A report about the child pornography arrest of a Pembroke Pines man caught my eye as a Fort Lauderdale cyber crime criminal defense attorney. According to a Dec. 23 report from the Miami Herald, 66-year-old Warren Day was arrested for possession of child pornography after police followed up on a tip from the Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Day has a history of child sex offenses, having been arrested in Dade County in 1982 for lewd acts with a child. Because the offense was well before sex offender registration laws, he was never required to register as a sex offender.

According to the report, police found Day viewing child pornography when they entered his home. When they first searched his computer, they found hundreds of sexually explicit images of children, giving rise to 50 counts of child pornography possession. More may be coming once police do a more thorough search. He declined at the scene to answer questions from the police without an attorney present -- a very smart move, as any south Florida cyber crime criminal defense lawyer would agree -- but told the police he was “a piece of [excrement].” Day is a speech pathologist, which means he works with people who have trouble speaking. His most recent job was with senior citizens at the Hollywood Rehab Center, but he has worked with children of all ages in the past, including through the Miami-Dade school system.

As a Miami cyber crime criminal defense attorney, I’m afraid Day’s career working with children is likely over. Even if he is not imprisoned and his license is not revoked, school systems generally won’t consider hiring someone with this type of past arrest. In fact, Day would likely already be ineligible to work with children if he had completed probation for his offense after 1997. However, Day’s bigger problem at the moment is the possibility of prison. If no further charges are filed, he could still face many years in prison for the 50 counts of child pornography possession already filed. To minimize those penalties and the chance of further penalties, he should get a lawyer with cyber crime experience right away. Such an attorney should do everything possible to prevent unreasonable searches of his computer and storage media (like DVDs or flash drives), and ensure that officers performing searches don’t file incorrect charges due to lack of technical savvy.

Continue reading " Speech Therapist Arrested in Broward on 50 Counts of Child Pornography Possession " »

At this time of year, much of my job as a Miami-Dade drunk driving criminal defense attorney is defending people caught in the police crackdown on intoxicated driving that always comes with the holidays. That’s why I was interested to read about the arrest of a former University of Miami baseball player who was kicked off that school’s team after a drug arrest. Frank Ratcliff, 19, was arrested for drunk driving Dec. 14 on Stock Island, where he has been living while working as a bellman at a hotel on Key West. His blood-alcohol level was reportedly 0.20, two and a half times the legal limit of 0.08. The arrest violated the terms of Ratcliff’s Drug Court deal for an earlier drug-dealing arrest, meaning he is likely to face further penalties for that offense as well.

Ratcliff was a star at Key West High School and did well with the Canes. However, he was arrested Sept. 9 after he sold 21 grams of marijuana -- less than an ounce -- to an undercover police officer. A subsequent search of his apartment in Coral Gables found 100 more grams of marijuana and 19 vials of hygetropin, a human growth hormone banned by Major League Baseball. In addition to being kicked off the baseball team, Ratcliff faced two drug possession charges and a charge of selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school. He entered Miami-Dade’s Drug Court, a drug diversion program that allows participants to keep a drug conviction off their records if they complete addiction treatment and probation. This arrest violates that probation, exposing Ratcliff to potential prosecution.

As a Fort Lauderdale DUI criminal defense lawyer, I hope Ratcliff has a good attorney, because he will need help to deal with the consequences of this arrest. The DUI alone will carry multiple penalties -- four-figure fines, community service, probation and potential jail of up to nine months. Because Ratcliff is 19, he will lose his driver’s license for six months and be required to complete DUI school before getting it back. This is assuming there’s no illegal drug involved. In addition, the arrest could cancel his Drug Court participation, which would expose him to criminal prosecution for the possession and sales charges. An experienced south Florida intoxicated driving criminal defense attorney will negotiate hard to keep clients in the program. In this case, Ratcliff’s age may help, and the court may have sympathy if it believes he was drinking to avoid using drugs -- but this is ultimately up to the judge.

Continue reading " Former University of Miami Baseball Player Charged With DUI and Probation Violation " »

We’re pleased to announce that our south Florida drug crimes defense lawyers are using a Florida appeals court decision to fight for our client’s right to change his plea. We represent a client who would like to change his plea of no contest to drug charges in Miami-Dade County. Our client admitted to the charges in exchange for a withhold of adjudication and suspended sentence. This is a relatively common situation in Florida, where a withhold of adjudication permits defendants to avoid the negative civil and employment consequences of a criminal conviction, as long as they complete the terms of their sentence -- often probation. However, a withhold of adjudication does trigger an automatic deportation order after one felony withhold or two misdemeanor withholds. That’s why we’re fighting to vacate our client’s plea under a court decision called State v. Galazz.

