Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

July 6, 2016

U.S. Supreme Court: DUI Warrantless Breath Tests OK, Blood Tests Not

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The U.S. Supreme Court handed down an important Fourth Amendment decision recently in the case of Birchfield v. North Dakota, which dealt with warrantless breathalyzer tests and blood tests, ultimately invalidating implied consent laws that pertain to warrantless blood draws.

Essentially, the court decided that while the government cannot require a person to submit to a blood draw without first obtaining a warrant, the government can require a person arrested for drunken driving to submit to a warrantless breath test.

The case was the result of consolidated appeals from three separate drunk driving arrests in which the defendants were prosecuted – or threatened with prosecution – for refusing to take a blood or breath test. Continue reading

July 2, 2016

Utah v. Strieff – U.S. Supreme Court Expands Lawless Searches

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

In a contentious 5-3 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court in Utah v. Strieff ruled in favor of a cop who seized drugs after an unlawful stop. It was only after that stop the officer learned the defendant had an outstanding traffic warrant. After making an arrest, the officer searched defendant and found drugs and paraphernalia. Plaintiff argued this evidence should be suppressed under the exclusionary rule.

However, the majority ruled that although the initial stop was not lawful, which would normally mean any evidence obtained thereafter could not be used against defendant, the court instead chose to apply the attenuation doctrine. This doctrine states that even though the way the evidence was obtained was illegal, such evidence can still be admissible if the connection between the evidence and the illegal method is sufficiently thin or attenuated. The court held that the officer made a good-faith mistake when stopping the defendant, who was leaving a suspected drug house. This was not, the court decided, part of some systematic recurrence of police misconduct and nor would the decision result in the proliferation of dragnet searches for those with outstanding arrest warrants.

Dissenting Justice Sonya Sotomayor, joined by Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsberg, had strong words of rebuke for the majority on this issue, saying unlawful police stops, “Corrode all our civil liberties and threaten our lives.” Continue reading

June 29, 2016

Florida DUI Arrest 17 Years After Man Fled Before Sentencing

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Had Robert Cesaire served his prison time per the terms of his plea bargain, he would have been released seven years ago. He’d pleaded guilty in Broward Circuit Court to DUI manslaughter in exchange for a 10-year sentence of a possible 17 years, after which time he was to be deported to Haiti.

But authorities say he fled to Haiti just days before his sentencing in 1999. That was 17 years ago. Now, authorities say he’s been arrested at the Miami International Airport earlier this month. Officials could not say where he was flying from at the time he was arrested, but he is now being held at the Broward Main Jail without bond.

Prosecutors say now that he is in custody, a new sentencing hearing date will be set, at which time they will request the maximum 17-year penalty, given the fact that he fled. Continue reading

June 27, 2016

Broward Sheriff Sergeant Arrested on Child Porn Charges

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Often when a law enforcement officer is working long hours, it’s a sign of diligence. However, for the colleagues of Broward County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Kreg Costa, suspicions were heightened because the road duty supervisor was staying in his office during and after his shift with the lights off and uniform and gun belt removed. Staffers who witnessed his behavior called it “bizarre.”

Detectives with the agency’s public corruption unit launched an investigation that included asking for computer use reports from the sergeant’s work laptop from January to March. That’s when they found images of hardcore pornography, bondage and incest-related sites. Further he was reportedly engaging in sexually explicit messages with a 16-year-old girl on both video chats and Twitter. Costa allegedly instructed the California teen to record herself engaged in sexual activity.

Costa was arrested when he arrived at work for a scheduled training. He has been suspended without pay and faces a total of 29 serious criminal charges, including soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer, use of a child in sexual performance, possession of child pornography and lewd lascivious battery. Continue reading

June 23, 2016

Florida Rape Charges Against Probation Officer Dropped

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

There was little doubt that the probation officer had sex with his charge. The video evidence provided by the alleged victim was pretty straightforward proof of that.

But was it rape?

Zachary Thomas Bailey, 52, was arrested on two counts of sexual battery by coercion back in March 2015. But this month, just days before he was slated to go on trial for rape, prosecutors dropped the charges.

The cell phone video was provided to police in Coral Springs when she accused Bailey of rape. But when prosecutors watched the video, it revealed the unclothed woman directing Bailey on how to sexually favor her. State prosecutors announced in court they would not be pursuing the charges, and although they did not specify the reasoning, a memo from the state attorney’s office indicated the video evidence contradicted the rape claim made by the accuser. On top of that, prosecutors noted in the memo that the accuser’s extensive criminal history and potential immigration issues may have made it very tough to garner a conviction. Specifically, they serve to substantiate the defense theory that plaintiff had an ulterior motive in falsely accusing Bailey. Continue reading

June 18, 2016

Goodman v. FDLE – 4th DCA Unswayed by Defense BAC Argument

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Florida’s 4th District Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling of an administrative law judge in the case of John Goodman, the polo magnate convicted of DUI manslaughter in the death of 23-year-old Scott Patrick Wilson in 2010.

