June 20, 2012in Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

Teen found guilty of lesser charge in Michael Brewer attack

In the instant that it took to flick a lighter, the lives of four teenaged boys were changed in ways they never intended.

Three of them will spend years behind bars, and a fourth will always carry the physical scars and emotional pain of having been set on fire and nearly killed in an attack that made international headlines three years ago.

“Ten minutes in the lives of these kids changed their lives forever,’’ said defense attorney Perry Thurston Jr., just minutes after his client, Matthew Bent, was found guilty of aggravated battery in Broward Criminal Court on Tuesday.

Bent, 17, is the accused ringleader in the burning of Michael Brewer.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/19/2857759/teen-found-guilty-in-michael-brewer.html#storylink=cpy
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June 19, 2012in Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

Miami-Dade commissioners want to ban sales of ‘bath salt’ synthetic drugs

Miami-Dade commissioners are scheduled to take a preliminary vote Tuesday to outlaw the synthetic drug known as “bath salts,” and to back away from their original plan to ban candy-flavored tobacco products.

The votes come on the heels of the commission’s preliminary vote earlier this month to prohibit sales of synthetic marijuana.

The state has already outlawed specific chemicals in bath salts, but manufacturers have managed to sidestep state law by slightly altering the drugs’ chemical makeup. The county’s ordinance goes a step further, banning sales or displays for “anything structurally similar” to the banned compounds, said Assistant County Attorney Jesse McCarty.

The products, which are easily available at many convenience stores, go by colorful names like Blizzard, Blue Silk, Hurricane Charley, Ivory Snow and Snow Leopard.

The county’s ordinance calls for a $500 fine and up to 60 days in jail for selling the product.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/19/2856060/miami-dade-commissioners-want.html#storylink=cpy
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June 18, 2012in Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

George Zimmerman’s jail calls made public

George Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, is facing perjury charges for lying under oath about money he raised online, but bank records and jail phone calls released Monday show her husband called the shots behind an elaborate, if sloppy, scheme to hide money.

The records also show the second-degree murder charge was a big money-maker for Zimmerman: The day after his arrest, he transferred more than $75,000 in donations to his account in a single day. He used at least $10,000 of it to pay off credit card and other bills, the bank records show.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/18/2855731/zimmerman-jail-calls-made-public.html#storylink=cpy
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June 15, 2012in Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

Miami-Dade judge dismisses Stand Your Ground Law road rage case

Another case falls victim to Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law:

A Miami-Dade judge this week dismissed an attempted murder charge against a man accused of pointing a gun at another man during a road rage incident.

Robert Moulton, 40, said he was defending himself under Florida’s Stand Your Ground law, which eliminated a citizen’s duty to retreat when confronted with deadly force. He said he pulled his gun only after another man, Steven Stewart, “savagely punched” him in the face as Moulton sat in his car in February 2009 in North Miami.

Initially, police claimed that a short time later, Moulton encountered Stewart in a parking lot and again pointed his gun at the man. But Moulton’s defense attorney, Emelia Diaz-Fox, said she proved the second encounter never happened.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/13/2848379/miami-dade-judge-dismisses-stand.html#storylink=cpy
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June 14, 2012in Federal Law, Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

$7.3 million worth of cocaine seized at Port of Miami

Seven-point-three million dollars worth of cocaine will not make it to the streets of South Florida or anywhere else after the illegal contraband was found at the Port of Miami.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the port discovered the cocaine, about 459 pounds, hidden in a container on May 29. There were 169 bricks of cocaine hidden in eight cardboard boxes.

The container arrived in Miami aboard a freighter from Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic and originated in Panama. The ship also made stops in Colombia and Mexico.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/13/2848173/73-million-worth-of-cocaine-seized.html#storylink=cpy
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June 13, 2012in Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

George Zimmerman’s wife charged with perjury

George Zimmerman’s wife, Shellie, was arrested Tuesday after being charged with one count of perjury for allegedly lying under oath at his bond hearing about whether she and her husband had access to any money.

She quickly posted $1,000 bond and was released.

At Zimmerman’s April 20 bond hearing, Shellie Zimmerman, 25, was asked whether the couple had any money.

“Uhmm, not, not that I’m aware of,” she responded.

But prosecutors say bank records show Shellie Zimmerman had stashed cash in a safe deposit box and transferred nearly $75,000 from her husband’s bank account into hers. When her husband was granted bond and released from jail, the money was returned to George Zimmerman’s account, according to a probable-cause affidavit prosecutors filed.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/12/2845931/zimmermans-wife-charged-with-perjury.html#storylink=cpy
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June 12, 2012in Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

No bond for security guard in strip-club shooting

Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law is in the news yet again:

The strip-club security guard accused of shooting two men in the parking lot remained in the Miami-Dade jail Monday without bond.

Lukace Kendle was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree murder and attempted second-degree murder. One man was killed and another was wounded in the shooting.

The 26-year-old Homestead man is being held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, 7000 NW 41st St. He is being represented by Stephen Harper of the Miami-Dade public defender office. He did not return three calls on Monday.

The June 1 shooting unfolded when Kendle, who worked security at Club Lexx, came across two men parked beside the building, 12001 NW 27th Ave. in North Miami-Dade. He told police he felt threatened by the men and shot them.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/11/2844320/no-bond-for-security-guard-on.html#storylink=cpy
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June 8, 2012in Federal Law, Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

Miami Beach fire inspector pleads guilty in federal club-extortion racket case

Chai Footman made six figures as a fire inspector for the city of Miami Beach. But apparently, his $116,000 salary was not enough.

On Friday, Footman admitted to a Miami federal judge that he shook down a South Beach nightclub owner for thousands of dollars in exchange for kid-glove treatment during code inspections.

Footman, 36, pleaded guilty to conspiring with a ring of code enforcement officers and a fellow firefighter to extort the owner of Club Dolce on Ocean Drive — in a sensational case where an undercover FBI agent posing as the club manager fooled them all as he partied with Footman and the other municipal employees.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/08/2839082/miami-beach-fire-inspector-pleads.html#storylink=cpy
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June 7, 2012in Federal Law, Florida Criminal Law, Florida Lawyer

Feds indict 16 in Miami-Dade marijuana growhouse operation, 5 charged with kidnapping death

For years, the Santiesteban family ran an elaborate marijuana growing operation — from planting seeds under hydroponic lights to harvesting the potent plants and hauling them to New York to sell — with at least 17 grow houses scattered across Miami-Dade, federal prosecutors said.

They set up surveillance cameras, hired caretakers to guard their crops, and when family members identified a robber who had ripped off 30 plants, they helped kidnap him, prosecutors said. The man was shot and beaten to death, his body dumped on a roadway, his van torched in the Everglades.

On Tuesday, law enforcement agents finally shut down the massive operation — charging six family members and 10 others with conspiracy to distribute drugs — ending one of the largest marijuana enterprises in Miami-Dade.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/06/06/2836510/feds-indict-16-in-miami-dade-marijuana.html#storylink=cpy
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Mark P. Melmer, Esq. served as a prosecutor here in Miami-Dade County, handling thousands of cases at both the misdemeanor and felony level. For the last 10 years Mark has devoted his practice to family law and domestic violence issues. This experience and insight makes him a formidable advocate.

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