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Tennessee man Jerimiah Clyde Hartline, 19, was arrested on suspicion of grand theft, driving without a license and hit and run for stealing an 18 wheeler, crashing it, and causing a giant traffic jam in Temecula, California earlier this month. First off, sweet name. Only a guy with a name like this from the hills of the dirty south would have the presence of mind to commandeer a big rig to prevent a zombie attack. Excellent thinking Clyde. No, not really as this has Florida written all over it. Meanwhile, back at the ranch… According to the California Highway Patrol, Hartline informed authorities that he stole the truck from a weigh station in Rainbow, California because he was sure zombies were hot on his trail. Further, despite his high speed driving and swerving all over the road, the zombies wouldn’t shake loose eventually causing Mr. Hartline to crash the truck and injuring many. As a result of the zombie attack and subsequent crash, all four lanes of the interstate were closed for several hours while cleanup crews cleared the truck from the road and corralled the two loads of strawberries on board. According to the news report it is “unknown whether Hartline was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

Yes, it would be a mystery as to whether Mr. Hartline was sober or slightly influenced by an “extracurricular” substance… Man, I wonder if he was? Time will tell with a potential DUI. As for now, we know he’s getting charged with grand theft. If I were a betting man I’d estimate he will be charged with DUI with serious bodily injury as well.
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A New York man is wanted for stealing ladies undergarments from a New York City apartment building. Elizabeth Santana, a resident of the apartment building first noticed her underwear was missing from her laundry when left unattended. Unable to figure out what happened, Ms. Santana requested and viewed surveillance video from the laundry room. Low and behold her worst fears were true as she saw a young white male sneaking into the laundry room, proceed to open the dryer containing her clothes, and subsequently sneak out with panties in tow. Not surprisingly this was not the first time lady’s undergarments were taken from the same apartment building. Just three months prior there was an initial report of the same thing. Other apartment buildings in the area reported missing underwear as well though it is unknown if the same purveyor of panty is responsible or if he is working with an entire team of panty raiders.

Depending on the amount of underwear stolen and the fanciness of same will determine whether this unknown male could be charged with a felony grand theft or a misdemeanor petit theft. Either way Florida Statute 812.014 is applicable. Because this panty thief has knowingly obtained the property of these ladies with the intent to either deprive them of the property’s use or to appropriate the panties to his own use (weird and gross) he would be guilty of some type of theft crime. If the value of the panties is $300 or more, under subsection (c) he would be facing a third degree felony. If it’s $299.99 or less, he’s still in misdemeanor country if considering the theft only.
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A Louisiana man and woman recently stripped of their parental rights are thought to have kidnapped their own children from the children’s maternal Grandmother early Wednesday. Joshua Michael Hakken and his wife, Sharyn Patricia Hakken are alleged to have broken into the Tampa residence of Patricia Hauser, tied her up, and kidnapped their biological children. Within the past few months the children were sent to live with Hauser after the Hakkens lost their parental rights over the children. Hillsborough County Sheriff’s investigators say Joshua Michael Hakken entered Hauser’s home at 6:30AM Wednesday, proceeded to tie up the children’s’ Grandmother and then fled in Grandma’s 2009 Toyota Camry.

The Tampa criminal attorney that gets this case might as well open up the criminal statute book and proceed to dump it out on his desk. There really doesn’t seem to be much Pops hasn’t done wrong in his kid caper. Burglary? Check. Kidnapping? Check. Grand Theft? Yes sir, we have that too! False Imprisonment shouldn’t be left out and really neither should battery. Again, lets dump this statute book out right here on the desk of Hakken’s selected Tampa criminal lawyer. So how does it all work and fit together? Grab a seat, this may take a while.
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Thumbnail image for Thumbnail image for CaesarAlt.jpg North Carolina man, Ernesto Rodriguez, recently sparked a Facebook firestorm for posting pictures of his two Pitbulls after tattooing them. Rodriguez, a former Army veteran and owner of Planet Ink tattoos said he tattooed his hounds for identification purposes. Initially Rodriguez claims to have tattooed his female, Duchess, while she was still sedated after having her ears clipped at a vet. Upon the photos being posted, animal control is noted to have come to his home and left without taking immediate action. To that end, Rodriguez posted “Animal control came looked at my beautiful dog and left…. Wow… what a waste of tax payers money… so im still gonna tattoo my dogs whenever i feel like it… good try haters thanks for all the advertisement.” Yes, there are numerous grammatical errors. Evidently that’s how Ernesto rolls. Tattooing dogs and bad English, that’s what Ernesto does!

