Articles Posted in Violent Crimes in Jacksonville

A 70-year-old Clay County woman is charged with two felonies after allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill her daughter-in-law. Diana Costarakis is accused of meeting twice with the person she thought was a hitman, but was actually an undercover officer with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Police said she paid the officer $500 one day and $1,000 the following day as a down payment, the newspaper reported. The rest of the $5,000 to have the woman killed could come from the jewelry she would be wearing at the time of her death, Costarakis is accused to telling the officer, the newspaper reported.

Costarakis is charged with criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy in this Jacksonville Violent Crimes Case. Both charges are first-degree felonies in this Jacksonville Criminal Case, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. In criminal solicitation and criminal conspiracy cases, the seriousness of the charge is based on the crime the person is soliciting or conspiring to commit. If the crime is a capital crime, such as murder, then soliciting and conspiracy charges are first-degree felonies. So Costarakis is looking at up to 60 years in prison if convicted and sentenced to the maximum penalty on each count. As a general rule, the solicitation felony degree is one level down from the crime the person is soliciting for. So if the base crime is an armed robbery, a first-degree felony, soliciting or conspiring to commit an armed robbery would be a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. If the conspiracy is based on a third-degree felony, the solicitation or conspiracy charge would be a misdemeanor.

The key in a Jacksonville Violent Crimes Case like this is the state’s ability to prove Costarakis was expressly paying to have the person killed. Police know that and, according to the newspaper report, asked her if the daughter should be killed. Costarakis is accused of saying, “If you don’t do it, I will,” the newspaper reported. On the surface, that doesn’t bode well – and neither do the two cash payments to the officer. Defenses to conspiracy and solicitation in this Jacksonville Violent Crimes Case can be that the suspect was backing out of the plan and changed his or her mind. There is no evidence to that end that has been released so far, but that wouldn’t be something police would voluntarily give up. It would, however, be subject to disclosure as the Jacksonville Violent Crimes Case moves forward. Jacksonville Violent Crimes Cases often appear to be open-and-shut cases when police wrap them up in a tidy bow and present them to the media. But when an experienced Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney starts examining the case and investigating the details and tactics used by the police, an entirely different picture can sometimes emerge.

A Jacksonville man was sentenced to life in prison for his role in a Clay County double murder, but he could be released after 25 years in an increasing common sentence for judges waiting for direction on a U.S. Supreme Court decision. Derrell Emery Jr. was convicted of first-degree murder and second-degree murder, Clay County Murders he was charged as an adult for even though he was 17 years old at the time, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Emery and Todd Bradshaw went to a house where a man they knew was housesitting, the newspaper reported. They allegedly planned on robbing the man, but when the man fought back, he was shot and killed. Police arrived and when Emery and Bradshaw tried to run, both were shot by police, the newspaper reported. Emery was shot in the ankle, but Bradshaw was killed by police. Prosecutors argued Emery was criminally responsible in both Clay County Murders because he was involved in the robbery that eventually caused both of the murders, the newspaper reported.

In Florida, there are two possible sentences for someone convicted of first-degree murder: life in prison without parole or the death penalty. But last year, the U.S. Supreme Court put a wrinkle in Florida law by ruling juveniles could not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, even in Clay County Murder Cases. This ruling came two years after a decision banning life sentences for juvenile on every crime but murder. In the most recent opinion, the Supreme Court argued the life sentence is cruel and unusual punishment. So even though parole does not even exist in Florida, some judges are adding it to the sentences people who were juveniles at their time of their crimes. This is done as a way to try to comply with the Supreme Court ruling, though there has not been direction on what would constitute a proper sentence going forward. Florida abolished parole in 1983 and people who are convicted must serve at least 85 percent of their sentence. No one sentenced to life can be released but, for example, someone sentenced to 10 years must serve at least 8-1/2 years. Laws have been proposed to add parole specifically to comply with the Supreme Court ruling on juveniles, but they’ve gone nowhere as lawmakers are reluctant to appear soft on crime, according to a previous report in the Florida Times-Union. The Supreme Court case provides a challenge for judges in cases such as this Clay County Murder case, but there is plenty of time for further directions. The first few defendants sentenced in these cases will not become eligible for parole for another 24 years.

