A Florida bill that would have required drivers who refuse to submit to breathalyzers to immediately install ignition interlock devices has died in the House committee. Broward defense lawyers had been greatly concerned that the proposed Florida DUI law would run afoul of 4th Amendment Due process rights. HB 39…
A new rule for Florida domestic violence investigations requires police responding to such calls to ask a dozen mandatory questions. New Mandatory Florida Domestic Violence Questions If police in Florida (including Broward, Palm Beach, and Miami-Dade Counties) are called to the scene of a suspected domestic violence incident, they are…
Push notifications – those pop-up alerts on your phone generated by apps when you aren’t using them – are now being used by federal and state police in criminal investigations. As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer, it’s my job to stay up-to-date on the ways in which Florida criminal…
For those arrested for domestic violence in Fort Lauderdale, one of the first questions is, “How much jail time will I get?” As Broward domestic violence lawyers, it’s impossible to say for certain without examining the specifics of your case, but what we can say is this: You will probably…
It’s estimated that 1 in every 5 students is bullied at some point in their lives. But at what point does bullying become a crime? Can a person be arrested for bullying in Florida? Short answer is: Yes, you can be arrested for bullying in Florida. However, the charge that…
It used to be that nude pictures and sexually explicit videos were almost exclusively found in behind-the-counter magazines, specialty theaters and shops and via pay-per-view cable access. But these days, everyone has a smartphone with a camera, and one recent study found that about 40% of American men and women…
South Florida criminal defense attorney Richard Ansara was recently interviewed by the South Florida Sun Sentinel for an article about a proposed Florida bill that would increase the severity of stalking offenses involving the unauthorized use of wireless tracking devices. As a criminal defense lawyer representing South Florida clients accused…
Twin bills in the Florida House and Senate threaten to undercut the due process rights of defendants facing Broward DUI charges. HB 39 and SB 260 would require drivers who refuse to take a breathalyzer to install ignition interlock devices at their own expense – regardless of whether they are…
When it comes to criminal allegations, judges are generally reluctant to allow consideration of a defendant’s “prior bad acts.” The reasoning here is pretty straightforward: Providing proof of previous misconduct has the potential to poison juror perception of the defendant, leading to potentially unfair outcomes. The fear is that a…
A Broward domestic violence conviction can have devastating consequences for a defendant: Jail time, lengthy/expensive batterer’s intervention courses, strict probation rules, no contact orders, child custody/divorce case implications, etc. But even if you were unable to avoid the conviction, a Broward domestic violence criminal defense lawyer may still have another…