deal with getting your charges reduced or mitigated, if possible. Your first call to an experienced Polk County criminal defense attorney is the smartest move you will ever make.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

In 2011, the Florida legislature repealed a 2007 law that mandated automatic restoration of voting rights to ex-prisoners who completed their sentence, including probation. Some 23 states have moved in the opposite direction in the past decade, restoring some or all voting rights to ex-convicts. Despite this limited progress, voting rights advocates say the number of disenfranchised ex-offenders is still growing.

Desmond Meade is an ex-convict, law student, and president of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition, a group fighting to overturn the 2011 Florida law. He says the consequences of disenfranchisement are far-reaching and affect minorities disproportionately.

“When you talk about the right to vote, you’re not just talking about enfranchising an individual,” Meade said in an interview with The Crime Report. “Every day, in minority communities, you have people getting arrested … As that individual loses [his or her] right to vote, that community loses another voice, to the point that that community becomes insignificant.”

But even as efforts aimed at re-enfranchisement make progress, laws denying the automatic restoration of voting rights for ex-prisoners have their defenders, including Roger Clegg, president of the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

“We have certain minimum objectives and standards: responsibility and commitment to the law, and trustworthiness,” Clegg told The Crime Report. “If you’re not willing to follow the law, you can’t claim the right to make the law for everybody else. When you vote that’s what you do.”

The NAACP recently initiated a national campaign to call attention to the issue. The campaign launched in Florida, where the number of ex-prisoners without a restored right to vote is among the highest in the nation at approximately 1.5 million.

Nationally, polls indicate that a majority support eliminating bans on re-enfranchisement of ex-convicts. Indeed, the United States lags behind many European countries and Canada, where current debate hinges on whether to allow prisoners to vote during their incarceration. In these countries, bans on voting for ex-prisoners are far less common than in the U.S.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

A source states that the organization has since declared bankruptcy and is no longer operating due to a lack of funds. The organization still has a live website, and a recent blog post indicates that the company may reopen at a later date. The center served people in need of support located in the counties of Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee with state funds, federal grants and individual donations.

The suspect, Robert Michael Eugene “Gene” Bruist, 35, held the role of Executive Director for the Center for Independent Living of Southwest Florida (CILSWFL) when he was arrested and charged with grand theft, scheming to defraud, communications fraud and aggravated white collar crime. According to investigators, Bruist allegedly used state funds, federal and non-profit grants as well as individual donations for his own personal use by falsified balance sheets.

“The case include a number of detailed accounting issues, “ stated criminal defense lawyer Thomas C. Grajek. “It is hoped that the charges against Mr. Bruist will include detailed auditing of all accounts.”

Mr. Bruist could be sentenced to 95 years in prison, if convicted, as well as fines as much as $2 million. As of August 2010, the organization under Bruist reported that it had $11,000 in the bank, though it is now known that it had $102, while there was a reported $64,000 in a Morgan Stanley account, which actually was $33. Paper trails show that Bruist used the money to travel and life an extravagant lifestyle.

The arrest was the result of an extensive joint investigation between the Florida Department of Education’s Office of inspector General and then Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater’s Office of Financial Integrity.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

A man traveling ninety miles an hour on his motorcycle was apprehended by deputies and charged with driving under the influence. His blood-alcohol content was .167, according to reports. Upon being apprehended, the man allegedly resisted officers, cursed and even kicked at officers.

The 47-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos man pleaded not guilty to drinking and driving, and not guilty to charges of battery against a police officer; his previous conviction on DUI would likely result in a second felony and a mandatory prison sentence. Two years previous, he served time on a twelve-to-thirty month sentence for a felony DUI conviction.

Complicating matters, his court-appointed lawyers submitted a request to be released from his case one week prior to his trial; they stated that he indicated he planned to file criminal charges against them. The judge for the case did not allow the release to take place as it would further delay the proceedings. A similar scenario occurred during his 2010 c conviction, when he was involved in a DUI charge. His court-appointed lawyer at that time also asked to be released because the suspect’s wife filed a complaint against the lawyer. The suspect reportedly has a brain injury, and his wife had been appointed in 2010 as his assistant.

One of the suspect’s defense attorneys stated that s he has been involved in criminal defense for more than thirty years without ever having criminal charges filed against him, and was now facing potential collusion and perjury lawsuits. As a result of the pending criminal charges, the defense attorney stated that he did not believe he would be the best choice to mount the most effective defense for the suspect.

Additionally, the accused and his wife also filed charges against the county sheriff’s office and the arresting police officers. Their charges alleged that excessive force was used during his arrest.

