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Certain selected residents of Orange County, FL are potential jurors for the First Degree Murder trial of accused Police Officer killer Dontae Morris. Morris is scheduled for trial in the murders of Tampa Police Officers Jeffrey Kocab and David Curtis after the officers pulled over a car Morris was in three years ago. At the time of Morris being pulled over he was wanted on a warrant out of Jacksonville for a worthless check. Upon his detainer he fired upon and killed Officers Kocab and Curtis. After shooting the officers Morris fled on foot and a manhunt ensued until he ultimately gave himself up at a local Tampa criminal attorney’s office. Due to the nature of the murder charge, Morris could face the death penalty if convicted should a jury ultimately elect to recommend death and the trial Judge oblige their wishes. For now, an Orange County jury will be selected to try the Hillsborough County case. A looming question on the mind of many is why pick a jury in a different jurisdiction?

Due to the subject matter of this trial leading to much media attention and despite the crime occurring in Hillsborough County, the jury will be selected in Orlando and ultimately sequestered in Tampa. Florida’s Constitution, under Article I, Section 16, guarantees that an individual accused of committing a crime shall receive an impartial trial in the county wherein the crime was allegedly committed. As support for this guarantee, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.240 allows as a safeguard, for the Defendant or the State Attorney’s Office to move for a change of venue. As a basis for this motion the moving party will allege that a fair and impartial trial can’t be had in the county where the crime was committed and as such the trial or at least the jury selection should be moved to another county in the hope that a pool of individuals less familiar with the facts can be found. Florida criminal statute 910.03 dictates that upon a court ordering a change of venue, priority must be given to any county that closely resembles the demographic composition of the county wherein the original venue would lie. Using the Morris case (see also the Casey Anthony case) as an example, the closest county offering the most purported safety in distance with the closes demographic makeup to Hillsborough is Orange County, likely because of the cities of Tampa and Orlando being somewhat similar demographically.
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//www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JphDdGV2TU
  A South Florida woman, or man, depending on how you classify it was sentenced to 366 days in a Florida Prison this month for injecting several individuals in the butt with a toxic mix of Fix-A-Flat and super glue. Ron Oneal Morris, born as a man but who now considers herself a woman, “helped” those in need of a bigger butt by conducting several procedures where a tube was inserted into the buttock of the patient allowing for Morris’ toxic concoction to be pumped in. In spite of every client seeking her services voluntarily and knowingly allowing her to perform her procedure, Morris was charged with and convicted of the criminal act of practicing healthcare without a license. In spite of a more serious sentence being possible, Morris’ criminal lawyer convinced prosecutors to offer the fairly lenient deal citing a lack of physical evidence and a failure of witnesses to come forward. No surprise there as I’m sure it’s a bit embarrassing to admit you’ve allowed some quack to inject you with a Molotov Cocktail of doom. Ironically, Morris isn’t the only person on planet earth to offer these services as Padge Victoria Windslowe was charged in the death of a young woman for her version of this type of injection in Philadelphia in 2012.

For this particular allegation, Morris was likely charged with the third degree felony version of this offense under Florida Statute 456.065(2)(d)(1). If one is charged with practicing healthcare without a license under this statutory subsection they will face a minimum fine of $1,000 and a minimum mandatory prison term of 1 year. In Morris’ case, under the statute she received the most lenient sentence available. In spite of the nice deal worked out by her Florida criminal lawyer, Morris’ troubles are far from being behind her as she faces Manslaughter charges in Broward County for the death of one of her “patients.” Shatarka Nuby was injected by Morris in 2007 and later died of “massive systemic silicone migration” while serving a sentence in a Tallahassee prison.
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The vast majority of the time if one is charged with a Federal crime they are very likely subject to a considerable amount of incarceration. In some situations it’s possible for a hard working Federal criminal attorney to try their client’s case and earn an acquittal. Unfortunately for a defendant, Federal criminal cases tend to be well investigated and by the time the individual is charged, the United States Attorney has a nearly airtight case with which to work. But what about the minor crime committed by one with a squeaky clean criminal history where the crime is seemingly victimless? State criminal courts have pretrial diversion but do our Federal courts? Surprisingly to some, the answer is yes. So what does it take to get into Federal Pretrial diversion?

