Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

February 6, 2016

Drunk Driving Arrest in Boynton Beach for Man Who Hit 7 Cars at Intersection

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

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 pickup truck by several people at the scene shortly before 4 p.m. on a Saturday and held on the ground until police got there, according to The Sun-Sentinel.

An 18-year-old woman who had recently purchased a new car told a reporter he approached a line of vehicles waiting at the intersection traveling, “probably like, 50, 70 mph and he just bumped each car.” No one was injured, but the teen said she was shaken up because there were children in other vehicles and her brand new vehicle was damaged. Continue reading

February 1, 2016

Broward Marijuana Citation Program to Launch

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

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. Now, anyone caught with less than 20 grams of the drug (or its derivatives, such as hashish) may instead receive a civil citation. Twenty grams is about 3/4 of an ounce. The fine schedule is $100 for the first ticket and $250 for the second and $500 for the third.

A person who receives a citation would have the option to instead opt to do community service, successfully complete a drug treatment program or appeal, as opposed to paying the fine. Continue reading

January 29, 2016

New Broward Mental Health Diversion Off to Start, But a Slow One

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

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 people out of the criminal justice system.

The idea, modeled after a program launched in Miami-Dade in 2008, focuses on treatment – rather than incarceration – for those who are mentally ill. Non-violent offenders without lengthy rap sheets who have been diagnosed with a severe mental illness would be vetted by the state attorneys office. Those accepted would receive housing support, therapy, medication management and other assistance. Those who successfully complete the program (in six months to a year) would be allowed to have the criminal charges dropped.

It’s a start, critics say, but so far, the program has accepted just one applicant. What’s more, even when it reaches capacity at 60 defendants, that’s not going to make much of a dent when there are an estimated 1,200 cases overflowing in felony mental health court. Plus, there is no guarantee of assistance to those who are already enmeshed in the system, charged with minor felonies. Continue reading

January 26, 2016

Florida Man Acquitted of Stalking to Face Additional Charges

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

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 neighbor’s phone. Although the target of those messages stated they made him fear for his safety and that of his family, jurors ascertained after three days of testimony that it amounted only to misdemeanor harassment. He was given the maximum sentence allowable under state law for that charge – 60 days in jail – but he evaded a possible five-year prison sentence with his acquittal on the more serious felony charge.

Now, Dasterjedi is facing similar charges. He is accused of one count of feony aggravated stalking. He was arrested and jailed, but the judge set his bail at $5,000, provided he remains on house arrest with a GPS ankle monitor while he awaits trial. He’ll be allowed to leave his residence for work. He also is not allowed to have access to any weapons and he can’t have any contact with the alleged victim, his former business partner. Continue reading

January 21, 2016

Men Face Federal Charges for Brazen Jewelry Store Robbery

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.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 under various items of furniture as the men used the hammers to smash the glass cases. Authorities said in all, they snatched nearly 50 high-end watches, most of those Tag Heuer and Rolex, with a combined value of $250,000. Continue reading

January 16, 2016

Dippolito Murder-for-Hire Police Informant: She Was Set Up

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

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 in on it, she said.

But the Boynton Beach police who arrested her for allegedly paying a hit man to kill her now-ex husband say the plan was real. Meanwhile, the police were filming a “COPS” episode of the whole investigation, and even staged a fake murder scene as part of the case.

Dalia Dippolito was charged and later convicted of solicitation to commit first-degree murder with a firearm and sentenced to 20 years in prison. Then the conviction was overturned two years ago based on improper jury selection. Now, Dippolito’s defense lawyers are arguing the charges should be dropped, presenting testimony from her one-time friend-turned-police-informant Mohamed Shihadeh says he was pressured by police to set up Dippolito. Continue reading

January 13, 2016

Vehicular Homicide Charges in Fort Lauderdale 4-Year-Old’s Death

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

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 in the death of a 4-year-old boy almost two years ago in Sunrise.

The now-21-year-old defendant had been driving at least 70 mph in a black BMW. Investigators would later opine he was driving somewhere in the neighborhood of 83 mph. The speed limit on that stretch of North Pine Island Road is 45 mph. There was a yellow car in front of him. A vehicle ahead of that yellow car made a wide turn into the parking lot of a shopping plaza. The yellow car hit the brakes. The BMW driver, Andrew Ezequiel Perez, couldn’t slow down in time. He lost control.
Continue reading

January 11, 2016

Feds: South Florida Men Rented Out Homes They Didn’t Own

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

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 men, all from Palm Beach County, are facing charges that include mail fraud conspiracy and mail fraud. Bond is being withheld until a judge determines whether they should stay locked up while the case is pending.

Authorities say this brazen scheme specifically targeted homes that were owned by a Georgia-based company in the business of buying and renovating homes and then renting them out. Continue reading

January 6, 2016

Report: Mentally Ill Lost in Broward Courts Shuffle

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

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 mentally ill patients in state psychiatric hospitals.

Now, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has taken a look at that issue from a micro perspective, analyzing how it has affected those specifically in Broward County.

The crux of what reporters discovered is this:

Those charged with minor felonies in Broward’s mental health court face punishment even when they are never found guilty;
These individuals spend six times longer in the criminal justice system than those in regular court;
About one-third of these individuals spend five years or more in the criminal justice system – even with no conviction at all!

January 2, 2016

Florida DUI Defense: Auto-Brewery Syndrome

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

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, despite having consumed nowhere near that level of alcohol.02

Despite this extremely high amount of alcohol in her blood, she was not exhibiting any of the typical symptoms of alcohol consumption when she got to the hospital. Although her blood-alcohol level would suggest she was nearing a coma-state, hospital officials wanted to release her immediately because she didn’t seem drunk at all.

Her defense lawyer was at first puzzled. The woman herself insisted she had only consumed four drinks over a six-hour period when she met her husband at a local bar/grill. Experts opined that at that rate, a woman of her size would have a blood-alcohol level of somewhere between 0.01 and 0.05 by the time she was driving home. She should have been well below the legal limit of 0.08. Continue reading