Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog

More than a year after charging a Jacksonville driver with a felony in the death of a Baker County man on Interstate 10, prosecutors have reduced the charges to misdemeanors. Holly King was initially charged with driving with a suspended or revoked license resulting in a serious injury or death, according to a report on First Coast News. That charge is a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in state prison. Now, King's case has been transferred to county court and she is facing a first-degree misdemeanor and a maximum of one year in the county jail.

The reduction is significant for King, because pleading guilty to or being convicted of a felony in Duval County can significantly affect a person's ability to get a job - notwithstanding the amount of prison time she could have been facing. As it turns out, the state should have never even charged here with a felony to begin with in the 2011 fatal crash. King was allegedly speeding on Interstate 10 when she drove up on a car driven by Lauren Annis, the television station reported. King lost control and allegedly hit Annis' car, which flipped, killing Annis' husband Todd, the television station reported. King was initially charged with careless driving, but six months later was charged with the felony in this Jacksonville Traffic Case. The felony is tied to the suspended license. King's license was suspended because she did not pay a traffic fine. According to state law, a license suspension that results from failure to pay a fine cannot be used to upgrade a misdemeanor to a felony.

Now, had King's license been suspended for receiving too many points for various traffic violations, the state would have had a legal basis to charge her with a felony. But, in this Jacksonville Traffic Case, the felony is not applicable. Legally, her license had been suspended three months before the accident that killed Annis and should not have been driving - but that still does not make her crime a felony. Traffic fines and penalties can add up quickly and bring some significant penalties. Tickets are scored on a point system and speeding tickets carry a variety of points. Reckless driving is 4 points. Leaving the scene of an accident is 6 points. As the points build, they can add up to big trouble:

 12 points in a year: 30-day license suspension
 18 points in 18 months: 3-month suspension
 24 points in three years: 1-year suspension

Failure to pay fines can also lead to a license suspension, as it did in King's Jacksonville Traffic Case. Simply paying the fine is admitting guilt and accepting the points - along with the penalties that come with them and the ancillary costs that can include skyrocketing auto insurance rates. An experienced Jacksonville Traffic Attorney can examine your case to see if reducing points or penalties may be an option to pursue.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Jacksonville Traffic Attorney, Victoria "Tori" Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

A Jacksonville man was sentenced to five years in prison for leaving the scene of a 2011 traffic crash that killed a 13-year-old Clay County boy. Anthony Margadonna, 24, was sentenced last week after pleading guilty last year to leaving the scene of an accident causing death, a first-degree felony in Clay County, Florida. The sentence also includes 10 years of probation, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Margadonna was facing up to 15 years in prison. Florida law required Margadonna to serve at least 21 months in prison because the charge does carry a minimum mandatory sentence.

Margadonna was driving on Branan Field Road in Clay County about 9:40 p.m. on a November night when he hit a 13-year-old who was riding his bicycle, the newspaper reported. Police alleged that Margadonna did not stop, nor did he report the crash to authorities. He was arrested in Clay County two days later when his Jeep was spotted while he was driving, the newspaper reported.

It was never reported whether Margadonna was under the influence of drugs or alcohol at the time of the crash. From a legal perspective, there's no way to charge him with it because he allegedly ran. There would not be an officer available to testify he or she witnessed signs of impairment because no one from law enforcement saw him until two days after the crash. Margadonna was sentenced to Clay County drug offender probation, which can be triggered by Florida drug crime convictions on his record - which he reportedly does have.

If you are in a traffic accident, you are legally required to stop immediately. In the case where someone is hurt, as in this Clay County Felony Crime case, you must provide reasonable assistance, including either taking the person to a hospital or calling someone, including 911, to arrange for medical attention if you think the person needs it or the person asks to see a doctor immediately. In this case, police say Margadonna did neither and just took off. It's unclear if he knew the extent of the damage or how badly the boy was hurt, but the driver has a legal duty to stop the car to find out.