As with many facets of a Federal criminal charge, the United States Attorney handling the case has a great amount of discretion as to whether to offer diversion. Should you be lucky enough to have a reasonable and compassionate US Attorney, you must still meet the criteria found within the United States Attorney Manual section 9-22.100. In order to qualify for Federal Pretrial Diversion the US Attorney must choose to divert you should you not: have two or more prior felonies, be a public official or former public official accused of an offense arising out of a violation of the public trust, accused of an offense related to national security or foreign affairs, be accused of an offense that under existing department guidelines should be diverted to the State criminal court system. Should you be lucky enough to get into diversion you will be there no longer than 18 months should you complete the program and will still be required to pay any restitution owed.
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As criminal attorneys if we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a million times, “the defendant spontaneously admitted to the crime and also told me who is responsible for John F. Kennedy’s assassination.” Ok, maybe not to that extent, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read police reports, be it a DUI allegation or a Federal Wire Fraud report, where there is language that my client made admissions. Obviously many people get scared when they’re arrested and sing like canaries, but what about those that may be a little more “experienced” with the system and would never utter a peep to a police officer? What about those instances where a person “spontaneously” told the officer during a traffic stop that they have 14 tons of cocaine stashed in their garage 40 miles away? How can we as attorneys, or a jury really know what happened or what was said between the officer and the defendant without hearing a recording of the conversation?

I recently tried a Federal drug case where a DEA agent recorded in his written report that my client made certain statements that could be viewed as admissions and he later testified as to the same. Despite working for a Federal law enforcement agency with more than enough resources to buy recording equipment, this conversation was not recorded. As an attorney, without the luxury of any audio or video recordings to review, all you can do is try to chip away at the Agent or Officer for not making an effort to record despite the means to do so and attempt to the point across that one who is investigating a case certainly has an interest in the outcome and therefor has some bias. Unfortunately, often a showing of bias from the standpoint of a law enforcement officer and the fact that he didn’t record the conversation isn’t enough to combat Big Badge’s testimony. This happens every day in Courtrooms all across the country and the only way to combat it is to attempt to cross examine the witness and hope that they are taking their oath seriously. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t. I’m not alleging that this agent wasn’t truthful in his testimony, however had the conversation been recorded my job would have been that much more difficult as it’s a hell of a lot harder to impeach a recorded conversation than a conversation that’s retold by a witness.
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A Boone, NC man has been arrested after his can’t stop, won’t stop policy for spreading the word of massage through uninvited back rubs blew up in his face. Julio Antonio Yanez, despite his self image of being a modern day Don Juan, has been charged in North Carolina with two counts of misdemeanor breaking and entering and two counts of assault on a female. As alleged, Yanez would enter the homes of unsuspecting women, crawl into their bed, and begin his rub down sessions. As could be expected, despite his rugged good looks, the victims were unwilling participants in his attempted night moves. Upon entering the beds of his victims it is reported that both victims immediately ordered him to cease his caress and leave the premises immediately. Despite their demands it is alleged the walking massager continued to stroke their arms and back and persisted in his demand to tenderize their muscles. As it stands currently there are at least three women who alleged Yanez attempted his tomfoolery on them, though charges have been filed based on only two of the incidents.

