After reportedly plowing into seven vehicles at a Boynton Beach intersection, the driver of a pickup reportedly failed a number of field sobriety tests. He was arrested by police for DUI and driving on a suspended license. James Dean Martin, a 47-year-old from Delray Beach, was hauled out of his…
Broward County leaders are pressing ahead with lesser penalties for marijuana possession, plunking down $175,000 to launch a civil citation program and hire a coordinator who will steer it. Previously, arrests for marijuana possession in Fort Lauderdale resulted in a misdemeanor charge, punishable by up to one year in prison.…
Following a scathing report criticizing treatment of mentally ill defendants who languish sometimes for years in the criminal justice system (and six times longer than a person with comparable charges in regular court , the Broward State Attorneys Office devised a partial solution: A mental health diversion program that would get…
A man from Boca Raton who was acquitted last fall of felony stalking charges involving a neighbor is now facing additional stalking charges involving a former business partner. Ahmad Dastjerdi, 55,was found not guilty of third-degree felony stalking in September after leaving about five dozen profanity-laced voicemail messages on his…
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…
The case is packed with so many odd twists and turns, it sounds like some kind of made-for-television movie. And strangely, that’s what the defendant says she was trying to do: Act the part of the villain so she could score a reality television show. The alleged victim was even…
Most people think speeding is one of those things that is “no big deal.” People do it all the time, and often with little consequence. But consider this case recently reported by the Sun-Sentinel: A man has been charged with vehicular homicide in Fort Lauderdale after a high-speed crash resulted…
Three men in South Florida are facing federal fraud charges after authorities allege the men took over control of about 80 houses in Broward and Palm Beach Counties, swapped the locks and then rented these units to tenants who had no idea the “landlords” weren’t the rightful owners. The four…
It should come as little surprise that persons who are mentally ill comprise a significant portion of the incarcerated population. A recent report by the Treatment Advocacy Center indicated that American prisons and jails house an estimated 360,000 inmates with mental illness – or about 10 times the number of…
File this one under “strange but true”: A New York woman recently successfully warded off a DUI conviction after presenting evidence in court that her body brews its very own alcohol. You read that correctly. This woman reportedly blew a blood-alcohol level that was more than four times the legal limit,…