Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

Child Abuse Cases Are Not Always As They Seem

Published on: November 13, 2015 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

This week the Times-Union reported on a couple who were arrested for allegedly abusing their 7-week old daughter only to be later exonerated. The story is a great example of why we shouldn’t jump to conclusions when such allegations initially are made. Rather, we should wait for all the evidence to come out about the matter before drawing our final conclusions.

The facts are as follows. The young couple were preparing for an outing when they noticed their 7-week old daughter wasn’t moving her arm. They took her to the hospital where an x-ray showed it was broken. Because they couldn’t satisfactorily explain the cause of the injury, the state became involved. A whole-body x-ray ordered as part of that investigation revealed the infant had numerous broken bones. And, because the parents again couldn’t offer a plausible explanation for the child’s multiple fractures, they were arrested at the hospital, handcuffed, taken to jail and later charged with felony child abuse. As bad as this is, the story actually gets worse.

The Difference Between Burglary and Trespass May be Important to Your Case

Published on: November 8, 2015 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

If you’ve been charged with burglary, a competent Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer may be able to get your charges reduced to trespass, or even have them dismissed. While both are crimes, the distinction between burglary and trespass can make a huge difference in the outcome of your case and upon your life going forward.

There are different varieties of burglary. In discussing the highly significant differences between burglary and trespass in this blog entry, I will be referring to the crime of burglary of a dwelling. Continue reading

Jacksonville Juvenile Offenders To Get Relief From Prosecution for Certain Nonviolent Crimes

Published on: October 28, 2015 | by Roelke Law, P.A.

The Times-Union reported today that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has committed to increase its use of juvenile civil citations in lieu of arresting juveniles for certain minor nonviolent crimes. Civil citations are issued in appropriate cases as an alternative to arrest for juvenile misdemeanor offenders. Instead of being arrested and then subjected to juvenile delinquency sanctions, which may include residential commitment programs, juveniles issued civil citations will be directed to a restorative justice process.

The commitment was made at a recent meeting of the Interfaith Coalition for Action, Reconciliation and Empowerment (ICARE) by Undersheriff Pat Ivey. The Sheriff’s Office commitment includes working with ICARE to create a public announcement about the civil citation program and with the State Attorney’s Office to increase the use of citations in battery cases where the victim was not injured, such as minor “schoolyard fights.” The goal of ICARE is to bring Duval County more in line with Florida Department of Juvenile Justice statistics showing that while less than 33 percent of its eligible youth receive civil citations, state-wide that average is 43 percent.