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 Clay County Murder Attorney, Victoria “Tori” Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

A Jacksonville man is on trial for the third time, accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend’s pregnant roommate in 2010. Andrew King is on trial facing two counts of first-degree murder -one for the death of 22-year-old Felicia Burney and the second for the death of her unborn child, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. King is also charged with one count of Jacksonville armed burglary with assault or battery, the newspaper reported. If King is convicted on one or both of the murder charges, he will be sentenced to life in prison – there is no other option for a judge in a first-degree murder case, other than the death penalty. The state is not seeking the death penalty in this Jacksonville Murder Case.

The state’s argument in this Jacksonville Murder Case is that King blamed Burney for his failed relationship with her roommate, Danielle Butler, the newspaper reported. King had been arrested a month prior for kicking in the door to the home and because he used to live there, prosecutors argued he knew his way around the house in the dark, the newspaper reported. But King’s Duval County criminal defense team says King was framed by Butler, who was angry with Burney over an incident with Butler’s 2-year-old son, the newspaper reported. Burney allegedly watched the boy while Butler worked and went to school, but Burney was talking about moving to be closer to family and King’s attorneys said Butler was upset she would have to find and pay someone to watch her child.

There are enough moving parts in this Jacksonville Murder Case where two juries, so far, have been unable to agree on whether King is guilty. In a Jacksonville Murder Case, as with any criminal trial, the jury must be unanimous in its decision – either to convict someone or to find the defendant not guilty. It only takes one person on either side to hang a jury, and it’s not known how far apart the first two juries were, nor do we know which side the majority was leaning toward. King has long proclaimed his innocence and his attorneys said he is not interested in any sort of plea agreement in the case. The only thing the state could do is reduce the charge, seeing that a plea to first-degree murder is a plea to life in prison. The rationale is understandable. King likely feels he’s been close to being found not guilty twice by now. The state likely feels the same way. If the trial is not resolved after the third time in this Jacksonville Murder Case, it may be time for the state to take another look at the charges. But, it also seems King is not pleading to anything – and he has the right to take a case to trial.

Evidence in the murder of an 8-year-old Jacksonville girl will be able to be reviewed by the suspect’s Jacksonville criminal defense attorneys before it is released to the public, a judge ruled last week. Donald Smith is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and sexual battery in the killing of Cherish Perrywinkle, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Smith’s criminal defense attorneys have asked that all evidence remain sealed until the trial, the newspaper reported. The concern is that some of the stories will include information that will be ruled inadmissible at trial in this Jacksonville Murder Case, and would severely limit Smith’s right to a fair trial. Prosecutors did say there likely would be some items released that the judge may ultimately rule could not be a part of a trial in this Jacksonville Murder Case.

The judge did not grant the entire motion, but did agree for now to let Smith’s attorneys review the evidence first and have the ability to then ask the court to keep the evidence sealed until trial. Once the defense receives discovery information in the case, Smith’s attorneys will have 10 days to file a motion as to whether or not the information should stay out of the public eye until trial, the newspaper reported. The judge will make the decision outside of open court, meaning there will not be a hearing the media or public can attend, the newspaper reported. All defendants have a right to a fair trial in front of a jury of his or her peers. This Jacksonville Murder Case, as expected, received plenty of media attention after Perrywinkle was abducted from a Jacksonville Wal-Mart when Smith lured her family with the promise to buy the family food and clothing, the newspaper reported.

It is always difficult to seat a jury in high-profile Jacksonville Murder Cases. And the case would certainly qualify. The media coverage of this Jacksonville Murder Case has been intense and will continue up to and through the trial. And as disturbing as the allegations are, Smith is entitled to a fair trial. The goal is to find 12 jurors who can sit in judgment who have not already formed an opinion one way or another in this Jacksonville Murder Case. While this coverage has not been as prolific nationally, everyone saw the difficulty of picking a jury in the case of George Zimmerman, accused of second-degree murder in the shooting death of teenager Trayvon Martin. Smith’s Jacksonville Murder Case has already drawn attention from state legislators and others asking how Smith, a registered sex offender, could have been out of prison and able to commit the crime he is accused of. The judge in this case is trying to protect Smith’s right to a fair trial, and it will be interesting to see how much of the discovery is allowed to be released prior to a trial, if Smith indeed chooses to take the case to trial.