In my time as an attorney there have been cases that just make me sit back in my chair and wonder what the hell is wrong with people? My job title doesn’t allow me to not look for the weaknesses in a fact scenario and assess a situation considering both sides of the coin. However, if these allegations are true as alleged, this is one of those rock back, eye roller cases. I’ve mentioned in other blogs that criminal law is generally similar from State to State and in the Federal system. Of course there are nuances in Florida that a criminal attorney practicing in Florida would know, just as there are nuances in Tennessee that a criminal lawyer in Tennessee would know. That’s just the way it is. Yanez will be charged in North Carolina with misdemeanor counts. If this is all he’s charged with, he can sleep a little easier. Were he in Florida he would no doubt be charged with misdemeanor battery for his unwanted touching of his victims. Depending on the unknown facts of his case, he may also be charged with Burglary of an occupied dwelling under Florida Statute 810.02(2)(a) if the State could prove that he entered the dwelling with an intent at the time of entry to commit a criminal offense and that offense is an assault or battery. If burglary isn’t provable Yanez would be charged with trespass in a structure, a first degree misdemeanor.
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35 year old Haider Zafar, formerly of south Florida is currently residing in Federal custody after being indicted in the Southern District of Ohio for 118 counts of Wire Fraud, 13 counts of money laundering, and one count of filing a false federal income tax return. The meat and potatoes of Zafar’s indictment alleges that he made false representations that his uncle was a high ranking political figure in the Pakistani government, and that Zafar and members of his family knew of several pieces of land in Pakistan that the Pakistani government planned to purchase in order to build military facilities. The nature of Zafar’s alleged scandal was that he told potential investors that they could supply the funds and that Zafar could swoop in and purchase the land prior to the Pakistani government and ultimately sell the land to the government for a very large profit. He would then share the profit with the investors. Things got really interesting at Zafar’s detention hearing earlier this week when investment attorney Andrew Fine testified that Zafar had bilked former and current Miami Heat players out of approximately 8 million dollars in addition to the existent allegation. Specifically, Mr. Fine mentioned former University of Florida star Mike Miller, Rashard Lewis and guard James Jones as victims of Zafar’s alleged impropriety.

Haider Zafar is facing a typical allegation of white collar criminal conduct. As such, his potential sentence, should he ultimately enter a plea, would be driven primarily by the amount of money conned out of potential investors. As alleged thus far via indictment, Zafar is said to have scammed 10 million dollars out of a Washington DC business and if the allegations of his misgivings while living in Florida are true, he could have an additional 8 million dollars added via superseding indictment. Zafar will be facing up to 20 years in prison on his wife fraud counts and 10 years for his money laundering counts. The maximum prison term for his tax evasion allegations is only 3 years or 1 year respectively, depending upon the statute used. For purposes of example of how the Federal Sentencing Guidelines work for cases involving money, we’ll use the wire fraud guideline 2B1.1 as it could apply to Zafar. Because wire fraud has a maximum penalty of 20 years, the base offense level would be a 7. Next, in applying the specific characteristics of this alleged offense, we must attribute the monetary amount scammed. In this case, as it seems to stand currently, that number would be 8 million dollars. As such we must add 20 levels per Guideline 2B1.1(b)(K). Depending on the sophistication of Zafar’s scam, there could be an additional 2 level increase in total offense level under 2B1.1(b)(9)(C). As with any Federal case, should a plea ultimately be entered, the bulk of the work for a Federal criminal attorney is in a proper sentence calculation and the challenges that may accompany. For Zafar, based on the limited information we have, he could score out to 29 levels (87-188 months depending on criminal history category)
before any kind of acceptance of responsibility or other means of reducing his potential sentence. This number does not consider the Florida victims and could get higher should the US Attorney’s Office include them.
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Since the beginning of time merchants of services or goods have been quick to toss a patron out of their premises and ask him or her to never come back if said person runs afoul of their rules. It’s common sense for most to know that if you get kicked out of a brick and mortar establishment there is a good chance that you will be “trespassed,” thereby giving you notice that if you come back, you could get arrested. As time passes and technology progresses, the law will have to evolve with it. To “trespass” in the time of our forefathers meant no more than to physically be where they aren’t invited after some form of notice. Back in those days the act of trespassing could upon one’s person, chattel, or physical property. Fast forward to now. With all things tech, a website becomes an interesting new forum for debate on whether or not one can “trespass” on the property of another.

