By Nick Dorsten, Esq.
Nobody is immune to the scourge of drugs, as this article from the St. Pete Times website shows...
TAMPA — An emergency room doctor is facing charges that he tried to smuggle drugs onto a plane headed to Salt Lake City last week, authorities said.
Police at Tampa International Airport arrested the doctor, 51, of St. Pete Beach on Feb. 4 on charges of heroin possession with intent to sell, trafficking in illegal drugs, possessing a controlled substance and possessing drug paraphernalia.
On that morning, Transportation Security Administration screeners noticed the doctor "acting extremely anxious and nervous," according to an incident report.
A search of his carry-on bag revealed a small, white container with various pills, later identified as 37 10-mg doses of methadone and three 2-mg doses of Xanax.
He then told screeners he was a doctor at Palms of Pasadena Hospital in St. Petersburg, the report said. He told police he took two Vicodin before coming to the airport, and had methadone and other pain pills in his bag that belonged to his wife. "He admitted he did not have a prescription for any of the medication found in his bag," a detective wrote in the report.
Officials took him into custody and found more drugs and paraphernalia on him: a small bag containing 34 individual packets of heroin in his right front pants pocket and 12 syringes in a pair of snow boots in his checked luggage.
He was booked into a Hillsborough County jail. Records show he was released on a surety bond Monday night.
According to a newspaper wedding announcement, he has been a doctor at Palms of Pasadena since at least 1999. Officials there could not be reached for comment Thursday. His medical license is currently clear and active, according to the Florida Department of Health's website.
The "good" doctor faced other drug charges eight years ago. Records show Tampa police arrested him on charges of possessing heroin and drug equipment and driving under the influence in February 2003. He was not prosecuted.
In 2006, the state Board of Medicine formally disciplined him after ruling he had overprescribed pain pills for a 26-year-old woman with whom he was romantically involved. According to an administrative complaint, the woman sustained a neck injury in 1998. She re-injured her neck in 2004 and was treated by the doctor. Over the next several months, the complaint said, he prescribed increasing dosages of OxyContin, a drug noted for its high potential of abuse. He did not, however, physically examine the woman, order diagnostic or lab tests, diagnose a medical condition or keep a medical record to justify his course of treatment, the complaint said.
Have you or a loved one been arrested for a possession of controlled substance or drug trafficking? Then contact the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Welcome to the blog of a Clearwater-based Tampa bay area criminal defense attorney. Visit our website at www.BlakeDorstenLaw.com or call us at 727-286-6141 for all your legal needs. Our office is located across from the 49th street criminal courthouse, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104, Clearwater 33762.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - celebrity drug bust 2
By Nick Dorsten, Esq.
Having previously written about the grammy-winning Buju Banton and his legal troubles here before, it is only fitting to give the finale of what happened to him, article from the Times website.
TAMPA — Reggae star Buju Banton won a Grammy a week ago for an album whose prophetic anthem is a song in which Banton proclaims he is wrongly convicted though God knows he is innocent.
But on Tuesday a jury appeared to follow the advice of prosecutors who told them to forget the No. 1 reggae hits, nine popular albums and the testimony by reggae legend Bob Marley's son.
If God knows Banton is innocent, jurors begged to differ.
The federal court jury found Banton guilty of drug conspiracy charges after about 11 hours of deliberations, a verdict that may end the career of a man who rose from the slums of Jamaica to fame as one of the world's top reggae artists.
A U.S. District Court Judge ordered Banton jailed immediately. Banton, 37, faces 15 years to life in prison when the Judge sentences him later this year. His attorneys said they will appeal.
Banton smiled wistfully and put a reassuring arm around the shoulders of his attorneys sitting on either side of him as the verdict was read by a court clerk.
As marshals surrounded Banton, a supporter called out, "They did wrong by you!"
Banton blew kisses, and told them, "Send my love, okay?"
His legal team followed him to a cell, where they said they found Banton seemingly at peace.
