Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Probation Officer’s Hearsay Testimony Insufficient to Prove You Violated Your Probation

Published on: September 22, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

Has your Probation Officer either threatened to violate, or actually violated, your probation? If so, there are many ways a knowledgeable Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer can help prevent, or substantially reduce, any adverse effects on you. A recent case from the First District Court of Appeal provides one example.

Jalyn Viriginia Brownsworth plead no contest to grand theft and was sentenced to 24 months of probation. Shortly after imposition of sentence, her probation officer filed an affidavit of violation of probation alleging Jalyn had failed to submit to undergo a required drug/alcohol evaluation.

At the revocation hearing, Jalyn’s probation officer testified she had been scheduled for an evaluation that later required rescheduling. The probation officer further testified that when she later contacted the evaluation facility staff, she was told Jalyn failed to attend the rescheduled appointment. Based on Jalyn’s purported failure to attend the rescheduled evaluation as related by the probation officer, the trial court found Jalyn to have violated her probation. Jalyn appealed. Continue reading

Recordings Made Without Your Permission Sometimes May Be Used Against You

Published on: September 15, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

Many people believe if someone records them without their permission, the recording cannot be used in court. A recent decision by the First District Court of Appeal, however, shows that is not always the case.

Corey Smiley was invited to the home of the women with whom he shared a two year old child. While there Smiley and the woman got into an argument. The woman recorded the argument on her cell phone. The video depicted Smiley questioning the woman about the video and repeatedly trying to grab her phone. It further showed Smiley shoving the woman and threatening to shoot her and their child. The woman asked Smiley to leave her home several times. The woman claimed after the recording ended Smiley brandished a gun. She then fled with their child.

Smiley was arrested and charged with aggravated assault by threat with a deadly weapon and domestic violence battery. Smiley subsequently sought to exclude the cell-phone video on the ground it had been illegally recorded without his consent. The trial court denied his request and admitted the video at his trial. Smiley was convicted of the charges. Continue reading

New Hemp Law Makes it Harder to Prosecute Florida Marijuana Cases

Published on: August 25, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

On June 25, 2019 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed Florida Senate Bill 1020, regulating the production and distribution of hemp and hemp extracts in Florida, including the increasingly popular hemp derivative, cannabidiol (CBD). The bill makes Florida the latest state to enact legislation to legalize and regulate its hemp industry. The bill mirrors similar action at the federal level late last year when President Trump signed the Farm Bill removing hemp from the list of controlled substances, making it legal to grow and sell hemp under federal law.

Hemp comes from the same cannabis plant that produces marijuana. Marijuana, however has much higher levels of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the chemical in the plant that is psychoactive and produces the hallmark “high” or euphoria. Both hemp and marijuana contain CBD, a medical compound that has health benefits but is non-euphoric.

Under the Farm Bill, hemp is legal provided doesn’t contain more than 0.3 percent THC. If hemp contains more than 0.3 percent THC, it is still a federally banned controlled substance. Similarly, Senate Bill 1020 excludes hemp from the definition of cannabis provided the THC concentration does not exceed 0.3 percent on a dry weight basis.

Marijuana Legalization is Putting Some Drug Dogs Out of Work

Published on: June 2, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

To date, the following eleven states have legalized recreational use of marijuana: Washington, Oregon, California, Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, Maine, Vermont and Massachusetts. As those and other states and cities relax their drug laws, the highly trained dogs used by their police departments to sniff out narcotics can’t be relied on to smell the right thing.

It generally costs a law enforcement department about $6,000 to purchase a working dog and thousands more to train it. The drug dogs are usually trained to detect numerous drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and methamphetamine. So, when a dog alerts, it simply indicates the presence of one of those five drugs. In those states where marijuana has been fully legalized, a drug dog’s alert could mean it smells only marijuana. Since marijuana is legal in those states, the dog’s alert would not give rise to probable cause to search a person or their vehicle for illegal drugs.

Thus, in several states where marijuana is fully legalized, including California, Oregon, Maine and Vermont, most newly acquired drug dogs are not being trained to alert to the smell of marijuana. And, some other states where recreational marijuana use is not legal have started to omit marijuana from the scents dogs are trained to detect. Continue reading

DoD Employee Sentenced to Ten Years for Attempting to Entice a Minor to Have Sex

Published on: April 1, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

On March 26, 2019 United States District Judge Brian J. Davis sentenced 68 year old Mohammad Abdul Malek to 10 years in federal prison for attempted enticement and coercion of a minor to engage in sexual activity. Malek, a Ph.D. level engineer, was employed as a federal civilian employee at Kings Bay Naval Base and was living in St. Mary’s Georgia prior to his arrest.

To implement an investigation into child sexual exploitation, on August 22, 2019 a Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office detective posted an ad in the “community / activity partners” section of Craigslist. The ad stated “Looking 2 learn “(Atlantic)” “Hey, I’m looking 2 learn something new. . . I’m totally bored here visiting my granny! HMU if ur real.”

The detective assumed the persona of a 13 year old female. Malek responded only hours after the ad was posted to the internet, stating “I can teach you love making. . . .” Malek later claimed to be 50. The undercover persona replied that she was “almost 14.” Malek initially responded “You are too young.” Unfortunately for him, however, Malek subsequently engaged in more dialog from August 23 through August 26 involving approximately 780 text messages with the undercover persona. Continue reading

Recent Law Makes It Harder To Obtain Stalking Injunctions

Published on: March 8, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

If you’ve been served with a Petition for Injunction for Protection against Stalking, sometimes referred to as a “restraining order”, there’s good news for you. A recent case from the First District Court of Appeal has made it harder to get a stalking injunction.

