Articles Posted in Violent Crimes in Jacksonville

A 12-year-old Jacksonville boy was arrested on a murder charge last week, bringing back discussion of a similar decision in 2010 that drew national headlines and attention. This time, a 12-year-old was arrested for killing a homeless man, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Prosecutors have not said whether the boy will be charged as a juvenile or as an adult. If he is charged as an adult with first-degree murder, as then-12-year-old Cristian Fernandez was, it would leave the only possible sentence as life in prison. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against mandatory life sentences for juvenile, adding yet another layer of complexity to this Jacksonville Murder Case.

Prosecutors do have the power to charge the boy as a juvenile in this Jacksonville Murder Case. There are varying levels of punishment in Jacksonville Juvenile Crimes Case, from community service and house arrest on up to what amounts to a prison for teens. Clearly this 12-year-old would be on the most severe end of the scale, given the charge he is facing. He is accused of walking up to a homeless man in a parking lot and shooting him in the head, though police have not released information on a possible motive, the newspaper reported.

After months of negotiating and highly publicized hearings, Fernandez eventually pleaded guilty to manslaughter as a juvenile, the newspaper reported. The teen, now 15, will be released from juvenile prison when he turns 19 and placed on probation. The two cases are far from identical, but the common thread is obviously the defendant being 12 when he’s arrested. In the current Jacksonville Juvenile Crimes Case, the newspaper reported police made the arrest based on information from a 16-year-old already being held on charges of armed robbery and stealing a car, so there are credibility issues that could come up. There were issues in the Fernandez case, including the police interview with the boy that was ruled inadmissible – so it must be emphasized that every case is different and has its own unique set of challenges. Those challenges and issues would become more evident as the Jacksonville Murder Case moves forward.

A woman sentenced to 33 years in prison last year for driving her car into several people has the opportunity for a new trial – this one before a jury of her peers. A state appellate court threw out the 2013 convictions from a bench trial in front of the judge and ruled that if there’s another trial, it should be in front of a jury, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The overwhelming majority of cases that go to trial are jury trials, but the defendant can waive that element if he or she chooses. The court ruled in this St. Johns County Road Rage Case that the defendant did not understand the difference, nor did she know the potential benefits of a jury trial, the newspaper reported. The case could end up in a plea agreement, too, but the bottom line for the defendant in this St. Johns County Traffic Case is the convictions have been thrown out.

The defendant was accused of hitting a bicyclist with her car, hitting someone riding a scooter and several other vehicles, including a police car, the newspaper reported. Police said she also drove at another officer who was standing in the road, attempting to stop her, the newspaper reporter. She convicted of six counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, aggravated attempt to elude causing serious injury and resisting arrest with violence. The defendant’s attorney argued the defendant was insane at the time of the incident, but the judge disagreed, finding her guilty on all counts and sentencing her to 33 years in prison.

The major benefit to a jury trial in a St. Johns County Felony Case is it brings more decision-makers into the fold. For example, a jury must be unanimous in its decision. So if there is one person on the six-member jury that does not vote to find the person guilty, there cannot be a conviction. When a jury cannot agree, it is called a hung jury and a mistrial is declared. That means the case starts over – just as it will in this St. Johns County Traffic Case. When it’s simply a trial in front of the judge, the judge is the only person determining guilt or innocence. The sentencing would have been up to the judge regardless, so that element is not in the jury’s control. Our St. Johns County Criminal Defense Attorney looks at each case individually, investigating the case and the defendant’s personal situation and that analysis guides the recommendation she gives to the defendant on how to proceed with his or her case.

A Nassau County jury took just four minutes to set free and man accused of setting a string of well-publicized fires in an apartment complex. The man went to trial on two counts of arson, and was found not guilty of both counts, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The defendant was charged with two counts of second-degree arson, both second-degree felonies with a maximum penalty of 15 years in state prison on each count. The charges were filed shortly after police went public with the news of about 10 early morning fires set at an apartment complex over a several month period, the newspaper reported. At the same time, police publicly offered an $11,000 reward for information that led to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in these Nassau County Felony Crimes, the newspaper reported.

The defendant’s ex-girlfriend called police and named the man as the one who set the fires, the newspaper reported. He was initially charged with three counts of arson, but one was dropped before a trial, as were two burglary counts. But the state chose to press forward with two Nassau County Felony arson charges. It backfired. Nassau County Criminal Defense attorneys for the defendant outlined the volatile relationship between the man and his ex-girlfriend and said she concocted the story to try to get the reward money, the newspaper reported. The jury resoundingly sided with the defendant and returned a verdict in a matter of minutes. The verdict allowed the man to walk free – he’d been in jail for 10 months waiting for his trial, the newspaper reported.