Prosecutors have decided not to seek criminal charges against Clay County corrections officers who watched a 19-year-old inmate die in a restraint chair earlier this year. The death of Daniel Linsinbigler Jr. was ruled a homicide, but no charges will be filed in this Clay County Homicide Case, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Linsinbigler was in the medical unit of the jail and taken from his cell after officers said he was acting belligerent – kicking his cell door and yelling, the newspaper reported. Linsinbigler was on suicide watch at the jail 10 days after his arrest on an indecent exposure charge and was likely days or weeks from being released before his death, the newspaper reported.

Three inmates told investigators from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement they heard Linsinbigler crying out that he could not breathe, the newspaper reported. But none of the corrections officers or medical personnel mentioned that fact in the 62-page report, the newspaper reported. Linsinbigler died of asphyxiation, the newspaper reported. Prosecutors have ruled the death accidental and unintended in this Clay County Homicide Case, the newspaper reported. The lack of charges is fairly common in case involving an inmate death, much like when people are killed in police-involved shootings. Any penalty or punishment for the police or sheriff’s office likely comes in the form of a civil lawsuit filed by the family. The standard of proof in a civil case is not as difficult to meet, and many police departments will defer to the civil court system rather than have one of their own face criminal charges. Not to mention, if prosecutors file criminal charges, it certainly lends creditability to any civil claim in the case – opening up the sheriff’s office to what could be more serious monetary damages.

The most likely criminal charge, if there were to have been one filed, would be manslaughter. Manslaughter is the charge the state applied when someone dies as a result of another person’s negligence. For example, if two people are in a fight and one ends up dying, the state could file manslaughter charges. Intent is not an issue in a manslaughter case. The state would not have to prove that the corrections officers were trying to kill Linsinbigler, only that their negligence caused his death. The first step in any case that might include officers and criminal conduct is the criminal investigation – which is now complete. The next step is an internal review that could include changes in policy or potential discipline for the officers involved. While there still are punitive options against the officers in this Clay County Homicide Case, the most serious are clearly the criminal charges – which have now been eliminated.

In another example of the state charging people with crimes that carry life sentences and then offering a much better deal as trial approaches, a Jacksonville man facing two counts of murder will go to prison for 15 years. Calvin Bryant was charged in two shootings during a 2010 a block party where one man was killed and another was injured, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Bryant was initially charged with second-degree murder, attempted first degree murder, carrying a concealed firearm and the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

Both murder charges are first-degree felonies that carry a sentence of up to life in prison. The use of a firearm charge is a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison and the concealed weapon charge is a third-degree felony with a five-year maximum sentence. In this Jacksonville Murder Case, the state dropped both gun charges – virtually unheard of in Jacksonville criminal justice proceedings these days. On the surface, it appears the state was not confident at all in either of the two murder charges against Bryant. To start with second-degree murder and an attempted first-degree murder and them go down to 15 years is a significant drop. Our Jacksonville Criminal Defense Attorney sees the state routinely insist on far higher sentences for much less serious charges – certainly charges that don’t involve someone being killed. The next obvious question, then, is: If the state’s case is so weak, then why did the defense take prison time and not push the case to trial?

