Tampa Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer
Criminal charges are based on evidence. Without evidence to support allegations, a charge cannot survive. But just how accurate is the evidence used to support criminal charges?This question was recently discussed in a publication in Slate. The piece focused on the...
Stories about death row appeals and states considering ending the death penalty get plenty of attention in the media, but it should not take a life or death situation for people to care about protecting the rights of the accused.A wrongful conviction can change a...
A Florida circuit court judge has agreed to hear a post-conviction relief motion filed on behalf of Randall Holcombe, a man who was sentenced to four years of prison on a racketeering and grand theft conviction.The reason? The jury was fast asleep. Let us...
A Florida appeals court has squashed a lawsuit brought forth by a group of Floridians who were impacted by the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the coast of Italy in 2012.This goes to show just how difficult the appeals process can be, even when the facts seemingly point...
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles has recently refused to issue a posthumous pardon for Cameron Todd Willingham. Willingham was executed in 2004 for the arson deaths of his three children. After working diligently on his case, the Innocence Project is...
In Shelley v. State, Case Number 2D13-1941 the Second District Court of Appeal sided with O’Brien Hatfield, PA and reversed a sex crime conviction. This sex crime case reversal resulted from an appeal to the Second District Court of Appeal. It was an appeal from a...
In Martinez v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D2250d (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), Martinez petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus contending that he received ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal of his sentence for attempted 2nd-degree murder.Martinez put forth that...
In Shea v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D2205b (Fla. 4th DCA 2013), Shea appealed the denial of a rule 3.800(a) motion to correct an illegal sentence, The Appellate Court reversed in part.Shea was convicted as charged of 1st degree premeditated murder with a firearm for...
In Sprott v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D2238a (Fla. 1st DCA 2013), Sprott pled guilty to count one: uttering a forged bill, count two: possession of forged notes, count three: attempted scheme to defraud, and count four: possession of a forged, stolen, or fictitious...
In Davis v. State, 38 Fla. L. Weekly D2247b (Fla. 1st DCA 2013) a prosecutor withheld knowledge of a sitting juror's involvement in the law enforcement investigation of the case being tried although the prosecutor was unquestionably aware of that fact.The prosecutor...