Ultimately the Stokes County Health Department and Animal Control have elected to investigate Rodriguez despite no charges filed at this time. He has been issued a cease and desist letter in the meantime.

Ask any Tampa criminal attorney what the toughest cases they have to defend are and you’ll likely hear sex crimes and animal cruelty cases. Understandably, both of these types of crimes strike a serious nerve with the general public, thereby making it extremely difficult for a Tampa criminal lawyer to try before a jury. We are all too familiar with the Michael Vick case for dog fighting and subsequent killing of Pitbulls and the general neglect claims where one gets a dog and fails to care for them. This case is odd and depending on how it would be charged in Florida, could be tough for both the Prosecutor and Defense.
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A University of Georgia student is alleged to have broken into an Athens, Georgia woman’s home in order to check her Facebook account. Not only did she go where she wasn’t wanted, she literally “went” where she wasn’t supposed to by peeing on the homeowner’s couch. When the homeowner returned to her home she found the 18 year old female student sitting on her couch using the homeowner’s computer and chatting with a friend, of whom she gave the address of the home. The brilliant burglar ran away before the homeowner could detain her or get her name but in all the commotion left her facebook profile open and available for both the homeowner and police. According to the original story the homeowner was irritated with the intrusion but was more concerned about the fact that the special visitor took a leak all over her couch before bidding her adieu.

Not the best way to begin your college career Peebody… Though this is a Georgia incident, burglary doesn’t vary much in its elements from State to State. At first blush, a burglary would be the desired charge of the State Attorney’s office, yet a good Tampa criminal lawyer could likely get this charged reduced through some diligence were this set of facts to have occurred in our area. In Florida, burglary of this like would be considered burglary of an occupied dwelling because the homeowner came home in the middle of the act. Because this Dawg entered the home of this woman and was not armed and made no assault or battery she could possibly be charged with a second degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in the clink and a $10,000 fine under Florida Statute 810.02(3)(a). The real bell ringer in this fact pattern is that for a burglary to occur in Florida it must be shown that the burglar intended to enter this dwelling with the intent to commit an offense while in there. Most Tampa criminal lawyers could argue successfully in cases of drunk college kid entry that there was no criminal intent to commit an offense but rather drunken stupidity. If the State tried to argue that her offense was criminal mischief a Tampa criminal attorney could refute that by the fact that when she urinated she did so not only on the couch, but also on herself considering she was sitting in it per the account of the homeowner. It’s highly unlikely she “willfully and maliciously” intended to damage the couch by also soiling herself. Had she squatted in a corner or used a coffee pot, maybe. Not so much when she peed herself. Those are called “accidents” precipitated by booze and bad decisions.
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Spring breaker Chris Brennan, 18, was arrested for resisting arrest without violence and criminal mischief with property damage under $200 in Fort Myers after allegedly smashing bottles at a beach resort at around 2AM earlier this March. After an officer was called to the scene Brennan was placed in the back seat of the Officer’s patrol car, presumably for officer safety, while he questioned the other two lads Brennan was juggling bottles with. Though this offered Officer Friendly a sense of safety it did not do the same for his sandwich, cell phone, and water bottle. After placement of Brennan in the back of the car, Brennan was able to navigate his pee stream to the front of the car and onto the Officer’s personal wares, assuring Brennan’s arrest where it may not have been set in stone prior to the pee. To Brennan’s credit he did warn the officer prior to his actions through his statement, “I will piss in your car!” Next time this Officer will pay attention I’m sure.

