Posted on February 11, 2020 in Sex Crimes

Miami Dade State Attorney, Katherine Fernandez-Rundle, says there will be zero tolerance for sex traffickers attempting to profit from the Super Bowl. Submitting an article to the Miami Herald about her strong stance against sex trafficking, the State Attorney made it clear that prosecuting such crimes would be her highest priority. Citing her lobbying work in the 2013 Florida legislative session, Ms. Rundle praised the revamping of the human trafficking statutes and increases in potential punishments. At the same time, she created Florida's first prosecution unit tasked to combat human trafficking and related crimes. The unit has gone on to file 619 trafficking-related cases, 36% were cases involving minor children.

Addressing her efforts to curb sex trafficking during the Super Bowl, the State Attorney highlighted her partnering with the NFL, Super Bowl Host Committee, law enforcement at the state and federal levels, and community organizations. In addition to discussing the partnerships, a human trafficking hotline was a significant focus of Ms. Rundle's article. Those who suspect human trafficking are asked to call the helpline and use of a new technology, QR codes, makes it easier to access the hotline.

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 Posted on February 11, 2020 in Drug Crimes

Marijuana is still illegal in the state of Florida; however, enforcement has decreased. Marijuana is not prosecuted as rigorously as before for two reasons: medical marijuana and legal hemp. With the introduction of medical marijuana and legal hemp to the state, prosecutors and law enforcement have largely decided to devote their resources to other crimes and away from simple possession. Cultivation, trafficking, and sale of marijuana are still being prosecuted.

Medical Marijuana in Florida 2020

Law enforcement spends less time enforcing simple possession of marijuana charges since medical marijuana was legalized in 2016. Florida has fairly relaxed requirements to qualify for medical marijuana, and many citizens have enrolled in the state sponsored program. Law enforcement officers frequently encounter medical marijuana on the street and decline to arrest. In other instances, police officers use their discretion when they encounter illicit marijuana on the street and issue a civil citation, as opposed to making an arrest.

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 Posted on January 22, 2020 in Drug Crimes

Julian Stroleny is a seasoned Miami-based criminal defense lawyer who has represented hundreds of clients. As a defender of individual rights, he enthusiastically welcomes the end to minimum-mandatory sentences for defendants convicted of low-level drug crimes in the state of Florida. Attorney Stroleny remains committed to offering competent and experienced counsel to individuals who have been accused of crimes.

Click here to read the full release.

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 Posted on January 16, 2020 in Drug Crimes

Rapper Trick Daddy was arrested early Saturday morning in Miami on DUI and cocaine possession charges. As detailed in the police report, the arresting officer responded to allegations of a driver running red lights and hitting signs in a Range Rover in south west Miami Dade around 3:20 a.m. As the officer approached the vehicle, he saw the driver was sleeping behind the wheel. The driver later identified himself as Maurice Samuel Young, Trick Daddy's legal name. Mr. Young later informed the officer that earlier in the evening he was at a club in Miami Gardens. According to the arrest affidavit, Young told the police officer he had about five drinks that evening and he was heading home after dropping someone off. The officer said Young had slurred speech, bloodshot, watery eyes and an odor of alcohol on his breath. A field sobriety test was conducted but Young could not successfully complete the test. While being processed at the Hammock District Station, police found cocaine stored in a dollar bill while Trick Daddy was placing his belongings in a plastic container.

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 Posted on December 10, 2019 in Drug Crimes

Florida Senate Committee Votes for Discretion on Drug Trafficking Sentences

On November 6^th, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted with almost unanimous support to give judges more leeway when departing from minimum mandatory sentences for a variety of non-violent drug trafficking offenses. The committee voted in favor of the measure 5-1. The bill has two more committee requirements before reaching the Senate floor.

The legislation, SB 468, is sponsored by Sen. Jeff Brandes, (R) St. Petersburg. A more sweeping reform measure was debated last year, that included judicial safety valves, before stalling in the same committee.

Over the past twenty years, we have been throwing more people in prison for more time - many of whom are non-violent criminals. Criminal defense lawyers point out that in Florida, we imprison roughly 100,000 prisoners and oversee nearly 166,000 offenders in society at a yearly expense of $2.4 billion. Roughly 15 percent of prisoners are in custody for drug-related crimes. The typical yearly cost to taxpayers per prisoner is $20,000. The toll on the relatives of those "over-sentenced" is even greater.

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 Posted on December 10, 2019 in DUI

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

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 Drug Crimes

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 Criminal Defense

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 Defense

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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