Orange County

Published on: April 15, 2011

Orlando, Florida Criminal Defense Attorney :: Two Pugs Left to Die in Car in Sweltering Temperatures in Altamonte Springs

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Two Port St. Lucie, Florida women have each been charged with two counts of animal cruelty by tormenting, depriving, mutilating or killing animals after they allegedly left two dogs inside a hot car at the Altamonte Mall on Saturday. Altamonte Springs police said that a mall security officer reported the dogs locked inside the car just after 2 p.m.

When officers arrived at the parking lot one dog was already dead. Firefighters tried to save the other dog, but it had to be euthanized. The dogs were male and female pugs.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, temperatures in Central Florida on Saturday were in the 90s. The pugs were trapped inside a black car, which is a color that police said absorbs heat and worsened the pugs’ situation. The windows were supposedly cracked slightly.

The dogs’ temperature was more than 120 degrees.

Security cameras allegedly show the women left the dogs inside the car one hour and 10 minutes before they were found. It was another hour before they returned to the car.

The women were taken to Seminole County jail and freed on $550 bail each.

According to the ASPCA, it only takes minutes for an animal to suffer from a heatstroke or suffocation when trapped in a vehicle. Unlike humans, animals sweat through their paws and cool themselves by panting. A pet’s body temperature can climb from a normal 102.5 to deadly levels within minutes. Extreme temperatures can injure the nervous and cardiovascular systems, often leaving the animal comatose, dehydrated and in jeopardy of eternal harm or death.

Animal cruelty charges in Florida can range anywhere from civil infractions to felonies. If convicted of an animal cruelty charge, you could be facing monetary fines ranging from $50 to $10,000 and the possibility of jail time. If the animal cruelty charge you are accused of is intentional, you could face a felony conviction punishable by five years in prison.

Published on: December 9, 2008

Prosecutors will not seek death penalty in Casey Anthony murder case

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

ABC Action News is reporting that prosecutors will not pursue the death penalty in Casey Anthony’s case- the central Florida woman charged with killing her 3-year-old daughter. The Orange County State Attorney’s Office announced in a news release Friday that it is not in the best interest of the people of the State of Florida to pursue the death penalty for Anthony.

The victim was last seen in June but her mother did not report her missing until July. The toddler’s body has not been recovered. The 22-year-old defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder, child abuse, aggravated manslaughter and four counts of lying to investigators about the disappearance of her daughter. She faces life in prison if convicted.

Published on: November 17, 2008

Orlando report shows teachers accused of sex crimes in on the rise

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

The Orlando Sun Sentinel is reporting that at least 150 Florida teachers have been disciplined in the past three years for accusations arising from sexual misconduct with students. One concerning trend the report showed is sexual misdeeds is rising in Florida – especially among female educators.

Some of the most severe cases resulted in arrests and criminal convictions for sex offenses but the Sentinel’s review of teacher-discipline records from the Florida Department of Education found that many of the alleged misconducts did not rise to a criminal level.

Regardless of whether the teachers were criminally charged, the facts of some of these incidents are alarming. Among the “not charged” cases are allegations that a Port Orange teacher sent text messages to a boy, calling him “cutie” and “sexie”; a ninth-grade teacher in Tampa who asked a student about the color of her nipples; and an Orlando coach who used e-mail and instant messages to tell a 13-year-old girl he loved her and wanted their relationship to grow beyond friendship.

Those 150 disciplinary cases don’t include the dozens of educators who have been suspended or lost their teaching certificates since 2006 for molesting nonstudents, downloading porn at school, having sex in public and trying to pick up prostitutes. Many of the cases occurred in the South Florida and Tampa Bay areas. In Central Florida, 34 teachers were disciplined in the three-year period, including 12 from Orange County, 11 from Volusia, four from Polk, three from Seminole, three from Brevard and one in Lake.

Published on: September 9, 2008

Republican Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin Answers Questions About Husband’s Old DUI

by Whittel & Melton, LLC

Although many– including those at the Law Offices of Whittel & Melton, LLC— argue that a political candidate’s spouse receiving a DUI over two decades ago is not newsworthy, media coverage of Sarah Palin’s husband’s old DUI does bring to light an interesting topic with respect to DUI convictions.

Unlike most other criminal charges, under Florida law, a DUI or DWI conviction can never be sealed or expunged. The DUI exception was carved out by the legislature for public policy reasons. The reason DUIs are never removed from traffic or criminal histories is because of the charging and sentencing structure used in Florida and around the country. A first DUI will always be treated differently than a second DUI and a second DUI will be treated more harshly than a third DUI and so on and so forth. With that DUI sentencing structure in mind, the legislature wants prosecutors and law enforcement to have easy access to a person’s DUI history and if DUIs are expunged, then judges would not know to sentence repeat offenders harshly and prosecutors would not know when subsequent DUIs should be charged as a felonies.

In addition, the fact that a DUI occurred in the past is only half the story, when the DUI occurred is also important. For example, a second DUI that occurs more than five years from the first is treated differently from a DUI that occurs within the five year period- namely the latter is subject to harsher mandatory sentences.