I will preface this blog in that as a low tech criminal lawyer I know about as much about “tech” as I do brain surgery. I do understand that large and common websites like Craigslist can ban an IP range or individual IP address from coming to their site in much the same sense that an establishment can ban an individual or group of individuals from coming to their place of business. In my tiny tech brain I can only imagine a drunken bar patron being kicked out of a big bar in the sky and sent through some kind of multicolored warp tube into never-never land… I digress. So what happens when a person or group that has been trespassed or blocked from a website attempts to come back, using a different or cloaked IP address? As decided in the Craigslist v. 3Taps case, evidently now, at least in the opinion of one Federal District Court Judge, a person who does this runs afoul of the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (“Act”)! A potential Federal charge? This act is codified at 18 USC 1030. Judge Breyer opines that the Act was violated as applied to the 3Taps case in that 3Taps did intentionally access a computer without authorization and retrieved information from a Craigslist computer that was protected. In rendering his opinion, Judge Breyer compared a website trespass to trespass on private property in saying, “The law of trespass on private property provides a useful, if imperfect analogy. Store owners open their doors to the public, but occasionally find it necessary to ban disruptive individuals from the premises. That trespass law has enforced those bans with criminal penalties has not, in the brick and mortar context, resulted in the doomsday scenarios predicted by 3Taps in the internet context.”
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Ask any Tampa Federal Criminal Lawyer how they feel about Federal drug sentencing and I have little doubt the response you receive would be a groan and a look of disgust. Federal drug sentencing, for whatever popular and illusory reason the Federal Sentencing Commission chooses to hang their hat on, has been and is outrageous. For every crime there must necessarily be some kind of punishment otherwise the system is useless and we can cue anarchy. However, when one with little criminal history and no real ties to a cartel or gang takes a shot to make five times his yearly wage for a noble albeit illegal reason and ultimately is sentenced to a 10 year minimum mandatory prison term, have we really achieved anything? Should a drug sentence really be higher than a crime of violence or a sex crime against a minor? It doesn’t pass the smell test but it happens all the time. Title 21 of the Federal Criminal code details minimum mandatory sentences and it has been a leverage point of Federal Prosecutors since its inception.

Not only can a defendant be charged with a violation of Title 21 that calls for a mandatory minimum prison sentence, in certain instances the defendant’s sentence potential or mandatory minimum be increased because of a criminal history to make a minimum mandatory completely exorbitant. If the US Attorney’s office pops your man with a nice little 851 enhancement you are now staring down the barrel of a potential of a 20 year minimum mandatory or mandatory life sentence depending on the number of prior drug felonies he has. If the defendant was facing a 5 year minimum mandatory he is now looking at 10 and if there is no minimum mandatory, his statutory maximum increases. You can run but you can’t hide from the 851… All for one prior drug felony. Granted this enhancement is not automatic but it is wholly discretionary for the Federal Prosecutor. Depending on which Prosecutor is driving the bus, you could be in for a bumpy ass ride. This enhancement isn’t even inclusive of a Career Offender enhancement, and animal that has been criticized as not being based on empirical data by the Supreme Court in Kimbrough v. US, 552 U.S. 85, 109-110 (2007). When one is saddled with both an 851 and career offender enhancement his Federal criminal lawyer will earn a few more gray hairs.
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Drag racing in the Tampa area has been alive and well in for a long time. Mix testosterone with high octane gasoline and a lot of horsepower and you have a recipe for adrenaline. As is so often the case with any hobby that may push the envelope on safety, this particular brand of fun is highly regulated when legal and illegal when not performed in the proper venue. Unfortunately, those who participate in road racing in an illegal venue are doing it not with a specific purpose to break the law or cause damage or physical harm to anyone, but rather to enjoy the fun that a high speed race provides. Consequently, for as much as racers want to enjoy their racing, the local police want to catch the racers and put a stop to their actions. Though at first blush one would say, “what is the harm in a drag race?” there can be serious legal consequences effected by laws put in place to prevent the damage that can precipitate from racing. After a local police officer was injured when his car was hit by a racer, WTSP Channel 10 News’ Melanie Michael interviewed Tampa criminal lawyer Jason Mayberry about illegal road racing. As a complement to that interview we’ll provide our audience with the consequences that attach when one pleas to a racing on the highway charge.

As a general rule racing on the highway charges are considered to be first degree misdemeanors carrying a possible jail penalty of 11 months, 29 days in jail. To be convicted of this charge the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant:

A. drove a motor vehicle in
OR
B. participated / coordinated / facilitated / collected monies at the location of
OR
C. knowingly rode as a passenger in
OR
D. purposefully caused moving traffic to slow or stop for
a race OR a drag race or acceleration contest OR a speed competition or contest OR a test of physical endurance OR an exhibition of speed OR an attempt to make a speed record on a highway OR road OR parking lot.
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Phone: (813) 444-7435

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