With the proliferation of smart phones – each containing a great deal of personal information. In some cases, that information can be incriminating. Courts across the U.S. have been attempting to find common legal ground on the issue of whether persons should be compelled to reveal their cell phone passcodes…
One boy is a ninth-grader who is just 15. Another is a 16-year-old girl and another just turned 18. All three are facing charge that could put them behind bars for many years. Detectives say the teens are involved in nearly a dozen cases of alleged assault, battery, carjacking and…
It wasn’t a good couple of days for Francis Keller. The 56-year-old was arrested for allegedly breaking into the U.S. Post Office where he worked for 30 years, and rifling through packages with plans to sell valuables he discovered in exchange for crack cocaine. A Boynton Beach police report indicated Keller…
Bank robbery has historically been a man’s game. Even dating back to the days of “Pretty Boy Floyd” and “Baby Face Nelson,” bank robberies generally involved men who organized a hostile takeover of the entire bank, holding up the entire business at gunpoint, forcing managers to open the vaults, taking…
The state attorney is considering whether to charge a Miami woman with murder after she gunned down a burglar on her property. Florida has one of the strongest “Castle Doctrine” laws on the books, which allow homeowners to use lethal force against those who unlawfully enter their homes. The law does…
Tramaine Beard was preparing to stand trial in Broward County for armed robbery when the case took a turn that even Beard’s own criminal defense attorney wasn’t expecting: His twin brother, an ex-felon, was prepared to confess. But as the jury selection was getting underway, defendant excused himself for a…
As far as robberies go, this one was about as daring as you can get. According to authorities, four men burst into the jewelry store located in The Galleria Mall in Fort Lauderdale, armed with hammers, their faces covered with masks. Inside, stunned store owners and customers scrambled for cover…
A 22-year-old suspected burglar was found deceased in a Brevard County pond (which is more like a lake) near where he is believed to have hid as police with K-9 units pursued him ten days earlier. The cause of death? An 11-foot alligator, which was aggressively guarding the man’s corpse…
In a criminal investigation, if law enforcement waits too long following the issuance of a search warrant to make an actual search or if they wait to long to act on certain information pertaining to a criminal act, the warrant or information could be deemed “stale.” That means even if…
In many Florida theft cases, a key point in determining one’s sentence upon conviction is proving the value of the items allegedly stolen. For example, a person who steals less than $300 worth of valuables may be charged with petit theft, which is a second-degree misdemeanor. However, once the value…