The candle does not burn bright with this one. For what it’s worth, had Brennan chosen not to marinate the Officer’s sandwich against his will he could have had a shot at a Notice to Appear and moved on without being hauled to the big house. That doesn’t make for a good story though… He now must play the hand he’s dealt and that happens to be two misdemeanors. The more serious, though less interesting, of the two crimes is the resisting arrest without violence charge. This is pretty self explanatory in that the State must show that Brennan resisted, opposed, or obstructed this officer while the officer is in the execution of his legal duty and in doing so, did not use violence. Oddly, this Tampa criminal lawyer is questioning whether this particular charge can be proven if based on the potty facts. Brennan was already detained and the simple act of peeing on a sandwich doesn’t seem to offer any resistance, opposition, or obstruction to an officer. I think many Tampa criminal attorneys would find this situation kind of interesting. There may be more to this.
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A pantsless and shoeless Jonesboro, Arkansas woman is being charged with DUI after crashing her 2001 Pontiac Grand Am into a mobile home last week. Witnesses told authorities that Jamie Jeannette Craft, 28, then got out of her car and into a child’s Power Wheels truck and attempted to flee the scene of the crime. Despite the undoubtedly high speed chase that ensued the owner of the souped up Power Wheel truck’s father caught up to Craft and made her exit the vehicle. Craft then walked to her mother’s home where officers later found her to be irate, intoxicated, and disorderly. Upon arrest Craft was taken to jail and blew a very reasonable .217 just shy of three times the legal limit. It is unknown what the legal alcohol limit is to drive a Power Wheel while pantsless. Craft was ultimately charged with DUI and leaving the scene of the accident.

Whoa. This story has everything you could possibly want. Redneck? Check! No pants? Check, check! Ridin’ dirty in a damn Power Wheel!?!?! Yep, have that too! Despite all of her alleged wrongs, at least she looks beautiful in her mug shot… A Tampa DUI lawyer could tell you that the meat and potatoes of a DUI or DWI allegation are pretty much uniform from state to state with some unique differences. In Florida, under Florida Statute 316.193 the State could prove a DUI under Ms. Craft’s factual scenario by showing that she drove or was in actual physical control of a vehicle and while driving or in actual physical control of the vehicle she had a breath alcohol level of .08 or more grams of alcohol per 210 liters of breath. Specifically because there was damage, should they charge her with being at fault for that damage they would have to make an additional showing that as a result of her operating her Pontiac, she caused or contributed to causing damage to the property of whoever owned the mobile home she so delicately nudged. In Florida generally an officer must see all elements of a misdemeanor in order to make an arrest. For a DUI there is an exception that a lay witness can testify as to a Defendant driving when there is a traffic crash amounting to a breaking to pieces of something on the vehicle or object hit. If your Tampa DUI attorney can show that there was no crash, he may be able to get your DUI dismissed on a pretrial motion as our Tampa DUI lawyers did for one of our clients. If one of these witnesses saw Craft behind the wheel and there was damage amounting to a crash, this case could be proven in Florida. If this case was proven in Florida, the Defendant would face enhanced DUI penalties because of the high breath test and would be liable for restitution for the damage caused.
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George Zimmerman, the man who stands accused of Second Degree Murder for the death of teenager Trayvon Martin will not be going forward on a Motion for Immunity previously scheduled for April 2013. A Motion for Immunity, otherwise known to the world outside the legal community as a “Stand Your Ground” motion is a pretrial motion asserting that an individual is immune from prosecution for an allegation of violence levied against an individual. In essence a Stand Your Ground motion asserts that an individual had a right to use such force so as to protect themselves against the unlawful force of another. On February 5th of this year George Zimmerman’s criminal attorney requested that Zimmerman’s trial be continued beyond the June date citing the need for more time and money to lay the groundwork for the trial. This request was denied, ultimately to be the catalyst for Zimmerman’s lawyer’s decision to forego the Motion for Immunity and focus on the trial.

