Criminal defense lawyers, often legally fight arrests for Solicitation of Prostitution, with Motions to Dismiss or Motions to Suppress Evidence because of the many entrapment issues that can be raised during these arrests. Although entrapment defenses can come up in other types of cases like drug crimes, sex crimes and theft cases—many solicitation of prostitution arrests have also been thrown out where judges and prosecutors have agreed that some guys were not predisposed to commit a crime, except that the conduct of the persuading and manipulating undercover officer made it an unreasonable situation.

Prostitution has a structured sentencing for anyone with prior convictions. A misdemeanor of the second degree can be charged for the first offense and the State Attorney can charge a misdemeanor of the first degree on a second charge. For a third or subsequent violation, the State Attorney can charge a third degree felony.

It is reported that the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office’s Cyber Crimes Unit, along with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, had long suspected the individual of allegedly possessing the content and executed a search warrant assumingly regarding same this week.

It is alleged the material was stored on the Sumter County man’s laptop computer.
As is often the case, the defendant will immediately look to the warrant for his first legal challenge. This is a good place to start because the arrest warrant is what placed the officers at his home for his arrest and ultimately seizure of his computer. As a secondary issue, it will need to be investigated exactly how these images were found to be downloaded onto this man’s computer. Often times, the reasons for the initial arrest and search warrant and reasons for these pictures being downloaded are linked. In contrast, when those items are not linked, a common source of problems for the prosecution is these types of cases is involuntary downloads.

The man was charged with sexual battery on a child and false imprisonment of a child relating to the February blindfolding, handcuffing, and sexually battering of a 8-year-old Brooksville girl. According to the State Attorney’s Office, the plea negotiation was approved by the girl’s family because understandably, they did not want the child to have to testify in open court about the horrific experience.

In abuse cases involving children making statements to law enforcement or other adults regarding their abuse, the State has an extra burden if they want these statements to be introduced at trial. Under the Florida Rules of Evidence and Florida Statutes Section 90, the State must show, at a hearing separate from the trial, that the child’s out of court statement about the abuse is reliable. Some of the factors courts can consider in determining whether these child hearsay statements are admissible for a jury to consider include: when the statement was made in relation to the abuse, how the child’s statement was elicited, whether the child was coached prior to questioning and whether forcing the child to testify in open court would cause serious emotional harm. Many times, getting these statements into evidence can make or break the State’s case, as it is quite common for children to recant their statements as time passes.

What made the facts of this arrest so unique was that not only was the defendant a Hillsborough County Paramedic and Firefighter, but also the allegation is that these crimes occurred at nearby public schools. The lawyers at the Brooksville, FL State Attorney’s Office are currently pursuing these cases as misdemeanors. It is unclear at this time if they will ask the court to consider an enhanced charge (Third Degree Felony) due to the proximity of the alleged conduct to schools. This would be a novel approach to this sex crimes charge. Although, this type of enhancement is commonly enforced in drug sale and drug purchase cases.

In Florida, in order to prove the crime of Exposure of Sexual Organs (In a Vulgar or Indecent Manner), pursuant to Florida Statute 800.03, the State of Florida must prove:
1) The defendant exposed him/herself and/or was naked; 2) It was done in either a public place, on the another’s private property or so close to another’s private property that he or she could be seen from that property; 3) It was done in a way the it was intended to be indecent, vulgar, lewd or lascivious; and 4) It was actually indecent, vulgar, lewd or lascivious. The words “indecent, vulgar, lewd or lascivious” are usually defined as a unlawful and lustful or with a sexual intent. It is certainly not a black and white definition and is commonly the subject of a question for the jury in a criminal trial to determine.

The intent of the defendant will come under much discussion in this case as it is alleged that the defendant made the statement that "he gets a 'rush' while exposing himself." The Judge will need to determine the admissibility of that statement, truthful or not, and the tactics used by law enforcement to acquire such a comment will hopefully come under question.