A DUI arrest typically has serious consequences, especially on a second or third offense. It is extremely important to make sure your rights are protected by using competent legal representation to avoid a felony charge on your criminal record.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

A source states that the organization has since declared bankruptcy and is no longer operating due to a lack of funds. The organization still has a live website, and a recent blog post indicates that the company may reopen at a later date. The center served people in need of support located in the counties of Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee with state funds, federal grants and individual donations.

The suspect, Robert Michael Eugene “Gene” Bruist, 35, held the role of Executive Director for the Center for Independent Living of Southwest Florida (CILSWFL) when he was arrested and charged with grand theft, scheming to defraud, communications fraud and aggravated white collar crime. According to investigators, Bruist allegedly used state funds, federal and non-profit grants as well as individual donations for his own personal use by falsified balance sheets.

“The case include a number of detailed accounting issues, “ stated criminal defense lawyer Thomas C. Grajek. “It is hoped that the charges against Mr. Bruist will include detailed auditing of all accounts.”

Mr. Bruist could be sentenced to 95 years in prison, if convicted, as well as fines as much as $2 million. As of August 2010, the organization under Bruist reported that it had $11,000 in the bank, though it is now known that it had $102, while there was a reported $64,000 in a Morgan Stanley account, which actually was $33. Paper trails show that Bruist used the money to travel and life an extravagant lifestyle.

The arrest was the result of an extensive joint investigation between the Florida Department of Education’s Office of inspector General and then Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater’s Office of Financial Integrity.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

The 47-year-old Gardnerville Ranchos man pleaded not guilty to drinking and driving, and not guilty to charges of battery against a police officer; his previous conviction on DUI would likely result in a second felony and a mandatory prison sentence. Two years previous, he served time on a twelve-to-thirty month sentence for a felony DUI conviction.

Complicating matters, his court-appointed lawyers submitted a request to be released from his case one week prior to his trial; they stated that he indicated he planned to file criminal charges against them. The judge for the case did not allow the release to take place as it would further delay the proceedings. A similar scenario occurred during his 2010 c conviction, when he was involved in a DUI charge. His court-appointed lawyer at that time also asked to be released because the suspect’s wife filed a complaint against the lawyer. The suspect reportedly has a brain injury, and his wife had been appointed in 2010 as his assistant.

One of the suspect’s defense attorneys stated that s he has been involved in criminal defense for more than thirty years without ever having criminal charges filed against him, and was now facing potential collusion and perjury lawsuits. As a result of the pending criminal charges, the defense attorney stated that he did not believe he would be the best choice to mount the most effective defense for the suspect.

Additionally, the accused and his wife also filed charges against the county sheriff’s office and the arresting police officers. Their charges alleged that excessive force was used during his arrest.

A DUI arrest typically has serious consequences, especially on a second or third offense. It is extremely important to make sure your rights are protected by using competent legal representation to avoid a felony charge on your criminal record.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

Quartavious Davis was 18 years old when he and his accomplices held up a number of Miami-area businesses. Davis’ five accomplices accepted plea bargain deals and received sentences of from nine to 22 years in prison. They also testified against Davis, saying that he carried a gun and discharged it twice, though no one was hurt. Davis told Reuters he was never offered a plea bargain agreement.

Davis was sentenced to 1,941 months – more than 161 years – in prison, with no possibility of parole. On June 25, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that life in prison without the possibility of parole constitutes cruel and unusual punishment – even for the crime of murder – if the person was under the age of 18 at the time the crime was committed. Davis, however, was 18 years old at the time his crimes were committed.

Davis’ attorney nevertheless intends to argue that his sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, as Davis is a teenage first offender and has been given an effective life sentence.

Davis’ long sentence results from the practice of “stacking,” whereby each count in an indictment is treated as a separate crime, changing a first-time offender into a habitual criminal, and triggering multiple sentences and mandatory minimum sentences.

Davis’ lawyer, Jacqueline Shapiro, said she intends to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. The first stop is the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

At the time of his arrest, Davis was unemployed, having dropped out of high school. He lived with his aunt in a neighborhood south of Miami, and got by on Social Security disability payments. According to expert witnesses at his trial, Davis has a learning disability and suffers from bipolar disorder.

Davis was convicted on February 9 of participating in seven armed robberies of local businesses over the course of three months in 2010. Davis maintains he is innocent, and he is the only one of his accomplices who went to trial, where his conviction depended largely on the testimony of those accomplices.