Goodman was originally convicted in 2012 and again at retrial in 2014. On appeal, Goodman’s defense attorney argued that the blood-alcohol test taken after the accident should not have been used against him. An administrative law judge thought otherwise, and the 4th DCA affirmed in Goodman v. Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The crux of the argument centered on the viability of Florida’s alcohol blood testing methods. But the justices plainly stated that, “Any attempt by the FDLE to regulate for every possible contingency that may arise in the collection or testing processes would swiftly devolve into a hopeless endeavor and serve only to expand the department’s regulations to epic lengths.” Continue reading

June 15, 2016

Finders Keepers? Man Takes $30K Ring Left on Bathroom Floor, Arrested for Theft

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

Finders keepers, losers weepers. That’s how the saying goes, anyway. Unfortunately for a man in Palm Beach County, the Florida criminal justice system doesn’t quite work that way.

According to The Sun Sentinel, a woman shopping at Neiman Marcus in Palm Beach stepped into a unisex bathroom when duty called. As she washed her hands, she slipped off a $30,000 diamond ring and placed it on the counter. And then, the Vero Beach made a colossal mistake: She forgot it.

She walked out of the bathroom and soon therefore, police reported, Joseph Tursi walked in. The 58-year-old New York native reportedly pocketed the ring and made no attempt to turn it into store personnel. The 31-year-old alleged victim reportedly didn’t realize her error until she got into her car about 10 minutes later. She put her hands on the steering wheel and then started to panic. She went back to the bathroom to search for the 3-carat diamond ring, but it was nowhere to be seen. Continue reading

June 10, 2016

Florida Domestic Violence Arrest of Former NFL Linebacker’s Wife

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

We hear so much these days not only about domestic violence in general, but also about instances of abuse allegedly carried out by sports stars – and football players in particular.

According to a USA Today database of NFL player arrests – 821 in total – dozens are for domestic violence, including Denver Broncos’ Montee Ball in February (for allegedly striking his girlfriend in the face), Kansas City Chiefs’ Justin Cox (twice arrested for domestic violence in eight months), San Francisco 49ers’ Raymondo McDonald (allegedly assaulting a woman holding a baby), Detroit Lions’ Rodney Austin (accused of pushing the mother of his child and damaging her phone), 49er Bruce Miller (accused of misdemeanor domestic violence battery).

Those incidents occurred just within the last 12 months. It was so bad in recent years that in December 2014, the NFL announced a new domestic violence policy that includes a more extensive list of prohibited conduct, counseling and services for victims and families, independent investigations and a baseline suspension of six games for any violations that involve assault, battery, domestic violence, dating violence, child abuse or sexual assault. Continue reading

June 6, 2016

Broward Crime Lab Mismanagement Alleged

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

In November, a Broward County Sheriff’s Office crime lab analyst being investigated for missing drugs resigned. That was almost two years after discrepancies arose with regard to the amount of cocaine evidence she had been working on. When the office came up 0.4 grams short, an independent analyst was asked to re-check her work. By then, the amount had shrunk by 5 grams. Then a random sampling of her work was done, and it was discovered one was off by 12 grams. Her supervisor was forced to resign.

Now, with questions raised about the 5,800+ drug cases she worked during her nine-year tenure at the agency, the Broward New Times is taking a closer look at what it alleges were lax policies and poor oversight at the crime lab.

This is potentially a big deal, as it could result in thousands of Broward drug cases either being reopened or thrown out completely. A few grams may not seem like a major deal, but when it comes to criminal prosecutions, it is significant because it could mean the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony, a few months in prison versus several years. Continue reading

June 1, 2016

ProPublica: Racial Disparity Alleged in Florida Criminal Risk Assessment Tools

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The study of predicting which criminals are more likely to commit future crimes has been one of great interest for many years, and it’s given birth to computerized systems in the U.S. known as “criminal risk assessment tools.” Criminologists say there is a public interest in recognizing which individuals may be more dangerous before it is decided how long their sentence should be and when or whether they should be released.

Prior to the 1970s, these predictions routinely factored race, skin color and nationality. The following decade, as the country was in a midst of a crime wave, lawmakers imposed many mandatory minimum sentences and removed discretion from the hands of prosecutors and judges. That meant there was less important to evaluate individual offenders, but then states started grappling with overflowing prisons and jails. And that’s where criminal risk forecast has swung back into routine use.

As detailed in a recent ProPublica article, dozens of computerized risk assessments are being used nationally – including right here in Broward County. These programs made by for-profit firms weigh dozens of various factors. However, the researchers found that these scores have been cited repeatedly by judges at sentencing hearings, and what’s more, the results tend to be skewed along racial lines. Black defendants are often deemed to have a much higher risk assessment, even when the crimes are similar and the statistics are controlled for other factors. Continue reading