A Montana teacher, Stacey Dean Rambold, was charged with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent in 2008. Rambold plead guilty to the rape and he was sentenced in August and released from a Montana prison on probation the next month. The teenage victim, Cherise Morales, took her own life…
I’m often asked to write about real cases that I’ve handled and/or learned about first hand that provide insight into the criminal justice arena. Here’s one that I remember that sheds light on how random a defendant’s bond can be. I was involved in a Florida criminal case where the…
When deciding whether an arrestee is guilty of a crime, the public typically will ask, “Well, what’s the evidence?” When they hear that the chemist made a determination about something, they believe that they can rely upon it. Why would someone in the scientific community like a chemist and/or toxicologist…
Kalief Browder, a Bronx, N.Y. native, was only 16-years-old when cops unexpectedly showed up and stripped him of his liberty while he was walking home from a party. A person who Browder never met before accused him of robbery. Browder’s nightmare began. The teen spent the next three years jailed…
Remember back a month ago when Polk County, Florida sheriff, Grady Judd was everywhere. It seemed that there was no media appearance too small for him to do. He was oozing with passion and excitement in front of the cameras while showcasing to the world that two juveniles, a 12…
This is an actual criminal case. The only thing I did was change the defendants’ names. Marley and Snoop (we’ll call them) were charged with trafficking in cannabis, pursuant to Florida Criminal Statute 893.135(1)(a). Both ganja loving defendants were facing a potential three year minimum mandatory prison sentence if the…
Many have commented about the fairness of George Zimmerman’s bond hearing conducted yesterday in Seminole County, Florida. Some think he got off light since the prosecutors were seeking a bond of $50,000. Others wonder why the bond was increased to $9000 when the standard bond for the same three criminal…
Just hours before white supremacist serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin was scheduled to be killed via lethal injection, U.S. District Judge in Missouri, Nanette Laughreyin, granted stay of execution, citing concerns over Missouri’s new execution method. Franklin is challenging Missouri’s drug choice of pentobarbital for the lethal injection procedure. He…
By now, you’ve probably heard that George Zimmerman was re-arrested. This time, he’s charged with felony aggravated assault and two misdemeanors, domestic violence battery and criminal mischief. The arrest occurred this Monday, approximately 1:30 p.m. in Apopka, Florida. Zimmerman’s girlfriend alleges, as memorialized in the arrest report, that he pointed…
Many may not be surprised to learn of this one. Just hours ago, George Zimmerman was re-arrested and charged with a “domestic violence related offense.” Seminole County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested Zimmerman in Central Florida after receiving a call concerning a “disturbance.” At the time of writing this blog entry,…