Federal sentencing laws often impose steep penalties on individuals with prior convictions, especially in firearm cases. When a person is classified as an armed career criminal, the mandatory minimum sentence can be decades of imprisonment. While defendants may later seek relief through post-conviction motions, federal courts closely scrutinize such claims,…
In Florida criminal cases involving multiple charges, whether or not those charges are tried together can have a significant impact on a defendant’s right to a fair trial. Defendants frequently seek to sever unrelated charges to prevent prejudicial spillover from one count to another, particularly in serious felony cases. However,…
In Florida, people accused of crimes have numerous protections, including the right to be free from being tried or convicted more than once for the same offense. This does not mean that people cannot be charged with multiple offenses from a single criminal episode, though, if the legislature explicitly authorizes…
People convicted of domestic violence crimes will often be subject to a no-contact order, barring them from interacting with the protected party. If the court fails to issue such an order, the State may move to amend the sentence. If the party found guilty of the domestic violence crime is…
Generally, if people commit multiple criminal acts, they will be charged and tried for said offenses in a single case. If the crimes do not rely on the same evidence or otherwise overlap, however, they may be tried separately. This is especially true in cases in which evidence of one…
Under Florida law, the State can charge a defendant with felony murder if a person dies during the defendant’s commission of a felony offense. A conviction for a felony is an essential element of felony murder, and if the State cannot establish the defendant committed a felony crime, the defendant…
In Florida, people convicted of offenses involving bodily harm to another individual may face a variety of penalties. For example, in addition to being sentenced to jail time and probation, a person may be ordered to pay restitution fees. The courts can only order a defendant to pay restitution for…
It is not uncommon for people to be charged with multiple crimes stemming from a singular incident. While the State can lawfully bring such charges, the prosecution must nonetheless prove the discrete elements of each offense in order to obtain guilty verdicts. If the prosecution fails to meet this burden,…
The federal legislature aims to prevent people with extensive criminal histories from continuing to violate the law. Thus, they enacted statutes that allow the federal courts to impose greater penalties on career offenders. Only people convicted of certain crimes will qualify as career offenders, though, as explained in a ruling…
The Florida Constitution generally grants criminal defendants the right to pretrial release. There are exceptions to the general rule, however, such as when the conditions of release are inadequate to protect people in the community from the risk of physical harm or when the defendant is charged with a dangerous…