Posted on December 10, 2019 in Miami DUI Attorney

A Criminal Lawyer's Guide to Avoiding a Holiday DUI

The holiday season is filled with holiday parties and work events, as well as joyful get-togethers with family and friends. However, the seasonal festivities are frequently accompanied by excessive alcohol intake, leading to a substantial increase in DUI stops, and deadly drunk driving crashes every year.

To detain presumed drunk drivers and maintain road safety, police districts all through Florida and other states have expanded the amount of law enforcement officers patrolling the roads and set up DUI stops during holidays and weekends. If you intend on enjoying a few alcoholic drinks whenever you celebrate, there are quite a few practical moves you can take to avoid wasting your holiday season in police custody.

Here are some techniques to prevent a DUI during the holidays madness:

• Avoid drinking – You won't get a DUI if you stay sober all through a party prior to getting behind the wheel. Additionally, you can act as a designated driver and assist your loved ones get home safe and sound. The best advice a DUI defense attorney can give you is to not drink at all.

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 Posted on November 14, 2019 in Criminal Defense Lawyer in Miami

For one reason or another, you find yourself in a situation where you believe you need a criminal defense lawyer. Most of the time, this situation comes up because of a recent arrest. Other times, you may be in a position where you haven't been arrested, but you are concerned about future criminal liability. I want to help you make the best decision in your search for a criminal defense lawyer, so here are some things to look for.

Does This Lawyer Only Practice Criminal Defense?

A good number of criminal lawyers in Miami practice criminal defense and only criminal defense. And then some lawyers do a mix - a little criminal defense, some real estate, maybe immigration, and a divorce here and there. I'm never impressed by the lawyers that are a jack of all trade. When it comes to their criminal practice, they don't seem to be up to date on the latest developments, and frankly, their hearts aren't into it. Criminal defense work is an all-consuming career. If you are doing it correctly, there isn't time to practice other areas of law. Frequently, I am hired by clients who were previously represented by a lawyer that tried to practice multiple fields of law, and I am brought in to fix their mistakes. Usually, it is not that the lawyer before me didn't care; it's that they didn't even know what they were doing wrong in the first place. If you want to hire a criminal lawyer, hire someone who only practices criminal law. My first question to a prospective lawyer would be, what other fields of law do you practice? If they say anything other than "only criminal defense," move on.

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 Posted on November 13, 2019 in Criminal Defense Attorney In Miami

Across the United States, recreational marijuana is gaining the support of voters, and Florida is no exception. Almost two-thirds of voters in the sunshine state say they support legalizing recreational marijuana for adults. At the time of this publication, there are three potential ballot initiatives gathering signatures in an effort to put legal marijuana on the ballot in 2020. One of the three has achieved the legal requirement of obtaining more than 76,000 verified signatures. However, neither of the three have achieved judicial and financial impact review yet. In order to qualify for placement on the ballot, a petition has to receive a total of 766,200 signatures. These signatures have to be certified by the elections office by February 1st, a difficult task considering it's already November.

Cannabis laws in Florida are new, changing, and can be confusing. Unfortunately, this leads to situations where law enforcement may not even understand the updated laws. If you find yourself accused of a marijuana crime, it is important to hire a criminal defense attorney who thoroughly understands Florida's developing marijuana laws. At Stroleny Law: Criminal Defense Attorney, our Miami marijuana attorney will protect your constitutional rights and help prevent wrongful convictions. Call 305-615-1285 for a free phone consultation to see how we can help.

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 Posted on October 04, 2019 in Miami Criminal Defense News & Articles

Gang activity is a serious problem. In West Palm Beach, law enforcement agencies are working to crack down on gang activity in the area. Unfortunately, the prosecution of group crimes often jeopardizes the constitutional rights of individual defendants. Overzealous prosecutors sometimes overcharge offenses, or attempt to implicate innocent group members in activities they had no part in. Sometimes this is a calculated attempt to secure testimony against other gang members. Sometimes it is simply eagerness on the part of inexperienced young prosecutors. In either event, it is critical that defendants be represented by an experienced Miami criminal defense attorney when facing charges of conspiracy, criminal syndicate activities, and other gang-related offenses. At Stroleny Law: Criminal Defense Attorney, our experienced Miami gang defense lawyer can protect your constitutional rights and help prevent wrongful convictions. Call 305-615-1285 for a free phone consultation as soon as possible.

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 Posted on October 03, 2019 in Criminal Attorney

There are several different legal standards for insanity. In order to successfully invoke the insanity defense for any crime, Florida defendants must meet the rigorous legal standard that has been imposed by state law. Florida's legal standard is more rigorous than other standards used in many other states. This is why it is so important for defendants and their families to consult with an experienced Miami criminal defense attorney about the availability of an insanity defense for any Florida crime. At Stroleny Law: Criminal Defense Attorney, our experienced Florida defense lawyer can protect your constitutional rights and help prevent wrongful convictions. Call 305-615-1285 for a free phone consultation as soon as possible.

