One might say the outcome of Xiaoqin Li’s criminal case was a “happy ending” of sorts. On the one hand, the former massage parlor owner did plead guilty to three criminal charges, including two for running a house of prostitution and another for money laundering. For that, she’ll have to…
A former pediatric surgeon who was later in retirement worked part-time for a pain clinic in Palm Beach County has been acquitted of murder charges related to the fatal overdose of a 24-year-old patient on Oxycodone. However, the 81-year-old physician was convicted of “selling” (over-prescribing) high quantities of Xanax to…
It was bad when the West Boca Raton woman in Coral Springs crashed her car around midnight. What made it worse was that police ascertained she was drunk at the time. But worse than that? She had left her 3-year-old child alone at home. Deputies with the Palm Beach County…
It was a neighborhood dispute turned ugly. Even the defense attorney for one of those involved would concede his actions were criminal. But he insisted the more than five dozen phone calls, containing “disgusting and vile messages,” were misdemeanor rather than felony offenses. A Palm Beach County jury agreed. Now,…
The federal conviction of a South Florida woman for violation of 18 U.S.C. 875(c), making threatening communication, has been overturned in light of the June U.S. Supreme Court decision in Elonis v. U.S.. Essentially, what the court said in Elonis was that it is not enough in a criminal case…
Florida is fairly permissive with regard to firearm purchase and possession, but there is a major exception: Felons. In the state of Florida, it is illegal for those convicted of felonies to possess firearms and/or ammunition. There are two general exceptions to this. The first is when a convicted felon…
If you kill someone in a drunk driving accident in Florida, you will serve prison time if convicted. But how much time may come down to a number of factors, which include not just the individual facts of the case, but the disposition of the survivors, the strength of your…
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…
Florida’s 5th District Court of Appeals ruled recently the trial court in Florida v. Kleiber incorrectly applied the strict compliance standard in granting a DUI defendant’s motion to suppress blood test evidence. DUI blood test evidence is critical in any case wherein a person is alleged to have driven drunk.…
Millions of people flock to Florida and its surrounding waters for an escape from the daily grind. But for some, the “vacation mindset” leads to lowered inhibitions and the assumption that consequences won’t be forthcoming. However, as one Ohio man learned recently, one doesn’t evade the law simply because a…