In Jacksonville Criminal Defense Cases, especially Jacksonville Murder Cases, the decision to take a deal or go to trial is one of balancing and managing risk. In this Jacksonville Murder Case, Bryant was facing life in prison if convicted. It was not a mandatory life sentence but, in the vast majority of Jacksonville Criminal Defense cases, the sentencing following a trial is more severe than what the state was offering before trial. That doesn’t say much about every person’s fundamental right to a trial before a jury of one’s peers, but that’s how our system operates. The opportunity to take 15 years instead of risking a life sentence was why Bryant chose to plead guilty, his attorney told the newspaper. In many Jacksonville Murder Cases, the state does not even have an offer other than life in prison. That’s why so many Jacksonville Murder Cases end up in trial. If a defendant is looking at life in prison on a plea or life in prison on a trial, there’s no incentive not to take the case to trial and most defendants do. But, when there is another option on the table, the decision is different. In Bryant’s Jacksonville Murder Case, the state gets at least some time in prison and the defense cuts its losses and gets a favorable deal for the defendant.

A Jacksonville mother charged with manslaughter and child neglect for waiting to take her unconscious son to the hospital was sentenced to probation and counseling this month, despite prosecutor’s hopes of locking her up for 15 years. The sentencing wraps up the criminal portion of the case involving Cristian Fernandez, whom the state charged with first-degree murder at age 12 for crushing his 2-year-old half-brother with a bookcase, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Biannela Susana returned home from a quick errand to find her young son injured and tried to research the injuries, among other things, while waiting hours to take her young son to the hospital, the newspaper reported. Had she brought him earlier, he may have survived, doctors have testified in this Jacksonville Manslaughter Case. The sentence was issued last week, a month after an all-day hearing where both sides stated their case. Prosecutors wanted 15 years for Susana, but the judge went in an entirely different direction.

Susana was sentenced to 10 years, but the judge opted to suspend the sentence, the newspaper reported. She was also given credit for the more than two years she spent in jail awaiting the resolution of her Jacksonville Manslaughter Case so, technically, she’d have less than eight years left to serve. The judge ruled that Susana’s need for immediate mental health counseling that she could not receive in prison outweighed the threat of her being a danger to the community, the newspaper reported. She will spend 90 days at a domestic violence shelter and then two years at a halfway house to get life skills training and mental health counseling, the newspaper reported. She will remain on Duval County probation for the remainder of the 10-year-sentence. A local nonprofit that helps at-risk girls has agreed to hire Susana once she meets the other requirements. If Susana violates any of the terms of her release, she could be sentenced to serve the rest of her sentence in prison.

Cristian pleaded guilty to manslaughter as well, along with Jacksonville aggravated battery, and was sentenced to time in a juvenile jail. He’ll be released when he turns 19 and will be on probation for another eight years. The judge has the latitude in Jacksonville Manslaughter Cases to break up the sentence however he or she chooses. While it is rare for no prison time to be issued in a Jacksonville Manslaughter Case, this case is inherently different, with a 12-year-old initially charged with first-degree murder and his mother charged for her role following the injuries. Probation can often be a trap for defendants, with the state eager for a violation to get another shot at prison time. This seems to ring especially true in this case, where prosecutors were openly critical of the sentence for Susana, the newspaper reported.

It appears there will be no arrests in the foreseeable future connected to the Memorial Day brawl that shut down part of Jacksonville Beach during holiday festivities and left one man seriously injured. Jacksonville Beach police last week suspended their investigation in the case for the second time, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Charges or not, the incident has heightened awareness and led to a push from residents for more of police presence at the beach – especially during special events and holidays, the newspaper reported.

Cell phone videos of the brawl went viral and were broadcast heavily on local television and local news websites, clearly showing a man being beaten. With the public nature of the incident, many are asking how there could possibly not be any Jacksonville Beach Battery charges. Our criminal court system operates far differently than the court of public opinion, even in this Jacksonville Battery Case. Police have said they suspected this brawl was between two rival gangs from Jacksonville and that none of the witnesses said to have been nearby have been willing to provide any information to police. A grainy cell phone video is not enough to positively identify the attacker in this case in front of a jury – and that appears to be about the extent of the state’s case thus far.

While this was made more public by the video and the public reaction that ensued, it’s no different than a fight that might happen outside a bar or a sporting event. Things happen quickly, words escalate into a physical fight and people scatter. Unless someone is arrested in Duval County and detained right there at the time of the fight, there may not be any arrests in the case. In this Jacksonville Battery Case, prosecutors would need someone to sit on the witness stand and testify to the fact that the defendant, whoever it may be, was the one that threw the punches and kicked the man in the video. Prosecutors don’t have that in this case. They don’t have police saying they were called to the scene and found a defendant there or saw him running away or anything close. The investigation will remain suspended until a witness comes forward that will provide police with enough information so authorities can make an arrest in this Jacksonville Fighting Case, the newspaper reported.