In that case, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal ruled last year that courts may not sentence defendants only to a suspended sentence after a withhold of adjudication. The defendant, Geseppe Galazz, pleaded to purchasing cocaine or possession with intent to purchase, and was given a suspended sentence with a withhold of adjudication. Under a Florida Supreme Court ruling, trial courts can’t do this, because a suspended sentence alone violates state law unless it arises from a probation matter. Galazz petitioned to the Third District to be allowed to vacate his sentence. The prosecution argued that while the sentence was illegal, the proper thing to do was to change the sentence, not allow Galazz to change his plea and potentially go to trial.

The trial court refused -- properly, in our view as Miami drug crimes defense attorneys -- on the grounds that Galazz never had a chance to agree to the change prosecutors sought. In addition to being unfair, this would violate the Fifth Amendment right against double jeopardy. Thus, the appeals court vacated the plea entirely, sending the case back to its start. In our case, the details are similar, and we are asking the Eleventh Judicial Circuit in Miami-Dade County for the same outcome -- vacating the client’s plea and allowing the case to be reheard. This is unusual, because defendants are rarely allowed to “take back” their pleas unless there’s a serious legal problem underlying them, as there is here. That’s why defendants should always, always get the advice of an experienced Broward County drug crimes criminal defense lawyer before pleading guilty, especially if they are subject to federal immigration law.

Continue reading " Seltzer Law, P.A. Fights for Clients’ Right to Change Pleas and Stay in the United States " »

A criminal prosecution out of South Dakota caught my eye because it’s directly relevant to what I do as a Fort Lauderdale cyber crime criminal defense attorney. The Sioux Falls Argus-Leader reported Dec. 18 that attorney Leo Flynn was acquitted of child pornography charges that he said stemmed from his work defending clients. Flynn was charged with possession, distribution, receipt and access with intent to view child pornography after investigators found him sharing the material through the file-sharing software Limewire. Investigators later found more files in the “recycling bin” of his computer and evidence that he’d visited websites containing child pornography. Flynn maintained that he’d looked at the material as part of his cases and defended himself using a South Dakota state law shielding lawyers, police officers and other officials from prosecution for possessing and viewing child pornography as part of their work.

Flynn was reportedly known as the “perv attorney” locally because he defended a lot of sex cases. According to the newspaper, however, he is not computer-savvy and didn’t realize that Limewire was set to share his files by default. He maintained that he’d looked into child pornography in order to provide advice to his clients, and shared details of each request without sharing the name of the client, who would be protected by lawyer-client confidentiality. Prosecutors argued that the timing of some of his searches was off, and that he’d never asked his officemate, another attorney, for help with technical issues. They also pointed to a statement Flynn made when first confronted with the charges, that his life was over and he was going to prison. The prosecution said this was evidence of his guilt, but the jury apparently disagreed, acquitting Flynn on the basis that his actions were work-related.

As a Miami-Dade cyber crime criminal defense lawyer, I am sympathetic. Regardless of whether Flynn’s statement that he was going to prison was incriminating, it was accurate -- that’s by far the most common outcome to a child pornography case. Juries aren’t sympathetic to defendants they see as child molesters, so it’s difficult to successfully defend even those who are victims of bad circumstances, as Flynn appears to be. Unfortunately, his key mistake -- not realizing that Limewire was sharing files he thought were confidential -- is not uncommon. People who don’t understand the technology well may not even realize the software has that function, or realize it’s enabled by default, or know how to turn it off. When prosecutors and police don’t realize this, they can even bring innocent people up on serious cyber crime charges. Understanding technology is one of my most important jobs as a West Palm Beach cyber crime criminal defense attorney, because it can prove my clients’ innocence or guilt long before any trial takes place.

Continue reading " Defense Lawyer Found Not Guilty of Possessing Child Pornography He Had for Work " »

I’m pleased to announce that I appear on the WSVN evening news tonight, Dec. 13, to further a criminal investigation and offer a reward on behalf of a client. As Channel 7’s website is already reporting, my client, Helen Mars, is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of a ring that was stolen from her Dec. 8. Mrs. Mars is 72 and had received the ring as a gift on her 25th wedding anniversary. She was robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of a Target by a woman who she thought she had met but simply didn’t recognize. In my capacity as her south Florida criminal attorney, I am helping her to offer the $10,000 reward for information leading to the ring’s return, paid personally by Mrs. Mars. Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers is also taking tips at (305) 471-TIPS.