The M'Naghten Rule

The M'Naghten Rule is one of the strictest legal sanity standards that exists. Florida has invoked this rule as the applicable legal standard for insanity defenses under state law. It holds that, if a defendant understood the nature of his or her conduct and that is was legally prohibited, he or she is still criminally liable for it. This is a hard standard to meet. Compare it, for example, to another legal standard that merely requires the defendant's conduct be "the product of mental illness". As you can imagine, mental health experts are much better able to determine that an action was the product of mental illness than they are able to determine what a defendant knew at the time the crime was committed. This is why most defendants who attempt to invoke the M'Naghten standard are unsuccessful, and ultimately held guilty for their crimes.

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 Posted on October 02, 2019 in Miami Criminal Defense News & Articles

Even though Florida law has allowed for the use of medical marijuana for several years now, the law is still in a constant state of change. This can lead to uneven enforcement of Florida marijuana laws, questionable convictions, and even confusion about the simple question of what is allowed. Recently, Florida law has authorized the use of medical marijuana in smokable forms. While this further expands medical marijuana rights for Florida patients, it has created yet another area of potential confusion in marijuana convictions.

Cannabis law in Florida is new, developing, and unsettled. This leads to complicated situations and questionable actions by law enforcement. If you have been accused of a marijuana offense, it is critical to hire an attorney who thoroughly understands the nuances of Florida's developing marijuana laws. New and complicated legal matters require the attention of an experienced criminal defense attorney. At Stroleny Law: Criminal Defense Attorney, our experienced Miami marijuana lawyer can protect your constitutional rights and help prevent wrongful convictions. Call 305-615-1285 for a free phone consultation as soon as possible.

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 Posted on September 24, 2019 in Miami Criminal Defense News & Articles

Criminal Defense Lawyers in Miami Representing the Rights of Individuals Accused of Crimes Related to Child Pornography

Sexual offenses involving minors are some of the most severely punished crimes in American society. With the rise of the internet, child pornography has become more readily accessible and transmittable. This means that there are far more potential defendants who could face decades in prison as the result of creating, sending, receiving, or facilitating the sharing of online child pornography. They also face sex offender registration, fines, mandatory counseling, and other lifelong consequences. This is why it is so important for defendants facing child pornography charges or other computer crimes to be represented by an experienced criminal attorney who understands how to handle sex crimes cases.

At Stroleny Law: Criminal Defense Attorney, Julian Stroleny is an experienced Miami criminal defense attorney who has handled sex crimes cases across Florida. He knows how to protect a suspect's rights during both investigation and formal case proceedings in criminal court. Call 305-615-1285 today to schedule your free phone consultation. The sooner you have an aggressive attorney fighting for you, the better protected your legal rights will be.

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 Posted on September 23, 2019 in Drug Lawyers

Individuals in Miami-Dade County who are charged with possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana/cannabis can end up facing serious penalties, including imprisonment, fines, probation, the loss of a driver's license, and many others that make it difficult to pursue educational and career goals. Fortunately, there are a number of defenses that a criminal lawyer in Miami can raise in response to a charge of possession of marijuana.

What Constitutes Possession of Marijuana?

In accordance with Florida law, possession of marijuana involves a person who has ownership, management, or control of the substance.

Possession of marijuana can be one of two types:

• Actual possession

Actual possession refers to when cannabis is found on a person's physical body, in a container on a person's physical body, or is within "ready reach" of a person and is under that individual's control.

• Constructive possession

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 Posted on September 22, 2019 in Criminal Defense Attorney Miami

One of the services a Miami criminal defense lawyer is often contacted about is an Arthur hearing, otherwise known as a bond hearing for non-bondable charges. A bond is a guarantee that a person will show up for trial, secured with some sort of item of monetary value or money itself. Bail and bond are terms that are interchangeable in Miami. Generally, someone goes to a bondsman and puts up a certain percentage of the bond amount while the bail bondsman puts up the rest. There may be additional requirements from the bond agent such as paperwork and cosigners to guarantee appearance at trial. The bond is then posted, and the person is released from jail until their criminal trial. Receiving legal assistance for criminal charges in Miami is strongly recommended to be able to get out on bond.

Normally, bonds range between $500 and $1,500 for misdemeanor offenses, which include things like trespassing, DUI, or battery. Bonds will usually range between $5,000 and $100,000 for felony offenses but can be much more. The actual amount depends upon the number of charges, the degree of the charges, and the defendant's priors. But there are some crimes for which a person may not be eligible for a bond automatically. These are known as capital felonies, and they are serious felonies that can carry decades or life sentences in prison, making the court extremely wary about offering bail as an option.

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 Posted on September 21, 2019 in Criminal Attorney

Arson is a crime generally understood by the public to encompass the unlawful destruction of property by the use of fire or an explosion. An allegation of arson is a serious one and should not be taken lightly by any defendant. If you have been charged with arson it is important to quickly retain a criminal defense lawyer and begin defending such an accusation. The State of Florida has many laws punishing conduct for the various arson crimes. The most common arson crimes charged in Miami Dade County are:

Arson – First Degree Fla. Stat. § 806.01(1),

Arson – Second Degree Fla. Stat. § 806.01(2), and

Arson – By Fire Bomb Fla. Stat. § 806.111.

If found guilty of first degree arson, a defendant can face up to thirty years in prison even if nobody is injured as a result of the fire. Arson charges are no laughing matter and should be taken seriously by a defendant. On top of long prison sentences, hefty monetary fines and restitution can also be required of a defendant found guilty by the Court.

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