Florida Statute 776.012 justifies the use of deadly force against another when and to the extent that the person reasonably believes that such conduct is necessary to defend himself or another against the other’s imminent use of unlawful force and he reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or another or to prevent the imminent commission of a forcible felony. Florida Statute 776.012 is cited in Florida Statute 776.032 where it says that a person who uses force as permitted in 776.012 is justified in doing so and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force unless the person against whom the force is used is law enforcement acting in the performance of their duties and the officer identifies themselves.
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Attorneys for the State of Florida and alleged Tampa Police Officer shooter Dontae Morris continue to quest to pick a jury for Morris’ upcoming murder trial for the death of Rodney Jones outside of a Tampa nightclub. Morris’ name may sound familiar as he is the suspect accused of killing Tampa Police officers Jeffrey Kocab and David Curtis on June 29, 2010 after a routine stop of his girlfriend’s vehicle. Because of the media coverage of the death of the two officers, Morris’ jury selection has been moved to Orlando in an effort to find a jury pool less familiar with the allegations in the hope of finding a jury of individuals unbiased and unfamiliar with this case. Though this practice has been used for years, the Tampa criminal lawyers at The Mayberry Law Firm have doubts as to its effectiveness in our day of modern technology.

In any high profile criminal trial, be it Casey Anthony and the accusation of murder for the death of her little girl, Jodi Arias and the accusation of murder for the death of her boyfriend or anything involving the death of a local police officer there gives the rise of doubt that a jury free from bias can be seated in the county holding jurisdiction over the allegations. Tampa criminal lawyer Jason Mayberry blogged in May 2011 about this very issue as it concerned the jury selection for Casey Anthony held in Pinellas County. Within that blog our firm expressed doubt that the change of venue protection still legitimately exists.

Article I, Section 16 of Florida’s Constitution guarantees an accused will receive an impartial trial in the county holding jurisdiction over the criminal allegation. In conjunction to that Constitutional guarantee, Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.240 provides that either the State Attorney or the Defendant may move the Court for a change of venue, alleging that a fair and impartial trial cannot possibly be had in the home county of jurisdiction. Florida Statute 910.03 says that in ordering a change of venue for jury selection the Court must “give priority to any county which closely resembles the demographic composition of the county wherein the original venue would lie.” In this instance it appears that Judge Fuente feels that Orange County satisfies the dictate of 910.03.
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Chinese food takeout driver Stan Worby, 39, can be said to be West Yorkshire, England’s very own version of Bruce Wayne for his actions last Monday morning. Worby, after attending a soccer game dressed in full Batman attire, brought a man wanted for handling stolen goods and fraud to the police station and told the officers in his presence that he had “caught this one for you.” At the time Batman left ,he failed to give his information and vanished into the night, much like the superhero for whom he was dressed.

It is reported that the man delivered by the Caped Crusader was on the lamb for a while with British authorities making diligent inquiry locally in an effort to apprehend him. The equivalent Tampa criminal charges for which he was wanted in merry ole England would likely be dealing in stolen property and perhaps scheme to defraud though it’s impossible to speculate without the specific facts. For argument’s sake, a Tampa criminal lawyer would have to defend on accusations that one trafficked in or endeavored to traffic in property that he or she knew to be stolen. Florida Statute 812.019 governs dealing in stolen property and a conviction for a charge of the like can be a second-degree felony, or a first-degree felony if the individual is found to be an organizer in the scheme. A Tampa criminal attorney must overcome proof that one actually engaged in a scheme to defraud someone out of property or anything of value. Depending on the monetary value of the property at issue will be the level of felony charged. As with any other theft related crime, the higher the value of the subject of the crime the more serious the charge will be. Scheme to Defraud is governed by Florida Statute 817.034. Lastly, depending on whether the wanted man was previously issued a bond after initial arrest, he could be subject to similar repercussions as Florida’s Failure to Appear Statute provides. In Florida, under 843.15, if one is arrested and posts a bond and then fails to appear they can be guilty of a third degree felony if their initial crime was a felony, or a first degree misdemeanor if their original charge was a misdemeanor.
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