Leaving the scene of accident with property damage is a misdemeanor in Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties, punishable by up to 60 days in jail. The charge elevates to a third-degree felony when someone is injured, exposing the defendant to up to five years in prison. When there's a death, as in this Clay County Felony Crime case, it becomes a first-degree felony and the minimum mandatory sets in. Crimes involving traffic accidents can be difficult because a person is just driving along the road when something happens. Decisions to stay or leave are made instantly and people are understandably shook up when an accident happens, meaning they may make decisions they would not ordinarily make. People who may not have a criminal record at all are suddenly faced with a decision where the wrong move can have them looking at mandatory prison time.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Clay County or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Duval County Leaving the Scene of an Accident Attorney, Victoria "Tori" Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

He faced up to 30-years for leaving the scene of a hit-and-run accident that killed a 23-year-old woman, but Michael Levi Beauregard was sentenced last week to just one year in jail. Beauregard will also be on probation in Jacksonville for five years for the May 2011 accident that killed a woman who was riding a motorized wheelchair on the side of a road, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. This Jacksonville vehicular homicide case was problematic from the start because there was no physical evidence and there were no eyewitnesses who could testify on court. Moon's fiancé was at the scene, but was unable to identify the driver. Beauregard is accused of speeding and hitting the woman, stopping briefly, then panicking and taking off, essentially leaving her to die. He admitted to the accident and said he did not see her in the road.

Part of the plea deal required Beauregard to pay $3,700 for the woman's funeral expenses and $2,000 for the wheelchair. The woman was not disabled, but had taken her finance's father's motorized chair to go pick up a pizza, the newspaper reported. The case is a prime example of the elements needed to prove a case in a trial, and how those may not always be there - regardless of what everyone thinks and assumes happened. Beauregard made a serious mistake and was willing to take responsibility and do some time as punishment. And it likely wasn't worth the risk of 30 years in prison if he was convicted at trial of vehicular homicide. But the state could not take the case to trial, and it obviously knew that. There was no one to put on the stand and say Beauregard was driving, no way to prove that he was even the one driving the truck. The cases that often seem the easiest to just rule with a "guilty" verdict aren't always like that.

An experienced Jacksonville Traffic Attorney knows what to look for to see if the state has what it needs to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney, Victoria "Tori" Mussallem, gives cases a comprehensive analysis and will then meet with you or your loved one to advise you or your best options going forward. Sometimes, that's a trial. In other cases, like this one, it can be best to take advantage of the state's weak case, get the best deal possible and move on.

If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a free consultation. Our Jacksonville Criminal Attorney is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

More than two weeks after a Jacksonville teen was killed when a van drove into her bedroom, police have charged a 51-year-old man in her death. Ismet Sijamhodzic was arrested in Jacksonville and charged with vehicular homicide and was being held in the Duval County jail on a bond of $250,000, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. He faces up to 15 years in prison on the Florida second-degree felony charge. Sijamhodzic ran a stop sign about 2:40 a.m. on an August morning and drove straight into the bedroom of the Wolfson High School student, trapping her between the van and a wall, according to the newspaper report. There were no signs that he tried to stop or steer the van to avoid the home, nor were there skid marks in the road near the home, the newspaper reported.

Sijamhodzic had marijuana in system as well Xanax, a prescription muscle relaxer and anti-anxiety drug, and told police he hadn't slept for three days before the accident, according to the newspaper. In Florida, vehicular homicide that Sijamhodzic is charged with is a second-degree felony. In a case where someone leaves the scene or doesn't render the aid he or she could have to help the victim, it becomes a first degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Sijamhodzic was injured in the crash and hospitalized, so the enhanced charge would not apply in his case. The drugs in his system aren't likely to help him in terms of plea negotiations, nor are the 10 traffic tickets the newspaper reported he had received since 1996. Jacksonville traffic citations like these are not used in the sentencing guideline formula that is used by the court to determine a range for a sentence, but they are generally placed under consideration by prosecutors when they are determining what, if anything the state would offer in lieu of taking the case to trial.

Public opinion also plays a role, and the state may be unlikely to look like it is giving a favorable deal to someone who killed an innocent honor student while she was sleeping.
Yet there are still facts that are not known. Was the road wet that night? How exactly do police know he did not try to steer around something in the road? Sijamhodzic clearly has an uphill battle in this Jacksonville vehicular homicide case, but his lack of a serious criminal record could help reduce his sentence. He would have been wise, and may have, contacted a Jacksonville Traffic Crime Attorney immediately after released from the hospital. He had to know charges were coming and it is best in these cases when the defendant comes to police, with a Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer, instead of the police running the defendant down.

If you or a loved one needs a vehicular homicide attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a free consultation. Our Duval County Criminal Defense Attorney, Victoria "Tori" Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.