Typically, it is difficult to place too much emphasis on the length of deliberations because you never know what jurors are discussing in terms of the case. But with a four-minute verdict, it’s clear they did not have much to discuss and were in pretty clear agreement in this Nassau County Felony Crime case. And a jury coming back that quickly brings up a legitimate question of why the state decided to take the case to trial in the first place. State prosecutors have an important role in the checks and balances of the Nassau County Criminal Justice System. Police make arrests and prosecutors make the decision on which cases to file. Shouldn’t there be some look into the accuser in a Nassau County Felony Case like this to determine what hard evidence the state has against the defendant and if the accuser has any motive at all to make up the story? Our Nassau County Criminal Defense attorney knows that, in many cases, the only way to clear a defendant’s good name is to take the case to trial. Our Nassau County Criminal Defense Attorney will thoroughly investigate your case and help you make an informed decision on how best to proceed.

A man charged with felony murder after the state said his actions led to a driver running over and killing a man in a Jacksonville parking lot was credited with time already served in jail after pleading guilty to a significantly reduced charge. The defendant was charged in connection with the murder after police said he was punching and fighting a man who was trying to leave a Jacksonville night club and continued to punch the man as he tried to drive off, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. The driver took off and hit and killed a person in the parking lot, the newspaper reported.

State prosecutors came out firing with the felony murder charge, along with a charge of burglary with an assault or battery. Both are first-degree felonies with maximum penalties of up to 30 years in prison, so the man was facing up to 60 years in state prison on these charges. Felony murder can be charged when a person is killed during the commission of another felony, according to state law. So, in this Jacksonville Felony Case, the state alleged the defendant’s beating of the driver led to the driver driving away recklessly to escape, which led to the driver running over the man who was killed. It seemed like a stretch at the time in 2012 when he was charged and now it appears that it was. Instead, the state agreed to file a criminal mischief charge – a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison and likely to do with damage to the vehicle. The defendant, who bonded out of prison late last year once the bond was reduced to a more manageable amount, was sentenced to the more than a year he had already served in prison awaiting the trial, so his punishment in terms of jail time is complete.

Felony murder is typically used in Jacksonville Violent Crimes Cases when someone is, for example, shot during a robbery gone bad and all of the suspects in the crime – not just the shooter – are charged. The Jacksonville Murder Charge that was just dropped had too many variables and the defendant seemed too far removed from the actual death for the charge to stick. Even the driver in the case, was who legally drunk and convicted of DUI, spent less time in jail, the newspaper reported. He was sentenced to six months in jail and was released last year, the newspaper reported. In some highly publicized cases like this, unfortunately, the state comes out strong with little to back it up. By giving it a little time, sadly with someone sitting behind bars, the state in some cases realizes the overcharge and comes back with a more realistic charge. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney has over a decade of experience in Duval County and can help assess the potential outcomes in the case and allow for you to make an informed decision for you or your loved one.

A Jacksonville man convicted of a 2008 murder should have been sentenced to life in prison, not sent to death row, the Florida Supreme Court ruled last week. The court found that the murder of a convenience store clerk did not meet the standards the state applies when considering sentencing a person to death, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Instead, Michael Yacob will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the newspaper reported.

In Jacksonville Murder Cases, there are only two possible sentences in a first-degree murder case: life in prison or the death penalty. There are 16 types of circumstances that would allow the state to seek the death penalty in a Jacksonville Murder Case, including if it was committed during the commission of another felony. That was the only aggravating factor used to justify the death penalty in this Jacksonville Murder Case and the Supreme Court ruled the case lined up with other cases whether the court has overturned the death penalty when a robbery was the only piece of the crime that was used to pursue the death penalty, the newspaper reported. Other factors that can be used in seeking the death penalty include if the victim was younger than 12, if the crime was committed by a convicted gang member or sexual predator, or if it was especially “heinous, atrocious or cruel,” according to state law. By design, what the legislature and courts are saying is the death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst and should only be applied in extreme circumstances.