"We are all very upset and emotional," the criminal defense attorney said. "The only person who seems to be okay is Buju."
In a statement from his cell, Banton told supporters, "Our life is sometimes predestined."
Outside the courthouse, Banton's friends and supporters gathered in tight circles, cell phones unfolded as news of the verdict was relayed to the Caribbean.
"I believe in my heart what God told me, and God told me not guilty," said Carol Taylor, a native of Jamaica who lives in Tampa.
Of the drug charges, she said, "We know that's not Buju."
Jurors found Banton guilty of three charges after the week-long trial: conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and using a telephone to commit a drug offense.
Jurors found him innocent of attempted possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
This was Banton's second trial. A jury deadlocked at his first in September, causing a mistrial.
The singer's retrial opened Feb. 14, a day after he won a Grammy for best reggae album. Banton recorded the album, Before the Dawn, prior to his December 2009 arrest, though he worked on post-production from a jail phone.
Banton's troubles began on a flight from Spain to the United States in 2009. Banton had the ill fortune to sit next to a confidential informant who has earned $3.3 million in the last 14 years working for federal agents.
The men began drinking and talking so loudly that flight attendants told them to keep it down.
Prosecutors said Banton, a Miami resident whose given name is Mark Myrie, boasted to the snitch that he was involved in a cocaine ring. They said he talked about wanting to set up a drug deal together.
They presented audio tapes and videos of Banton they say proved his culpability in setting up the purchase of 11 pounds of cocaine for $135,000.
In one video, Banton could be seen tasting cocaine at a Sarasota warehouse on Dec. 8, 2009. But days later, he was not present as the deal was finalized, though prosecutors said he knew it was going down.
"This is not about Buju Banton, the reggae singer," the prosecutor told jurors last week. "This is about Mark Myrie, the drug defendant."
But Banton's Grammy nonetheless hung over the courtroom as defense attorneys portrayed Banton as an artist who would not endanger his career for a modest cocaine score.
Banton testified that he was just a boastful talker trying to impress the informant because the man said he could help Banton's music career.
He said he never intended to buy the drugs and had ignored the informant's persistent calls.
"I'm very ashamed of myself," Banton told jurors last week. "I know it sounds bad. But I was not part of any drug deal."
Banton said, "He did everything he could to lure me in."
Have you or a loved one been arrested for a drug charge, drug trafficking or violent crime? Then contact the Clearwater criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced Clearwater criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - drug bust
By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.
Another day, another drug bust in Pinellas County (see here , this one involving a mother (courtesy of the St. Pete Times website)
LARGO — A woman who brought a child to a drug deal and two others who claimed they had been robbed during the transaction were arrested this week, authorities said.
The mother, 22, of Seminole, was arrested Monday and charged with child abuse and violation of probation on charges of grand theft and possession of a controlled substance.
Another woman, 47, and a man, 45, both of St. Petersburg, Florida were each charged Tuesday with filing a false police report.
Largo police said the mother — along with her boyfriend and another person, who were not identified by name — went to Largo Mall on Jan. 20 to buy oxycodone from a man and woman from St. Petersburg. The mother also had the child with her, reports show. Police did not disclose if the child was related to her.
According to the reports, her boyfriend took 190 pills from the two other people, but did not pay for them.
The man, who also goes by the last name Cameron, and woman hatched a plan to report they had been robbed, Largo police said. The two conspired at a friend's house for about an hour and a half after the incident to determine how to falsify a police report to obtain and replace their prescription pills, the reports state. Largo detectives became suspicious when they learned the two had waited to report the robbery. "When they went back and interviewed the two victims, their stories had changed slightly," said a Largo police spokesman.
When detectives interviewed the mother, she "partially admitted to what happened," the spokesman said. "During that whole followup, the detectives found out that no robbery occurred." The mother was being held without bail in the Pinellas County jail on the probation violation charges.