Florida has a history of zealous prosecutions, having led the nation in sentencing juveniles to life without the possibility of parole for committing lesser crimes than murder, until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that practice unconstitutional in 2010.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

Justice has two sides – justice for the victim and for the accused. While that concept may seem alien to some, all persons accused of a crime have the right to counsel, and the right to have a defense mounted in their favor. Automatically assuming that because someone is charged with a crime, such as driving under the influence, means they are guilty, does the accused a great disservice. It may also not be true.

Witnesses, families, friends and the general public may jump to conclusions about what they determine to be an incident involving someone driving under the influence. They conclude based on what they saw or suspect, that the driver must have been drunk, or under the influence of something, judging from their erratic behavior. Even police personnel have assumed that may be the case, based on an initial assessment of an accident scene.

Accident scenes are rarely what they appear to be, particularly when a suspected drunk driver is involved. Many do not consider the driver may have had a medical emergency, a seizure, blacked out or suffered the unintentional side effects of a prescription drug. Alcohol may be present in the vehicle, but not present in the driver. Too often drivers involved in an accident when erratic driving and/or the presence of booze or drugs are detected, are assumed to be guilty before even being charged.

This is not to say there are not cases where individuals have been drinking and driving and did cause an accident. Nonetheless, they too are entitled to the due process of the law, meted out in a fair manner. The fact is breathalyzers are not always accurate, if they are not meticulously maintained and properly calibrated. The fact is that even blowing soy sauce gives a reading perilously close to .08.

If you are charged with driving under the influence, do not speak to anyone other than your criminal defense lawyer. They will pull your driving record and the police report and start an investigation of your case. They check the breathalyzer for recent calibration, and if it is not properly calibrated, you could have blown too high, thus making the reading inaccurate.

If there are reasons why your case should go to court, your criminal defense lawyers will explain, in great detail, what they are and outline their choice of defense. The defense may involve what the probable cause was for the officer to stop you, the accuracy of the tests administered, and whether taped/recorded evidence has been tampered with. In most cases, if the evidence was taped, the audio portion will allow the attorney to ascertain whether the police had probable cause for a traffic stop and further DUI tests. Traffic stops have been done without probable cause.

Were you stopped at a DUI checkpoint? Was it clearly marked? If not, the defense may be the stop was illegal, and thus the charges need to be dropped. If you have been charged with DUI, do not attempt to represent yourself. Call an experienced Lakeland criminal defense lawyer. He has the education and experience handling cases like this.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.

Under the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution, citizens are protected against unlawful search and seizure. While the constitution does not have a “right to privacy” clause or even the word “privacy” in it, Bill of Rights does offer many protections to citizens that protect their privacy. Never are these protections more important than when someone is accused of a crime.

The high profile case of United States vs. Jones involves a nightclub owner and drug dealer named Antoine Jones. Washington D.C. Police installed a GPS tracking device to his vehicle and monitored his movements for 28 days as part of their investigation. This is certainly not the first time the police have used GPS tracking devices as part of their investigation.

During the 2003 investigation of now convicted murderer, Scott Peterson, Modesto, Calif., police installed GPS tracking devices on four vehicles used by Peterson in an effort to gather evidence and find the body of his missing wife, Laci Peterson. During the trial, Peterson’s defense attorney Mark Geragos did not argue about the constitutionality of the GPS tracking device but instead argued the accuracy of the technology.

His argument included the fact that the FAA had not approved GPS technology to be used in the landing of aircraft thus arguing that it did not provide a level of accuracy worthy of credibility, especially in a capital murder trial. However, the judge allowed the GPS data to be used in the trial.

While GPS technology has improved since then, the accuracy of the devices was not in question in the recent Supreme Court case but rather the invasive, warrantless nature of the devices. The justices found the devices to be more intrusive on a citizen then low-tech methods of tracking like following and personal surveillance.

During the case, the attorney arguing on behalf of the United States was asked by Chief Justice John Roberts, “You could tomorrow decide that you put a GPS device on every one of our cars, follow us for a month, no problem, under the Constitution?”

Deputy Solicitor General Michael R. Dreeben replied with “yes.”

With their ruling against unwarranted GPS tracking devices, the Supreme Court extended a privacy right to U.S. citizens suspected of crimes. Often times, individuals that are known suspects in a crime make the mistake of believing their innocence alone is substantial to maintain their freedom. If suspected or charged with a crime, one should immediately contact an experienced criminal defense lawyer that can make sure the police are not overstepping their boundaries and infringing upon their rights.

To learn more about Polk County criminal defense lawyer or Polk County DUI lawyer Thomas Grajek, go to http://www.flcrimedefense.com/ or call 863-688-4606.