Locally, however, the state is often using the threat of the death penalty as a bargaining tool in getting people to plead to guilty to some sort of murder charge – usually second degree murder – to avoid a trial and take the death penalty off the table. Yacob is the fifth person in recent years sentenced to death locally who has had his sentence reversed, the newspaper reported. If the state is seeking the death penalty in a Jacksonville murder case, there are two phases to the trial. It starts with the initial trial and, if the person is found guilty of first-degree murder, a penalty phase follows. This is where both sides present their case and the same jury that decided the first phase makes a recommendation on the death penalty. And, unlike any other phase of Jacksonville Criminal Trials, the decision does not have to be unanimous. Ultimately, the judge makes the final decision, but rarely strays from the jury recommendation, which was 10-2 in favor of the death penalty in Yacob’s Jacksonville Murder Case.

A Jacksonville man was charged with first-degree murder as the state alleged he was one of four people involved in the killing of a local man. A jury of his peers, however, did not fully agree and found Corey Bright guilty instead of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. So instead of looking at a mandatory life sentence, Bright was sentenced this week to 20 years in state prison, the newspaper reported.

Bright and three others were accused of ambushing a 22-year-old man because they were upset with the man’s alleged domestic abuse toward his girlfriend, the newspaper reported. Witnesses said two of the men pulled out guns and started shooting, the newspaper reported. All four suspects were charged with first-degree murder and faced a mandatory life sentence if convicted. What the state was likely trying to do is charge all four with first-degree murder and hope at least one of the men who didn’t fire the shots would speak out, be a witness for the state and point the finger at the shooters to help have his own charges significantly reduced. That does not appear to have worked in this Jacksonville Gun Crimes Case. Another suspect pleaded guilty in December to second-degree murder and faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced. The other two are still charged with first-degree murder and are awaiting trial, the newspaper reported. Now, it is possible the suspect who pleaded guilty could be working with the state, and that his sentencing is being delayed until the other two cases are resolved. In Bright’s case, it appears the jury thought he was involved and used a weapon, but likely felt the state could not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bright was indeed responsible for the man’s death.

That can be the danger in overcharging crimes, or using the initial charge to attempt to get the suspect to plead guilty to a lesser charge – something that likely is more fitting of the crime in the first place. When a jury is read instructions before it starts deliberating in a Jacksonville Criminal Case, there are often other charges known as “lesser included offenses.” For example, if someone like Bright is charged with first-degree murder, there is a list of other charges the jury can decide to find the defendant guilty of, if jurors don’t think the initial charge was proven beyond a reasonable doubt. In many Jacksonville Gun Crimes cases, jurors believe the suspect is guilty of something – perhaps just not the most serious charge the state could possibly file – and will look to the lesser included charges as a compromise. But, in many Jacksonville Gun Crimes Cases, the state’s game of hardball works. Some defendants feel they have too much to lose with a mandatory life sentence on the line in a trial, and try to plead guilty to second-degree murder in hopes of someday being released. The decision to plead or take a Jacksonville Gun Crimes case to trial is an individual choice that should be based on the facts of the case and the suspect’s personal situation. What is the right call for one person may be more than another is willing to risk.

A substitute school bus driver in Clay County was fired this month for what some say was a choking incident with a 10-year-old student. The driver was fired after she was accused of putting her hand on the throat of a 10-year-old boy who refused to put away a cell phone on a ride home from school, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. While she is no longer employed, the larger issue would be criminal charges. Prosecutors have chosen not to file criminal charges in this potential Clay County Child Abuse case, the newspaper reported.

There is an important distinction in Clay County Criminal Court Cases on discipline that employers can levy and what is provable beyond a reasonable doubt in front of a jury. Prosecutors have the final say on when charges are filed in a Clay County Criminal Case. For example, once an arrest is made, the state has 40 days to determine whether the or not to file formal charges in a case. And, once charges are filed, the state has six months to take the case to trial, unless the defendant waives that provision and allows the deadline to be extended. There are several factors the state must consider when they are looking to file charges in a Clay County Child Abuse Case. In this case, the newspaper reported there were no video cameras on the bus, so law enforcement would have had to rely solely on statements from witnesses, as well as those from the suspect and the alleged victim. The stories from the boy and the driver, not surprisingly, differed significantly about exactly what happened and police said witness accounts were somewhere in between, the newspaper reported. That was apparently not enough for prosecutors, who appeared to make the right call in this potential Clay County Child Abuse Case. In order for a person to be convicted by a jury in any Clay County Criminal Case, that jury must be unanimous. If just one person on the jury does not agree with a guilty verdict, there is not a conviction.

