Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Can the Police Search Your Cell Phone without a Warrant in Florida?
If you’re arrested for a crime, can the police search your cell phone? As more and more people get smart phones, which contain a vast wealth of personal and private information—including emails, text messages, pictures, access to Twitter and Facebook, call logs, contacts, videos, and much more—the question becomes more and more salient. These devices, which are… Read More »
The Importance of the Rules of Evidence in Florida Armed Robbery Cases
What counts as relevant evidence that you committed an armed robbery? How about the fact that you own several guns? Is your answer the same if those guns weren’t used — and, in fact, weren’t even the same kind of guns as those used — during the commission of the crime? Does your answer… Read More »
Petit Theft and Grand Theft: An Important Difference of Degree in Florida
Like most states, Florida recognizes that there are different degrees of seriousness in property crimes. The simplest sort of property crime is just called theft. And theft crimes can be divided further into petit theft and grand theft — you may have heard, for example, the term “grand theft auto” used in crime dramas (or the video game of the same name)…. Read More »
The Right to a Spencer Hearing in Florida Death Penalty Cases
The most serious sentence any criminal defendant can face is, of course, the death penalty — and that’s what seems most likely to happen to Randy Tundidor, the man who, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun–Sentinel, murdered his landlord, a Nova Southeastern University professor. Tundidor’s attorneys have twice tried to appeal the death sentence by having the judge, the Honorable Cynthia… Read More »
Aggravated vs. Simple Assault in Florida: The Danger of an Inconsistent Verdict
In Florida as in most states, there is a difference between aggravated and simple assault. One of the most common ways to raise an assault charge from a simple assault to an aggravated assault is the use of a firearm (or other deadly weapon) in the course of the commission of the crime. The defendant’s possession of a… Read More »
Fort Lauderdale Man Charged with Attempted Murder for Firing on Teens Who Tried to Steal Cars from His Auto Dealership
On May 28, 2014, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reported that Mr. Jonas Charles, the owner of an automobile dealership, had been arrested on charges of attempted murder for firing a gun at several teenagers who were trying to rob him. In a previous incident, thieves stole two cars right off the lot of Mr…. Read More »
Getting a Fair Trial in Florida When You Have a Prior DUI Conviction
If you have a prior DUI conviction in which you refused to submit to sobriety testing, how do you ensure that you get a fair trial on a new DUI charge—one that will be based on the evidence of whether or not you drove under the influence, not whether you’ve done so in the past? Under… Read More »
The Supreme Court’s Death Penalty Decision in Hall v. Florida
On Tuesday of this week, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a decision in Hall v. Florida, the case concerning the constitutionality of Florida’s policy for determining when a person is ineligible for the death penalty by reason of intellectual disability. Since the early 2000s, Florida’s policy had been that anyone who scored above a 70 on… Read More »