Have you or a loved one been arrested for a marijuana charge or drug trafficking? Then contact the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Another day, another drug bust in Pinellas County (see here , this one involving a mother (courtesy of the St. Pete Times website)
LARGO — A woman who brought a child to a drug deal and two others who claimed they had been robbed during the transaction were arrested this week, authorities said.
The mother, 22, of Seminole, was arrested Monday and charged with child abuse and violation of probation on charges of grand theft and possession of a controlled substance.
Another woman, 47, and a man, 45, both of St. Petersburg, Florida were each charged Tuesday with filing a false police report.
Largo police said the mother — along with her boyfriend and another person, who were not identified by name — went to Largo Mall on Jan. 20 to buy oxycodone from a man and woman from St. Petersburg. The mother also had the child with her, reports show. Police did not disclose if the child was related to her.
According to the reports, her boyfriend took 190 pills from the two other people, but did not pay for them.
The man, who also goes by the last name Cameron, and woman hatched a plan to report they had been robbed, Largo police said. The two conspired at a friend's house for about an hour and a half after the incident to determine how to falsify a police report to obtain and replace their prescription pills, the reports state. Largo detectives became suspicious when they learned the two had waited to report the robbery. "When they went back and interviewed the two victims, their stories had changed slightly," said a Largo police spokesman.
When detectives interviewed the mother, she "partially admitted to what happened," the spokesman said. "During that whole followup, the detectives found out that no robbery occurred." The mother was being held without bail in the Pinellas County jail on the probation violation charges.
Have you or a loved one been arrested for a marijuana charge or drug trafficking? Then contact the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys of Blake & Dorsten, P.A. for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - better late then never
By Nick Dorsten, Esq.
From the Times website, a story of a delay for justice that was worth the wait...
LARGO — The sister never stopped believing the police would nab her sister's killer, not even when the investigation stretched on for a year, a decade, two decades.
On Wednesday, a jury convicted the murder suspect of first-degree murder for strangling the victim in downtown St. Petersburg in 1987, and her teary-eyed sister felt thrilled.
"It just goes to show, it doesn't matter if it's two months ago or 24 years ago, because you can get justice," the sister, 44, said after the verdict.
She has talked to her late sister every day since the trial began last week. "I've told her I'm doing the best that I can, she's not forgotten … the only thing I can do is be here and make sure that everyone knows that she was important."
The Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge sentenced the murder suspect to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the next 25 years, which were the sentencing guidelines in place at the time of his crime.
"Should you be mad it took 24 years to get here?" the Assistant State Attorney asked jurors in her closing argument Wednesday afternoon. "Absolutely. Sure, be mad. But it doesn't mean he's not guilty. … It doesn't mean he didn't rape her and he didn't choke her to death."
The murder suspect, now 50, balding and with a goatee, was tracked down in Georgia in 2008 after St. Petersburg police revived the murder from their cold case file. He hung his head but otherwise showed no emotion as the verdict was read Wednesday. Jurors took about two hours to reach their verdict.
Police had considered him a suspect from early on, but it wasn't until years later that DNA evidence allowed them to make the case against him.
The victim, 19, who was petite with strawberry-blond hair, had gone out drinking with friends on Feb. 27, 1987, in downtown St. Petersburg. She broke her wrist in a scuffle with a motorcyclist outside a convenience store. She was trying to get medical treatment when she split off from the group with a male acquaintance, the murder suspect.
She was found the next morning by a coffee shop owner who peered out a window overlooking Mills Plaza in the 200 block of Eighth Street S, and saw what appeared to be a mannequin.
The prosecutor said evidence showed the victim was raped. Her body was dirty and she had mulch in her mouth, indicating a struggle. Semen found inside her later was found to be a DNA match to the murder suspect.
After the murder suspect was initially interviewed by police, he changed his name and moved several times, the prosecutor pointed out.
But the Assistant Public Defender said it was much more logical to believe that the murder suspect and the victim had consensual sex, which would have accounted for the DNA match. When she broke her wrist, the PD said, "(He) is the one who came to her aid. … He's the one who walks her to the hospital."
