Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
Our Jacksonville Probation Attorney has represented hundreds of people charged with violating their probation in Duval, Clay and Nassau Counties. When you are placed on probation in Florida, you have less rights than the common citizen. There are general conditions along with special conditions of every criminal probation. Some general conditions of probation include getting or keeping your employment, observing a curfew, being subject to random urinalysis and allowing the probation officer to search your person or home at any time. Special conditions of probation depend on the underlying offense. If you are placed on DUI probation in Jacksonville, some special conditions of that probation are performing 50 hours of community service, attending Driving Under the Influence School, attending the Mothers Against Drunk Driving Victim Impact Panel, impounding your vehicle and paying a fine. If you are put on probation for Domestic Battery, a special condition would be to complete the Batterers’ Intervention Program, which is a 26 week class.
In order to violate your probation, the facts of your case must demonstrate a willful and substantial violation that the prosecutor must prove by a greater weight of the evidence, or more than 50%. In a recent Florida case, man was placed on sex offender probation and violated because he was late for his curfew by 30 minutes. If you are placed on sex crime probation in Jacksonville or anywhere in Florida, there are multiple special conditions placed on you, including attending mandatory sex offender counseling, prohibited computer access, restrictions on where you can live, keeping driving logs and observing a curfew. The court, when determining whether this 30 minute violation was willful and substantial, the court must decide whether this violation indicates that probation will not work for this person. At the time of this Florida violation, the man had completed almost two years of his probation without incident. He was not charged with any new law violations and was not arrested for any other crimes. Other than being 30 minutes late, the man was otherwise compliant with all terms and conditions imposed on him. Because of these facts, the appellate court found that there was no basis for the conclusion that the probationer was unfit for probation and the revocation was unfair on these facts.
If you have been arrested in Jacksonville, Clay County or Nassau County on a violation of probation, call our Northeast Florida Probation Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our Jacksonville Criminal Attorney is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to discuss your case.