Strecker Legal

St. Lucie County Woman found Not Guilty of Felony Domestic Battery

Tue, 22 Nov 2016 19:24:00 GMT

We were happy to represent Alicia Byrnes and she gave us permission to share her story. In January of this year, Alicia slapped the father of her children with an open hand in response to repeated threats of physical violence made to her and to her children. In an effort to gain the upper hand in their child custody dispute, the alleged victim in this case (who is a foot taller than her and weighs approximately 100 pounds more than she does) called law enforcement and had her arrested for domestic violence. In making the decision to arrest her, law enforcement failed to consider that she was acting in self defense. They also failed to consider a prior incident in 2013 where this same alleged victim had punched her repeatedly in the face leaving her with a black eye and other injuries. Without counsel, Alicia entered a no contest plea and easily completed the requirements of probation. Immediately after she completed these probation conditions, the same alleged victim again called law enforcement and accused Alicia of “touching his arm in an aggressive manner.” She was arrested and charged with felony domestic violence. The 19th Circuit State Attorney’s Office pursued felony charges and extended a plea offer which would have made Alicia a convicted felon and required her to serve jail time. Prior to these two allegations, Alicia had no interaction with the criminal justice system and was the primary caregiver for her 4 year old son and 7 year old daughter. The trial court refused to admit photographs of Alicia’s injuries and a recording of the 911 tape which refuted the alleged victim’s story.
A St. Lucie County Jury took 20 minutes to return a Not Guilty verdict. Jury trials and Jury service are the only protection we have against a system that is often indifferent and negligent. This case wasn’t about the lawyers involved -it was about Alicia finally having the opportunity to be heard.

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Not Guilty Verdict for Belle Glade Woman charged with Perjury in a Capital Proceeding

Tue, 23 Aug 2016 16:04:00 GMT

We were proud to represent Shantoria Thompson and she was gracious enough to give us permission to share her story. Shantoria was an eyewitness to a homicide in 2011. Law enforcement mistakenly revealed her identity to the perpetrators of the homicide, and she was forced to flee the State with her infant son. The only assistance or protection she received was a bus ticket out of town. She lived in fear for over 2 years with no contact from law enforcement or the State Attorney’s Office. They finally contacted her in 2013 and demanded that she appear for deposition. When Shantoria did not want to testify, she was told she would be arrested. When Shantoria refused to cooperate with law enforcement, she was charged with Perjury in a Capital Proceeding, a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. She was offered a plea bargain for 3 years in prison and a felony conviction. She asked for a jury trial. After nearly 40 court dates, thousands of dollars in taxpayer money, and one mistrial, Shantoria was found Not Guilty by a Palm Beach County Jury this afternoon. Jury service is so important and functions as the only check on the nearly limitless power of the government. At Strecker Legal, we are willing and able to take the most difficult cases to Trial.

http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/what-happens-when-sole-witness-to-a-murder-backs-o/nsJWf/

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When should I talk to the police ?

Thu, 30 Jun 2016 13:07:00 GMT

This is a question that criminal defense attorneys get all of the time. It’s frustrating for a variety of reasons, and it’s most frustrating when a client has already made their criminal law issue far worse by speaking to law enforcement without their attorney present. If you have any question about whether or not you should speak with a police officer, DCF agent, FBI agent, the IRS, etc – You should ask for an attorney and refuse to make any other statements until your attorney is present. The Miranda warning states “Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” Any explanation, defense, alibi, or any other information you want a prosecuting authority to have can be communicated by your lawyer. If you go through your attorney, that information can’t be used against you later. It’s important to understand that by the time the police want to question you, they are on a search for incriminating statements and evidence rather than a search for truth.

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Florida Supreme Court Just Made It Easier To Get Pulled Over

Fri, 13 May 2016 16:36:00 GMT

Creative Commons image via Wikimedia

Orlando Weekly – In a case that started with a dangling tag light, the Florida Supreme Court made clear Thursday that police officers have broad authority to pull over motorists whose license plates are not fully visible.

Justices, in a 5-2 decision, rejected an appeal from Jermaine D. English, who was stopped by Orlando police because a tag light and wires were hanging down over the license plate on a vehicle he was driving. Evidence found during the stop led to English being charged with possession of cocaine, marijuana and paraphernalia.

In seeking to suppress the evidence, an attorney for English contended that police did not have cause to stop the vehicle. But the Supreme Court upheld a 2014 decision by the 5th District Court of Appeal, which found that state law requires numbers and letters on license plates to be “plainly visible at all times.”

According to this decision by the Florida Supreme Court, law enforcement agents can now legally perform a traffic stop on a vehicle if the license plate is obscured in any way at all no matter how minor or insignificant.

The facts of underlying case involved a traffic stop performed by law enforcement agents due to the vehicle’s tag being ALLEGEDLY obscured by the dangling wires of the tag light. Law enforcement agents (in this case the Orlando Police Department) used the ALLEGEDLY obscured tag as a the basis to perform a “legal” traffic stop. As usually occurs in this situation, the traffic stop is really just a ploy to perform a warrantless search of the vehicle as well as to conduct an interrogation of the driver and passenger(s).

This is an unfortunate ruling because law enforcement agents already use such traffic stops of a similarly dubious nature as the precedent for an exception to your 4th Amendment Right to be free from warrantless searches. This adds yet another way that the State and their Agents can legally violate your constitutional rights.

In order to ASSERT your rights as a citizen of the United States and of Florida, you must KNOW your rights. One of those rights is the right to remain SILENT. When these State Agents pulled this vehicle over the driver was NOT required to answer any of their questions.

Typically those questions would be, “ Do you know why I pulled you over? ”

That question is an attempt by the officer to get a driver to admit to wrongdoing. In order to protect and assert your rights, the answer should be, “ I am not going to answer any questions officer. ”

Another typical question will be, “ So where are you going today? “ This question can have the effect of making the driver nervous, as well as giving the officer additional information to use against the driver. Again, the answer you can give to protect and assert your rights to be free from interrogation by Agents of the State is, “ I’m not going to answer any questions. ”

If you are the victim of a warrantless search based upon an allegedly “legal” traffic stop, contact your Florida Litigation Team for a Free Initial Consultation.

Our goal is to insure the constitutional rights of our clients are not violated. And if they are, to zealously advocate for the suppression of evidence seized in an illegal search.

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