Author Archives: Jay Butchko
What Determines Whether A Criminal Case Goes To Federal Court?
If you read the news carefully, you might have noticed that some people convicted of crimes serve sentences in federal prison, while others serve sentences in state prison. (Of course, there are plenty of cases where a conviction results in a sentence that does not involve prison, but those cases are less likely to… Read More »
Florida Classifies Nitazenes As Schedule I Controlled Substances
You can get criminal charges for illegal possession, sale, or manufacture of drugs on any of the five schedules of the federal Controlled Substances Act or any of the drugs that Florida law includes on any of the five schedules, but Schedule I controlled substances take illegality to a whole new level. The drugs… Read More »
Can You Get Criminal Charges For Breach Of Fiduciary Duty?
It is possible to steal money from a stranger’s wallet if you can manage to do so without the stranger noticing you, and with enough hacking knowledge, you can break into a computer’s hard drive and steal credit card numbers, but any financial crime that is more complex than simple theft involves a pre-existing… Read More »
Not All Fake Documents Are Forgery
Fake isn’t always bad. How many extraverts have cultivated their social confidence by adopting a “fake it ‘til you make it” strategy; fake sociability can get you through a social occasion as easily as real sociability. Likewise, imitations of expensive consumer products are often just as good as the real thing; “my jewelry is… Read More »
Is It A Crime To Make A Secret Recording Of A Phone Conversation?
People who have grown up in the Internet Age are used to the fact that, whenever they go out in public, someone might be recording with a cell phone camera. For all you know, you might be an extra in someone’s homemade film if you happened to walk by within the camera’s view while… Read More »
Your Rights Under The Sixth Amendment
Every provocateur, if challenged, will invoke the First Amendment, and you can find bumper stickers alluding to the Second Amendment on cars on almost every road and in almost every parking lot in Florida, but then there are the Constitutional amendments that people usually do not think about unless they are facing criminal charges. … Read More »
Floridians May Get A Chance To Vote For Statewide Recreational Cannabis In 2024
The laws about cannabis in Florida have gradually become more lenient over the past few years, to the point that, if you are graduating from high school this year, you have probably seen people smoke weed on benches near the beach plenty of times, and you probably have never seen anyone get arrested for… Read More »
If You Are In Florida, You Are Probably In A Drug-Free Zone
Mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses account for many of the cases where defendants are serving long prison sentences for nonviolent crimes. While sentencing reform and cannabis decriminalization have decreased the number of new cases that result in long prison sentences for drug crime convictions, Florida law imposes a three-year mandatory minimum prison sentence… Read More »
Bill Regulating The Sale And Manufacture Of Kratom Awaits Governor’s Signature
One of the scariest moments in a drug crimes case is when the forensics lab reveals the contents of the substance it confiscated from your property. In some cases, this is your best hope for acquittal; powders that appeared to be cocaine when tested with field tests at traffic stops have turned out, upon… Read More »
Representing Yourself In Criminal Court Is A Terrible Idea
Like any true Floridian worthy of the name, you do not trust the government. Why, then, would you place the fate of your criminal case in the hands of a public defender assigned to your case by the court, one whose meager salary is paid by taxpayers? Isn’t a court battle between two public… Read More »