Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Law Blog

The Florida Supreme Court issued a ruling recently that protects the right to be free from an unreasonable search and seizure by law enforcement officers. Specifically, the case looked at whether police violated the 4th amendment when they arrested a man suspected of robbery and then searched his cellphone without a warrant. 

In order to conduct a search without a warrant, the situation must fall within one of several specific exceptions. One of these exceptions is a search incident to arrest which is allowed for purposes of public and officer safety and is generally used to find and remove weapons or contraband from a suspect. This typically involves a basic pat-down upon the arrest and the court says that the search should not extend beyond that. 

Federal safety officials voted on a series of recommendations recently that would signficantly increase the level of criminal liability for people who are suspected of drunk driving. The National Transportation Safety Board says that the current blood alcohol content limit of .08 percent still allows some impaired drivers to operate their vehicles legally. They have recommended that states lower the legal limit to .05 percent.

In addition, the NTSB also says that states should increase use of breath test interlock devices, which prevent drivers from operating their vehicles without first taking a breath test to determine that they are not drunk. Currently most states install these devices only for repeat offenders or those who are convicted of being severely intoxicated at the time of the arrest. Under the new recommendation, states are encouraged to use interlock devices for everyone convicted of a DUI, regardless of their level of intoxication or if it is their first arrest.

A 16-year-old Florida girl is facing felony charges after her science project blew up. The experiment was a mixture of household chemicals in a water bottle that ended up causing a loud popping sound and some smoke, but that injured no one and did not damage school property.

Many in the community are shocked by the charges for felony possession and discharge of a weapon on school grounds. Even the school principal says that the typically well-behaved student made a simple mistake.

The United States Supreme Court will hear yet another influential criminal law case this session as they undertake a complex issue about the Fifth Amendment right not to be compelled to testify against oneself. Also referred to as the right against self-incrimination, this is one of the cornerstones of the Constitution's protections for people who are accused of committing crimes.

An interesting part of the right against self-incrimination is that it has generally been applied to affirmative statements. The Miranda warnings serve as a method for making sure that statements by suspects are made with an appropriate level of knowledge and understanding about the consequences of those statements. If the statements are not made voluntarily, for example, because of the use of harsh interrogation techniques, then prosecutors could be barred from introducing the statements at trial. In this case, prosecutors sought to introduce information about silent conduct and the fact that the man did not speak in regards to one question after having discussed other issues with officers.