There have been some interesting cases in Florida criminal courts over the years on this statute as the definition of indecent or lewd has been tough to determine. While it was determined by both the Federal Court and the Florida Supreme Court that mere public nudity would not violate this statute (See U.S. v. A Naked Person Issued Notice of Violation, 841 F.Supp. 1153 (M.D.Fla. 1993) & Hoffman v. Carson, 20 So.2d 891 (Fla. 1971)), the location of the act has come under scrutiny. The 5th DCA, which is the appellate court for the counties in the 5th Judicial Circuit (i.e. Hernando, Citrus, Sumter, Lake and Marion Counties), found that conduct in a restroom stall with the door closed should be viewed differently than conduct in the open area of a public restroom. Similarly, the 4th DCA found that the actions of a “Peeping Tom” would certainly fall within the intent and letter of this Florida Criminal Statute. Additionally, and of some note, the Florida Legislature carved out an exception for public breast feeding.

According to the report, a patrol car was making a U-turn on U.S. 301 when they spotted what appeared to be a woman standing behind an abandoned business. When officers shined their spotlight toward the back of the business, and the person took off running into the woods.

The officer and a police dog soon found a man in the woods changing out of the tank top and skirt into a button-down shirt and tan shorts, the report said. After being detained, the man said that he wasn't a prostitute, and that dressing in woman's clothing is something he does in his spare time. He ran because he didn’t want to get arrested in women’s clothing.

The man had an open Hernando County warrant for violating his probation on a charge of driving with a suspended or revoked license was also arrested that night by the Dade City police for resisting arrest without violence.

Both of these crimes are misdemeanors which means that the cross dresser could be subject to two years in jail—one year for the violation of probation and another for the resisting and officer without violence charge. Generally, a violation of probation subjects a defendant to the maximum penalty they could receive on the underlying charge. Courts are reluctant to impose jail time for violations that involve failure to pay fines or court fees and are more likely to impose jail or prison sentences on violations that involve new charges.

Last year, Governor Christ signed into law the “Marijuana Grow House Eradication Act” which gives law enforcement and prosecutors more power to combat those who grow marijuana. The law now makes it a second-degree felony to grow 25 or more plants. In the past, a person had to have more than 300 plants to reach the level of a second degree felony. A second degree felony can be punished by up to fifteen (15) years in prison—this is why it is very important to have an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side to fight for your rights and hold law enforcement to their burden of proof.

According to reports, Talib was arrested by the Florida Highway Patrol and booked into the Pinellas County jail after a cab driver reported that Talib had verbally threatened him and struck him, knocking his hat off his head.

This incident is the third time the player publically lost his cool—at the 2008 NFL rookie symposium Talib got into a fist fight with fullback Cory Boyd, a fellow draft mate of the Buccaneers, and he also got into a fight with teammate Donald Penn at an offseason workout.

It is unclear how the Buccaneer’s front office will handle the most recent incident, but in the criminal arena, Talib could face one year in jail for each of the misdemeanors.

How? According to the United Animal Nations, dogs don't have sweat glands all over their bodies as humans do. They cool off by panting, which is inefficient. Once a dog's body temperature gets over about 106 — normal temperature is around 101 — dogs can suffer within a matter of minutes, everything from nerve damage, heart problems, liver damage, and systemic organ failure.

The United Animal Nations has a program on their website that shows how hot a car can really get. For example, when it’s 72 degrees, a car in direct sun can reach an internal temperature of 116 degrees. Even in the shade, a car can be 10 to 20 degrees hotter than outdoors--and cracking the window has almost no effect.

In light of these facts, leaving your dog in the car can also have criminal consequences. Under Florida Law, animal cruelty can result in a court-imposed fine of up to $5000, and imprisonment up to one (1) year. Intentional cruelty is a felony and a defendant could be fined up to $10,000, and sent to prison for 5 years.