Recording Police Interrogations in Florida You've seen it countless times on TV crime shows - a suspect sitting in a small, windowless room facing one or more detectives who fire questions in rapid succession, pressuring the suspect to confess. But how accurate is this portrayal of police interrogations? Knowing what transpired behind closed doors is nearly impossible with no [...]
The Startling Truth About Field Drug Tests and Wrongful Convictions A groundbreaking new research report released on January 9th by the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice provides the first-ever national analysis of the role of presumptive field drug tests in wrongful convictions. The report’s findings are deeply alarming, suggesting these inexpensive chemical tests used widely by [...]
The Role of Jailhouse Informants in Criminal Cases Jailhouse informants, also known as “snitches,” are incarcerated people who provide testimony or information to prosecutors in exchange for lenient treatment in their own cases. The use of compensated jailhouse informant testimony in criminal trials is deeply problematic and a contributing factor in many wrongful convictions over the past several decades. In [...]
Marsy's Law: Crime Victims' Rights in Florida In Florida, crime victims and their families have certain constitutionally guaranteed rights under what is known as Marsy's Law. The constitutional amendment, named after Marsalee "Marsy" Nicholas, a victim of a brutal crime, was designed to protect and empower crime victims. The amendment to the state constitution was approved by voters in [...]
Reimagining Pretrial Justice in Miami - Why Our City Should Lead on Bail Reform America's cash bail system is broken, unjustly criminalizing poverty and destroying lives. As a criminal defense lawyer in Miami for many years, I've witnessed this tragedy firsthand. Now, our chance to lead bold local reforms is being thwarted by politics. Miami-Dade’s leaders developed plans to [...]
The Burden of Proof in Criminal Cases: A Guide for Defendants in Florida If you have been charged with a crime in Florida, one of the most important concepts you need to understand is the burden of proof. The burden of proof refers to the obligation of the prosecution to prove every element of the alleged crime beyond a [...]
America's Jails Face Crisis from Chronic Understaffing and Mismanagement Prisons Across the Nation Rife with Danger Charles P. Pierce's recent article in Esquire, "Waupun's Crisis Goes All the Way Down to Our County Jails," highlights the dysfunctional state of prisons across America today. This is an alarming trend requiring urgent action. Incarceration was once a bipartisan issue, with agreement on [...]
Florida's Governor, Ron DeSantis, is once again improperly interfering in local affairs by removing a duly elected prosecutor from office. As reported in depth by the Brennan Center for Justice's recent analysis, DeSantis suspended Orlando-area State Attorney Monique Worrell last week, baselessly alleging she has been “derelict” and “incompetent” in her elected role ("DeSantis’s Suspension of Orlando-Area Prosecutor Is Counterproductive [...]
The Cost of Wrongful Convictions: A Look at the Case of Daniel Saldana Imagine being wrongfully convicted for a crime you didn't commit. You're locked up, your freedom stripped away, and your pleas of innocence fall on deaf ears. This is the harrowing reality that Daniel Saldana, a California man, lived through for 33 long years. His story, as [...]
Florida's Mandatory Minimum Sentencing Understanding Florida's criminal justice system, with its mandatory sentencing Florida law, can be overwhelming, particularly when dealing with the multifaceted aspect of mandatory minimum sentencing. These are obligatory punishments that judges, per a Florida statute, must give defendants for specific crimes, limiting their discretion to adjust sentences based on each case's nuances or the defendant's [...]
