Early November 2011, a twenty-one year old Florida resident was pulled over by a police officer at a traffic stop in Palm Beach County, Florida in Lantana. According to Florida criminal defense attorneys, when the man, aka Carl Paul from Pompano Beach, was caught taping police with an iPhone, he told the police that he was documenting the encounter and specifically asked for the names of the police officers involved with pulling him over.

When Paul refused to stop recording the encounter, the twenty-one year old was subsequently arrested and charged with “illegal interception of communication”. Paul was informed by the police officers that it was illegal to record that type of conversation without permission from all parties.

What Does the Florida Law State?

According to Florida criminal defense lawyers, the Florida wiretapping law is a two-party consent law; therefore, it is illegal to record or intercept with oral, wire, or electronic communication unless the consent of all parties is given. Besides criminal charges, you can also be subject to a civil lawsuit for recording a private conversation without consent.

However, in public places where there may be no reasonable expectation of privacy – or where a conversation may be overheard – these types of recordings may legally occur in Florida.

Further, in March of 2009, The Palm Beach State Attorney’s Office dropped similar charges against Tasha Ford, a Florida model who was arrested for videotaping police officers that detained her teenaged son.

Have you or someone you know been charged with a crime? Contact expert Florida defense lawyers here at Musca Law – you can reach us at 1-866-Musca-Law to arrange your completely free legal consultation.

If you have recently been charged with a criminal offense, you should seek the counsel of a qualified Florida criminal defense attorney as soon as you can. That said, you definitely want to work with an experienced lawyer who understands the legal “ins” and “outs” of your particular situation, and as such, it is important that you seek an attorney who has handled these types of cases before.

Organize all Legal Documentation

After scheduling an initial meeting with a criminal defense lawyer, you should prepare yourself for the meeting ahead by gathering all relevant documents. Some of the items that you should take with you include a copy of the police report (if available), documents relating to your arrest, any documents related to court dates, bail papers, and related legal information. At this time, you should also consider making a list of the other possible suspects, victims, and witnesses involved in the case.

Prepare Comments and Questions

In order to ensure that you cover all points at your first meeting, you should write down the topics that you wish to discuss with your potential criminal defense lawyer. Do remember to also write down questions for the lawyer as well. Some questions to ask a criminal defense attorney during this meeting can include:

• How long have you been a criminal defense lawyer?
• What bar associations or other organizations do you belong to?
• How familiar are you with handling cases related to the charges that I face?
• How would you handle this case?
• How much time do you have to give to my case?
• What type of time-line do you expect for this case?
• How can I contact you when I have a question and when should I expect a reply?
• How do you charge for your services and what specifically is included?

Have you or someone you know been charged with a crime? Contact expert Florida defense lawyers here at Musca Law – you can reach us at 1-866-Musca-Law to arrange your completely free legal consultation.

A Tampa man sat in the witness chair shackled and handcuffed as he told a judge that he wished to reject a plea deal that was negotiated on his behalf by his public defender Ken Littman.  Ronnie Walker previously was tried in connection with a murder-home-invasion-robbery.  However, the case resulted in a hung jury.  The plea agreement negotiated with the prosecutor by Littman would have resulted in Walker being sentenced to 5 years in state prison and a subsequent 5 years on probation.  Walker is definitely taking a serious risk by rejecting the pleas as he faces a potential sentence of life in prison at trial. 

Littman informed the court that Walker’s decision to reject the plea agreement was against the advice of counsel.  Littman also apologized to the judge for his client’s decision not to accept the plea deal.  “It’s my belief having done this for 35 years, that re-trials generally benefit the prosecution, Littman told the judge in open court.  “I wanted this clear so there’s no claim later on if the trial does not work out the way Mr. Walker would like . . . he doesn’t come back post-conviction and claim he didn’t know.”  

Walker is accused of shooting and killing Elaine Caldwell.  Caldwell’s boyfriend testified that on the evening of the shooting that Walker forced his way into the couple’s home during a robbery and shot Caldwell.  Caldwell allegedly was told to “shut up” during the robbery.  When Caldwell did not stop screaming, Walker allegedly shot her.  The judge declared a mistrial in the original trial when the jury could not agree on a verdict. 

“A criminal defendant generally is ill-advised to disregard the legal advice of his criminal defense lawyer, especially when the criminal defense attorney feels the obligation to inform the court that the decision to proceed is against legal advice,” said Florida criminal defense attorney John Musca. Musca indicated that a defendant that passes on a 5-year sentence when he faces life imprisonment takes a huge risk.  Nonetheless, the ultimate decision is up to the defendant explained Musca.

A man was sentenced by a Florida judge to a record 845 years in a February 2000 conviction.  Sholam Weiss, who is not due for release from federal prison until 2754, is now seeking to appeal the sentence.  Weiss and six co-defendants were convicted in a scheme that led to the 1994 collapse of National Heritage Life Insurance Company that cost almost 25,000 individuals their life savings.  Weiss was convicted on all 93 counts of pocketing $125 million and sentenced to what the Department of Justice indicates is the longest sentence ever for a white-collar criminal. 

During the trial but prior to jury deliberations, Weiss fled the country and eventually ended up in Austria where he was captured in 2000.  The Austrian appeal panel initially declined to extradite Weiss based on the extradition being “contrary to human rights.”  Attorneys for Weiss contend that Austrian authorities changed their mind only after federal prosecutors said Weiss would be re-sentenced and allowed to appeal his sentence.  Attorneys for Weiss argue that the Austrian authorities made extradition contingent on the re-sentencing and right to appeal. Read more »