When a detective interviewed the murder suspect about the crime early on, he became emotional and seemed to be saying "that's right" as the officer described how she may have been murdered. But that wasn't a confession, the criminal defense lawyer said. If it had been, he would have been arrested decades ago, he said.
Like a lot of little sisters, the victim was spunky and stubborn and good at pushing her older sister's buttons. The two fussed like sisters do. But the relationship never matured like it should have. The two never got the chance to grow older together, to meet at family reunions, to have special times over the years "where we talked about the past and we laughed instead of argued."
Murder prevented that, she said. Instead, the sister put her hopes in the justice system, visited her sister's grave regularly and told her she was not giving up.
"She would be proud of me," she said while waiting for the verdict. "I'm not all that tough a person. … I'm very emotional, I cry a lot. But she would be proud of me."
When a detective of the St. Petersburg Police Department showed up at her door in 2007 to let her know detectives had made a DNA match in the murder, she hugged him so hard "I almost knocked him off the steps," she said.
"This definitely was a very trying case and it was one of the most difficult to present, but it worked out in the end," said the detective, who is a major at the department.
On Wednesday, after the trial ended, the victim's sister said she planned to head straight to her grave. She would walk through a cemetery so familiar that she wouldn't need lights to find the right spot. She had family members all over the country to call, but they would have to wait.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a violent crime or a criminal offense? Then call the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
From the Times website, a story of a delay for justice that was worth the wait...
LARGO — The sister never stopped believing the police would nab her sister's killer, not even when the investigation stretched on for a year, a decade, two decades.
On Wednesday, a jury convicted the murder suspect of first-degree murder for strangling the victim in downtown St. Petersburg in 1987, and her teary-eyed sister felt thrilled.
"It just goes to show, it doesn't matter if it's two months ago or 24 years ago, because you can get justice," the sister, 44, said after the verdict.
She has talked to her late sister every day since the trial began last week. "I've told her I'm doing the best that I can, she's not forgotten … the only thing I can do is be here and make sure that everyone knows that she was important."
The Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge sentenced the murder suspect to life in prison with no possibility of parole for the next 25 years, which were the sentencing guidelines in place at the time of his crime.
"Should you be mad it took 24 years to get here?" the Assistant State Attorney asked jurors in her closing argument Wednesday afternoon. "Absolutely. Sure, be mad. But it doesn't mean he's not guilty. … It doesn't mean he didn't rape her and he didn't choke her to death."
The murder suspect, now 50, balding and with a goatee, was tracked down in Georgia in 2008 after St. Petersburg police revived the murder from their cold case file. He hung his head but otherwise showed no emotion as the verdict was read Wednesday. Jurors took about two hours to reach their verdict.
Police had considered him a suspect from early on, but it wasn't until years later that DNA evidence allowed them to make the case against him.
The victim, 19, who was petite with strawberry-blond hair, had gone out drinking with friends on Feb. 27, 1987, in downtown St. Petersburg. She broke her wrist in a scuffle with a motorcyclist outside a convenience store. She was trying to get medical treatment when she split off from the group with a male acquaintance, the murder suspect.
She was found the next morning by a coffee shop owner who peered out a window overlooking Mills Plaza in the 200 block of Eighth Street S, and saw what appeared to be a mannequin.
The prosecutor said evidence showed the victim was raped. Her body was dirty and she had mulch in her mouth, indicating a struggle. Semen found inside her later was found to be a DNA match to the murder suspect.
After the murder suspect was initially interviewed by police, he changed his name and moved several times, the prosecutor pointed out.
But the Assistant Public Defender said it was much more logical to believe that the murder suspect and the victim had consensual sex, which would have accounted for the DNA match. When she broke her wrist, the PD said, "(He) is the one who came to her aid. … He's the one who walks her to the hospital."
When a detective interviewed the murder suspect about the crime early on, he became emotional and seemed to be saying "that's right" as the officer described how she may have been murdered. But that wasn't a confession, the criminal defense lawyer said. If it had been, he would have been arrested decades ago, he said.
