Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Priest Faces Criminal Charges After Altercation At Hurricane Relief Event
Charges of battery apply whenever you inflict physical violence on someone else. If you plead not guilty to charges of battery, it can work in your favor that you look like you could never even harm a fly, especially if your criminal defense lawyer plays up this angle. Remember that all you have to… Read More »
Impersonating A Police Officer
Sometimes police work involves pretending not to be a cop. A driver will weave in and out of lanes of traffic, passing an unassuming looking black car, and suddenly the black car will flash its blue lights and sound its siren. Someone will exchange text messages with you and agree to buy drugs. You… Read More »
Drugged Driving In The Age Of Semi-Legal Cannabis
Cannabis enthusiasts who, a generation ago, only daydreamed about an era of legal cannabis have seen most of their wishes come true. Even though federal law and Florida law still list cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance, meaning that it is always illegal and does not have any recognized medical uses, Florida has… Read More »
Defending Yourself Against Charges Of Drug Possession With Intent To Deliver
It is impossible to know what someone else is thinking, even when the person speaks at length and there is an abundance of nonverbal context clues. You are acutely aware of this when you reread the text messages your crush has sent you in recent weeks, and with every reading, you become less certain… Read More »
Florida’s Kratom Ban Means Increased Scrutiny Of Consumers And Smoke Shops
In the 1990s, you knew you were cool if you had a neon sign in the shape of a cannabis leaf casting a deep green glow from the window of your dorm room or duplex. These days, cannabis is legal in so many situations in the parts of Florida that matter the most to… Read More »
Father And Son Face Criminal Charges After Teen Causes Fatal Accident
Teen drivers cause accidents so often that some parents hope that their own children will join the growing trend among young people not to get a driver’s license until they are in their 20s, or even older. The ones whose kids are eager to drive console themselves with the statistics that show that most… Read More »
Anonymous Tips To Police Leave Room For Reasonable Doubt
When someone faces you in court and makes accusations against you, you have the right to refute these accusations; this is one of the axioms of justice. It takes more than an accusation to trigger a punishment for a crime, even if the accuser risks his or her own reputation to accuse you. An… Read More »
Do You Dare To Reject A Plea Deal?
Florida’s prison population is the stuff of legend. If you wanted to make a high concept movie set in Florida, you would have to include someone struggling to rebuild his life after serving a long sentence for a minor offense, a modern day Jean Valjean; this is what would convince audiences in the know… Read More »
Nelson Hearings And Florida Criminal Cases
The Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial includes the right to representation by a criminal defense lawyer. Since the drafting of the Bill of Rights, the courts have further interpreted the responsibilities of attorneys representing defendants in criminal cases. For example, the Gideon v. Wainwright decision set the precedent that, when defendants cannot… Read More »
The Florida Youthful Offender Act Is for Young Adults, Too
If you are in your mid-twenties or older, there are probably incidents from your youth that you are embarrassed even to think about, and there are probably also incidents that you are relieved did not lead to worse consequences than the ones that occurred. The attributes of youth do not instantly disappear as soon… Read More »