Mrs. Mars was shopping at a Target in North Miami last Wednesday when a woman in black approached her. This woman behaved as if she knew my client, commenting that she looked great and had put some weight on. As Mrs. Mars told the television station, she thought she knew this woman from her stay in a hospital two years ago, when she was being treated for breast cancer. So she didn’t object when the woman suggested that they leave the store together. When they got further away from the store, the thief pushed a gun into my client’s back and demanded the ring, which she was wearing because she had recently picked it up from being repaired. Afraid for her life, Mrs. Mars handed it over silently and was paralyzed for several minutes before she went back into the store to report the robbery. She feels traumatized by the robbery, but more importantly, she would like the ring back for sentimental reasons.

The news report did not mention this, but the police did not start investigating this crime until today, five days after the Dec. 8 robbery. Although I was the Miami-Dade criminal lawyer representing Mrs. Mars, Target would not release the video of the perpetrator to anyone other than law enforcement due to "corporate policy" absent legal service of process. The thief may not be interested in the $10,000 reward Mrs. Mars is offering, but she is hoping someone will come forward in this holiday time and make her whole again. As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney, I know people convicted of armed robbery are facing prison, and often required to pay restitution -- which in this case will be quite pricey.

Continue reading " Seltzer Law, P.A. Represents Client Robbed of Diamond Ring Outside Target " »

A newspaper article from over the weekend caught my eye as a Miami-Dade cyber crime criminal defense attorney. The Associated Press reported Dec. 10 that a South Florida man, 27-year-old Mitchell Hill, has been arrested for cyberstalking young women at Louisiana State University. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement says Hill, of Key West, is also a suspect in the stalking of female students at Florida State, the University of Florida and other schools. He is facing 12 counts of attempted video voyeurism, two counts of actual video voyeurism and two counts of extortion. The extortion counts alone could get him as many as 30 years in prison. An LSU campus police sergeant said he hoped the case would raise students’ awareness of how much they share online.

Hill is accused of contacting the victims online and pretending to be an alum of their sororities. He allegedly gathered information about the women’s lives through Facebook and other online sources, then used that information to “prove” he was really an older sorority sister. Using “her” status in the sorority to threaten the victims’ status, Hill would ask personal questions and demand nude pictures. A Florida State student who may be one of Hill’s victims told the newspaper the perpetrator said two girls outside her dorm would “handle” her, after she refused to send nude pictures. She developed insomnia and eventually left school temporarily. She plans to return in January and said she’s pleased that Hill is in jail. He will likely remain there for some time, because he cannot be extradited to Louisiana until a Florida drunk driving charge against him is resolved.

Fortunately for Hill, he already has an attorney defending him from that charge and on extradition. Someone facing charges this serious certainly needs a lawyer protecting their rights and interests from the start. However, in a situation like this, he’d be well served to hire a south Florida cyber crime criminal defense lawyer in addition or instead. The article notes that authorities have already taken Hill’s computer, which suggests a forensic data search. This kind of search should be monitored by a criminal defense attorney, both for potential Fourth Amendment violations and to protect clients from technically inexperienced officers. Not all police officers understand technology, and it’s possible for them to interpret benign or falsified information as evidence of a crime. As a Fort Lauderdale cyber crime criminal defense attorney, I will do my own forensic investigation whenever necessary to show how viruses or other computer users may have affected the evidence.

Continue reading " Key West Man Arrested for Cyberstalking College Students Suspected in Florida Cases " »

As a south Florida criminal defense attorney, I have been following with interest articles about the alleged incident of police brutality by Miami police officers on Halloween. The incident at the annual Coconut Grove Halloween Street Party became locally famous after police were caught on video beating multiple people, seemingly at random. One of those people, 22-year-old Gilberto Matamoros, pleaded not guilty Nov. 24 to resisting arrest without violence. As the Miami New Times reported, Matamoros was also originally charged with disorderly conduct, but that charge was dropped. His criminal defense lawyers said they’d been told all charges would be dropped, but prosecutors changed their minds when the media entered the courtroom. The police department has declined to comment, citing an internal affairs investigation that has put two officers on desk duty.

The video is not high-quality, but seems to show Miami police officers pulling spectators out of the crowd, then restraining, hitting and arresting them without apparent provocation. The internal affairs department of the Miami police is investigating the events behind the video. However, prosecutors have still brought charges against Matamoros, a college student who was apparently one of the people beaten. His Miami-Dade criminal defense lawyers told the Miami Herald that he was just standing in the crowd when he was pulled out by officers and badly beaten. They said the only resistance Matamoros offered was attempting to protect himself, and that he blacked out before being booked into jail. His booking photo shows injuries to his face, and he went to Jackson Memorial Hospital after his booking.