In Venn v. Fowlkes, 43 Fla.L.Weekly D2455 (Fla. 1^st DCA 2018) Mr. Venn filed a Petition for Protection Against Domestic Violence against Ms. Venn with whom he shared a child from their 15 year relationship. Mr. Fowlkes’s Petition alleged Ms. Venn stalked and harassed him 24/7 at his work and home, and harassed him by filing a child support case. The allegations included that Ms. Venn called Mr. Fowlkes numerous times without leaving a message; knocked on the door of his house and ran; created problems at the restaurant where he works; claimed to have many pictures of him and his wife; called and bothered Mr. Fowlkes’s brother; claimed to be in fear of Mr. Fowlkes; and told a third-party that she would “get the crackers on [him].” Claiming to be “tired of [Ms. Venn’s] games, [her] stalking, [and her] harassment through the child support case,” Mr. Fowlkes’s Petition requested the trial court to stop it immediately by granting him an injunction.

At the injunction hearing, Mr. Fowlkes testified the allegations in his petition were true and correct. He provided no further substantive testimony. Ms. Venn objected to the injunction and testified she had legitimate reasons for visiting Mr. Fowlkes’s workplace and home. For example, Ms. Venn informed the court she had gone to the restaurant several times with the parties’ minor daughter, at the daughter’s request and after Mr. Fowlkes had invited the daughter to eat there. Ms. Venn also acknowledge placing something in Mr. Fowlkes’s mailbox related to her child support case against him. Ms. Venn contended Mr. Fowlkes’s petition was filed in retaliation for her having filed a child support case against him. Continue reading

Unreliability of Drug Field Tests

Published on: February 14, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

A 2016, report by ProPublica and the New York Times found frequent false positives and user errors by law enforcement administering the most popular drug field tests. Precise error rates are difficult to ascertain, as some test results can be affected by variables such as the weather, user error and lighting conditions. Some studies have shown error rates ranging from 1 in 5 to 1 in 3 false positives.

The ProPublica report also found the most commonly used field tests failed to include warnings about the high false-positive rate, despite United States Justice Department directives to do so. And, disturbingly, the report found more than half of those wrongly charged after a false positive pleaded guilty, leaving many with personally and professionally devastating felony convictions.

Even though the 2016 ProPublica-New York Times report was published and received nationwide attention, police departments across the country, including those in Florida, continue to use the flawed field kids. A recent article in The Florida Times-Union underscores just how problematic drug field testing can become. Continue reading

Nervousness Is Insufficient to Detain You During a Routine Traffic Stop

Published on: January 24, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

Imagine that while driving your car, you are stopped by the police for having an expired tag or for speeding. The officer approaches and tells you the reason for your stop. He / she then asks for your license, registration and insurance card.

The officer then asks you to step out of the car. After you do, you’re patted down and drugs, a gun or other contraband are found on you. The officer then searches your car and finds more of the same. You’re then arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance, drug trafficking or as a felon in possession of a firearm. What can you do? The answer in short: sometimes plenty.

The above is a common scenario for what should otherwise be a simple, routine traffic stop where you’re issued a ticket and then go on your way. Fortunately, a skilled and knowledgeable criminal attorney can oftentimes not only lessen the effects of this incident on you, but perhaps obtain reduced charges or even an outright dismissal of your charges. Continue reading

Your Medical History May Help Your DUI Case

Published on: January 6, 2019 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

Your medical history can often be used to obtain reduced charges, or even dismissal of your DUI case. A case from Washington State recently reported in USA Today provides a classic example of how your medical history can be highly relevant to your DUI case.

The incident began when Carol Carlson drove her car to a local ferry terminal. Ms. Carlson appeared confused according to the toll both attendant and other ferry workers. She then ran over a curb and drove the wrong way on a one-way street.

When confronted by a trooper, Ms. Carlson allegedly stated she’d had two glasses of wine. The trooper reported Ms. Carlson’s eyes to be bloodshot and her breath to have an odor of alcohol. The trooper then asked her to perform field sobriety exercises. Ms. Carlson performed poorly according to the officer. Continue reading

Google’s Role in Child Pornography Cases

Published on: December 3, 2018 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

Most people are aware Google scans emails to develop advertisements targeted to users’ particular interests. In fact, the notion Google will scan your content to tailor your advertising has been well known; the company’s terms of service notify users their emails are being analyzed. However, most people are not aware Google also scans both emails and search requests on its site to detect and report child pornography.

Google’s online set of “program policies” for its Gmail service includes “a zero-tolerance policy against child sexual abuse imagery.” That policy states: “If we become aware of such content, we will report it to the appropriate authorities and may take disciplinary action, including termination, against the Google accounts of those involved.”

Consistent with that policy, since 2008 Google has actively scanned images that pass through Gmail accounts to determine whether they match up with known child pornography. More specifically, Google has been using “hashing” technology to tag known child sexual abuse images, allowing it to identify duplicate images in Gmail accounts or in search results, even if the images have been altered. Each offending image effectively is assigned a unique ID Google’s computers can recognize without someone having to view them again. And, Google also incorporates encrypted “fingerprints” of child sexual abuse images into a cross-industry database. This technique enable companies, law enforcement and charities to better collaborate on detecting and removing these images, and to take action against anyone involved with producing or viewing the materials. Continue reading