If the jury cannot agree and is unable to come to a consensus, the result is a hung jury and a mistrial is declared. From there, the case essentially starts over from scratch. The state can decide to drop the charges, negotiate a plea agreement or take the case to trial again. If the Clay County Criminal Case ends up in trial a second time, an entirely different jury is chosen to hear the case. If you think you may be investigated in a Clay County Criminal Case, it can be beneficial to speak with a Clay County Criminal Defense Attorney before you speak with police. You have a right to remain silent and consult with an attorney, but must know that any statements you make to police can be used against you.

A woman initially charged with second-degree murder for stabbing a homeless man to death in St. Johns County has reached a deal to plead guilty to a lesser charge. Brenda Muniz pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in the 2012 death, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Aggravated manslaughter is still a serious felony, but the plea deal that Muniz agreed to has a sentencing range of between nine years and 30 years in prison for this St. Johns County Manslaughter Case, the newspaper reported. Second-degree murder had a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison so, essentially, the plea deal opens up to the possibility for a sentence in the range of nine to 20 years in prison that would not have been on the table had she pleaded guilty to or been found guilty of a St. Johns County Murder Charge.

Both Muniz and the victim were homeless and the stabbing occurred at a homeless camp behind a shopping center where people often congregated, drank and slept, the newspaper reported. Muniz and the victim apparently got into an argument, which escalated to the point where Muniz stabbed and killed the man, whom police said was her boyfriend, the newspaper reported. Muniz’ plea agreement touches on two important issues in St. Johns County Felony Cases. First, she pleaded no contest, instead of pleading guilty to the charges. Functionally, the two are the same. The difference is, Muniz is not admitting guilt, but is essentially saying it is in her best interest to stop fighting the charges and take a deal, rather than push the case to trial and risk even more time in prison. That often is a plea that is insisted upon by the defendant in a St. Johns County Manslaughter Case. But it can backfire when it comes to sentencing. In many St. Johns County Criminal Defense Cases, the judge wants the defendant to show remorse, admit his or her mistake and take ownership of it. When that doesn’t happen, as in the case of a no contest plea, a judge may be less inclined to give the defendant a more lenient sentence.

The other interesting element is that the two sides at least agreed to a sentencing range to present to the judge in this St. Johns County Manslaughter case. That range does not bind the judge in any legal way, but in most instances the judge will honor a range that prosecutors and the St. Johns County Criminal Defense Attorneys agree on. The range is the case is 21 years, so it’s likely the judge will find plenty of latitude in the range to deliver what he or she decides is an appropriate sentence in this St. Johns County Manslaughter Case.

A man accused of spray painting symbols of hate groups on the Clay County home where a police detective was shot and killed has been charged with a felony. Anthonio Cassanova is charged with felony criminal mischief, accused of spray painting swastikas and “RIP Ted Tilly” on the side of the home, according to a report on News4Jax. Tilly ambushed police officers during a raid and shot two detectives, killing Detective David White, before being shot and killed in the shootout.

Clay County Criminal mischief, more commonly known as vandalism, is typically a misdemeanor in Florida. But when it causes more than $1,000 in damage, the charge can be upgraded to a felony, as it was in this Clay County Felony Case. Cassanova is charged with a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. The house had been boarded up since the shootout during a police raid on the subjected meth house in February 2012, the television station reported. Volunteers have since painted over the graffiti on the house, the television station reported. Typically, a vandalism case like this would not be headline news among Jacksonville-area media. But this Clay County Felony Case is far different and the offensive nature of Cassanova’s alleged graffiti, combined with the high profile of the case could spell trouble in terms of sentencing for Cassanova.

There are already examples in connection with White’s death that foreshadow a sentence for Cassanova that is likely to be longer than average in a Clay County Felony Case. For example, people charged with dealing in stolen property for passing along the gun that was eventually used to shoot and kill White were sentenced to seven years in prison. Yes, they had criminal records that weighed in the sentencing, but stolen guns move around the state frequently and are used in plenty of crimes, but sentences of seven years aren’t the norm. Both were facing up to 15 years in prison, so they received about half of the maximum time. The state may argue in this case that Cassanova’s sentence should be even closer to the maximum. In the gun cases, yes it was certainly wrong, but the defendants did not have a way of knowing the gun they passed onto someone else was going to end up in Tilly’s hands and that he was going to use it to shoot a police officer. Whereas Cassanova is accused of using the house as a way to get across a message that many find offensive and disrespectful to the community and the detective’s family. All elements of a crime and a defendant’s criminal record, which Cassanova certainly has, are brought into consideration when it comes time to sentence a person in a Clay County Felony Case. None of those elements appear to be in Cassanova’s favor here, and many will be watching closely to see how the case plays out.