Like many Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorneys, I’m skeptical when the charge is resisting an officer without violence, because it’s a vaguely worded statute that is sometimes used to cover up wrongdoing or harass people who annoy the police. Under this law, it’s a crime to “resist, obstruct or oppose any officer.” Read very broadly, this could make it a crime to verbally object to what an officer is doing -- as many people in that video could be heard doing. Matamoros, like all U.S. residents, has a legal right to free speech and freedom from unreasonable arrests. Under the circumstances, he may have a strong defense against the resisting an officer charge -- and a strong case that the officers in the video are the criminals. However, making those cases requires professional legal help, which is why I’m glad he has attorneys to protect him as his case moves through the court system.

Continue reading " Man in Halloween Night Police Beating Video Pleads Not Guilty to Resisting Arrest " »

As part of my series of posts on protecting your children on the Internet, I wrote in October about cyberbullying. So I was interested to see a lengthy article on the same subject from the New York Times. Dated Dec. 4, the article outlined the problems many parents have when their children are involved in cyberbullying -- both as victims and as perpetrators. I’d like to discuss this from the perspective of a West Palm Beach cyber crime criminal defense attorney, because as the article shows, there are several ways for kids to land in serious legal trouble because of cyberbullying.

In one such case, three ninth-grade boys from Massachusetts made a Facebook page that appeared to belong to a fourth boy, D.C. D.C. didn’t know about the page until kids got upset with him for “saying” unkind things about them on “his” page, but he was quickly shunned by other students, isolated and miserable. After learning that the school could do nothing to help, his mother asked the police to intervene. When the perpetrators were caught, they went into a diversion program for nonviolent juvenile offenders. As with adult probation and diversion programs, this program allows them to avoid a conviction if they meet probation conditions including letters of apology to everyone they insulted; five-page papers on cyberbullying; attending classes on Internet safety; community service; and no Internet access except for schoolwork. Other parents attempted to resolve the issues by meeting with the other parents involved, which was sometimes successful but sometimes resulted in indifference or anger.

As this article shows, cyberbullying can have serious real-world consequences for everyone -- perpetrators as well as victims. As a Miami cyber crime criminal defense lawyer, I don’t believe the legal system is the best place to resolve cyberbullying. In the most extreme cases, the legal system can overreact to cyberbullying, charging teenagers with adult sex crimes or stalking for behaviors that grew out of inexperience and not thinking. The consequences of these convictions can follow teens around for years or even their entire lives, especially in cases involving sex charges. Whenever possible, I believe parents are best off resolving cyberbullying by meeting with other parents, carefully explaining and documenting the problem. When appropriate, school officials may also get involved. This may not be helpful if the other parents shrug off the behavior, as the article says some have, and authorities may have to get involved in severe cases. But as a Fort Lauderdale cyber crime criminal defense attorney, I want parents on all sides of this issue to be very careful about involving their kids in potentially life-altering criminal proceedings.

Continue reading " Cyberbullying Issues Present Legal and Parenting Problems for Families With Teens " »

South Florida residents who follow criminal defense news may remember reading about a long-running DUI case involving a Miami Beach police officer. Jesus Barrenechea was charged with leaving the scene of an injury accident in connection with a December 2007 crash, but the Florida Highway Patrol’s investigation was delayed by apparent lack of cooperation by Barrenechea’s colleagues. A recent article about the end of the case caught my eye as a Miami DUI criminal defense attorney. As the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported Nov. 30, the prosecution ended the day before, when Barrenechea pleaded no contest and received a sentence of two years of probation.

Barrenechea was originally investigated for drunk driving, driving on the wrong side of the road, failure to render aid, grand theft and making a false insurance claim. All of those charges stem from his crash on Dec. 6, 2007, when he allegedly drove the wrong way on Interstate 95 while intoxicated. The crash left three women in the other car with minor injuries. The FHP said Barrenechea ran away down an embankment and was found on a nearby street, showing signs of intoxication. Later, they accused him of making a false insurance claim by telling the insurer he was a passenger and asleep at the time of the crash; he received $24,000. He was ultimately charged only with leaving the scene, but his Fort Lauderdale drunk driving criminal defense lawyer said this was not special treatment, and that not enough evidence supported the insurance claims.

As a West Palm Beach intoxicated driving criminal defense attorney, I suspect he’s right. Prosecutors don’t bring charges they cannot prove because they know they will lose. If the FHP investigation couldn’t turn up enough evidence to prove drunk driving -- for example, if they didn’t have a blood-alcohol content reading -- they simply couldn’t give prosecutors enough to go to court. In Barrenechea’s case, this may be especially important because he was a police officer, and they can be fired for conduct that wouldn’t matter at other jobs. This may also be why he chose to plead no contest with adjudication withheld. That’s similar to a guilty plea, but leaves him certain civil rights that might otherwise be taken away, and may not count as a conviction on his record in future job searches.

Continue reading " Miami Beach Police Officer Sentenced for Drunk Driving Injury Crash " »