Despite conflicting opinions on the defendant’s mental competency, a judge found a woman guilty of all 14 felony counts related to a 2010 St. Johns County road rage incident. Andrea Zampatti allegedly rammed her Land Rover into a bicyclist, ran a scooter of the road and crashed into two St. Johns County Sheriff’s deputies and a truck, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Several people were injured, but no one was killed in the series of accidents, the newspaper reported. Zampatti was initially ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial and spent five months in a state mental hospital, but has since been released on bond, the newspaper reported. Zampatti’s St. Johns County defense team continued to argue that she was mentally ill at the time of the crash, which led to her behavior, but the judge ruled last week that she was mentally competent at the time.

She was found guilty of 14 felonies in this St. Johns County Aggravated Battery case. Two charges – aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon and aggravated fleeing or eluding a law enforcement officer causing death or serious injury – are first degree felonies in Florida punishable by up to 30 years in state prison. She was found guilty of five second-degree felonies, which carry a maximum of 15 years in prison, and seven third-degree felonies, each punishable by up to five years in state prison. The judge has the option to sentence the maximum on each of the counts, which would be 160 years in this St. Johns County Aggravated Battery Case, but it’s rare that a sentence would be that severe.

In the vast majority of criminal cases, a trial is done in front of a jury of one’s peers. In some cases, particularly complex cases where there are a mental health concerns, the defense can request that the trial be done just in front of the judge. These trials are known as bench trials. If the St. Johns County Criminal Defense Attorney requests the bench trial, the state must also agree for it to go forward. In any St. Johns County Criminal Case, there are certain strategies and techniques that a criminal defense attorney will look at in order to provide the best representation of his or her client. The hallmark of our criminal justice system is a defendant having a trial in front of a jury of his or her peers, but that may not always be in the client’s best interest. Our St. Johns County Aggravated Battery attorney will fully investigate the case of you or your loved one and then lay all of the options and potential consequences out on the table so you can make an informed decision going forward.

A Jacksonville man initially facing up to life in prison when he went to trial on a second-degree murder charge was sentenced last week to 15 years in state prison. Aaron Kaiser was found guilty of shooting and killing his neighbor, whom he’d argued with for years, outside their apartment complex, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union. Kaiser allegedly shot him four times and Kaiser went to trial on a second-degree murder charge, the newspaper reported. The sentence for second-degree murder is between 25 years and life in prison.

The jury instead found him guilty of manslaughter, which is known as a lesser included offense. Manslaughter is a second-degree felony while second-degree murder is a first-degree felony, so the range of potential prison time is significant for defendants in Jacksonville Violent Crimes Cases. The distinction between second-degree murder and manslaughter was in the news recently in the trial of George Zimmerman, the Central Florida man who shot and killed teen-ager Trayvon Martin after the two were in a fight. In nearly all murder cases, including the Zimmerman case, jurors are permitted to consider manslaughter if they did not see reasonable doubt for second-degree murder.

In Jacksonville Violent Crimes Case, more juries and judges are now frequently reducing murder charges down to manslaughter, as was done in the case of Kaiser. Now, it is reasonable to believe that the judge did not agree in this case because she handed down the maximum sentence for manslaughter. The difference between second-degree murder and manslaughter in Jacksonville Violent Crimes cases is the intent to kill. It does not have to be planned or premeditated, that’s first-degree murder. For second-degree murder, a person does not have to plan to kill some, but, when the incident is taking place, whether the person has a gun or a knife or a car, the intent to kill someone. In manslaughter, what often occurs is people are in a fight and someone ends up dying. The Florida Statutes define manslaughter as, “The killing of a human being by the act, procurement, or culpable negligence of another, without lawful justification …”. That can be from a variety of things, including a fight.