Like a lot of little sisters, the victim was spunky and stubborn and good at pushing her older sister's buttons. The two fussed like sisters do. But the relationship never matured like it should have. The two never got the chance to grow older together, to meet at family reunions, to have special times over the years "where we talked about the past and we laughed instead of argued."
Murder prevented that, she said. Instead, the sister put her hopes in the justice system, visited her sister's grave regularly and told her she was not giving up.
"She would be proud of me," she said while waiting for the verdict. "I'm not all that tough a person. … I'm very emotional, I cry a lot. But she would be proud of me."
When a detective of the St. Petersburg Police Department showed up at her door in 2007 to let her know detectives had made a DNA match in the murder, she hugged him so hard "I almost knocked him off the steps," she said.
"This definitely was a very trying case and it was one of the most difficult to present, but it worked out in the end," said the detective, who is a major at the department.
On Wednesday, after the trial ended, the victim's sister said she planned to head straight to her grave. She would walk through a cemetery so familiar that she wouldn't need lights to find the right spot. She had family members all over the country to call, but they would have to wait.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a violent crime or a criminal offense? Then call the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - murder defense
By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.
From the St. Pete Times website, an article that questions a particular defense...
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Did a "Red Bull defense" lead prosecutors to conclude that a murder suspect is not guilty by reason of insanity?
That's one of several questions raised by a criminal defense lawyer. He's working with the brother of the murder suspect and the son of the victim. The murder suspect was arrested in 2009 on a charge of killing their father by smothering him.
The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office has said it's leaning toward accepting an insanity defense for the murder suspect, based on the conclusions of two doctors who said he was insane at the time; and on circumstances surrounding the killing itself.
A final decision hasn't been made.
The criminal defense lawyer who was a longtime prosecutor, points to the transcript of a bond reduction hearing in which Red Bull, a high-caffeine beverage, factored into a doctor's evaluation of the murder suspect.
In the hearing last February, a psychiatrist said the murder suspect had suffered a "psychotic break" and had underlying signs of depression at the time of the killing.
In questioning from an Assistant State Attorney, the doctor said the murder suspect had suffered sleep deprivation, which "led to his psychosis and it was accelerated by his use of Red Bull."
The prosecitor asked, "So because he was sleep deprived, he actually went into an alternate reality and killed his own father?"
The doctor said yes.
She asked later: "So your final conclusion was the sleep deprivation and the Red Bull led him to killing his father?"
Again he said yes.
The criminal defense attorney on Monday sent a letter to a Circuit Judge strongly disagreeing with his brother's insanity defense. He concluded his letter this way: "And since when is being tired, and high on an energy drink, an excuse for cold blooded murder, anyway?"
It wasn't immediately clear how big a role the Red Bull theory has played in the murder case.
The testimony about Red Bull came during the bond reduction hearing. The purpose of the hearing was for a judge to decide whether the murder suspect should be released from the Pinellas County Jail on bail. At that point, prosecutors were arguing that he should remain locked up. The judge ordered him to remain behind bars without bail. The judge wasn't considering the murder suspect's insanity defense for the killing itself.
The defense lawyer said he believes the doctor did the formal evaluation for the murder suspect's defense, but he wasn't sure.
Another doctor hired by the state also evaluated the murder suspect, but it wasn't known whether he found sleep deprivation or Red Bull to be relevant. Neither of the doctors' formal evaluations are part of the public court file.
The defense attorney said he believes the state should hire additional doctors to further evaluate the murder suspect. He also would like the State Attorney's Office to have a face-to-face meeting with the man's brother, who isn't only the son of the man who was killed, but also an important witness in the case, because he spoke to the suspected killer right after the killing.
A hearing is set for Feb. 17.
In addition, a lawsuit has been filed seeking to prevent the murder suspect from sharing in the inheritance from his father.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a violent crime or a criminal offense? Then call the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
From the St. Pete Times website, an article that questions a particular defense...
ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Did a "Red Bull defense" lead prosecutors to conclude that a murder suspect is not guilty by reason of insanity?
That's one of several questions raised by a criminal defense lawyer. He's working with the brother of the murder suspect and the son of the victim. The murder suspect was arrested in 2009 on a charge of killing their father by smothering him.
The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office has said it's leaning toward accepting an insanity defense for the murder suspect, based on the conclusions of two doctors who said he was insane at the time; and on circumstances surrounding the killing itself.
A final decision hasn't been made.
The criminal defense lawyer who was a longtime prosecutor, points to the transcript of a bond reduction hearing in which Red Bull, a high-caffeine beverage, factored into a doctor's evaluation of the murder suspect.
In the hearing last February, a psychiatrist said the murder suspect had suffered a "psychotic break" and had underlying signs of depression at the time of the killing.
In questioning from an Assistant State Attorney, the doctor said the murder suspect had suffered sleep deprivation, which "led to his psychosis and it was accelerated by his use of Red Bull."
The prosecitor asked, "So because he was sleep deprived, he actually went into an alternate reality and killed his own father?"
The doctor said yes.
She asked later: "So your final conclusion was the sleep deprivation and the Red Bull led him to killing his father?"
Again he said yes.
The criminal defense attorney on Monday sent a letter to a Circuit Judge strongly disagreeing with his brother's insanity defense. He concluded his letter this way: "And since when is being tired, and high on an energy drink, an excuse for cold blooded murder, anyway?"
It wasn't immediately clear how big a role the Red Bull theory has played in the murder case.
The testimony about Red Bull came during the bond reduction hearing. The purpose of the hearing was for a judge to decide whether the murder suspect should be released from the Pinellas County Jail on bail. At that point, prosecutors were arguing that he should remain locked up. The judge ordered him to remain behind bars without bail. The judge wasn't considering the murder suspect's insanity defense for the killing itself.
The defense lawyer said he believes the doctor did the formal evaluation for the murder suspect's defense, but he wasn't sure.
Another doctor hired by the state also evaluated the murder suspect, but it wasn't known whether he found sleep deprivation or Red Bull to be relevant. Neither of the doctors' formal evaluations are part of the public court file.
The defense attorney said he believes the state should hire additional doctors to further evaluate the murder suspect. He also would like the State Attorney's Office to have a face-to-face meeting with the man's brother, who isn't only the son of the man who was killed, but also an important witness in the case, because he spoke to the suspected killer right after the killing.
A hearing is set for Feb. 17.
In addition, a lawsuit has been filed seeking to prevent the murder suspect from sharing in the inheritance from his father.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a violent crime or a criminal offense? Then call the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - who polices the police?
By Nicholas Dorsten, Esq.
A story that proves even the people assigned to uphold the law often break it...
PINELLAS PARK — A five-year veteran of the Pinellas Park Police Department has been arrested and charged with failing to turn in evidence, including a gun and drugs.
The Defendant, 29, of Seminole turned himself in to the Pinellas County Jail on Jan. 25 after being charged with official misconduct, a felony. He was released on his own recognizance.
The man worked for the Pinellas Park police from February 2006 until Oct. 14, when he resigned while under investigation. He was earning about $43,042 a year.
A Pinellas Park police Captain said the investigation began in early October when the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office began preparing a shoplifting/drug possession case for trial.
The captain described the situation this way:
The defendant had arrested the suspect and listed several items of evidence in his April 20 report that included a witness statement, a DVD surveillance video, a green pill believed to be Vicodin and a metal pill bottle. The state attorney needed to test the pill to make sure it was Vicodin. He asked the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which contracts with Pinellas Park to store evidence, for the pill and other materials. The Sheriff's Office said it did not have any evidence connected with the case.
The state attorney contacted the officer and, several days later, the Pinellas Park police. Officers questioned the man about the missing evidence and he told a supervisor that he did not remember the shoplifting incident from April, but would attempt to locate the evidence.
By Oct. 14, supervisors had checked several other of the officer's cases and found problems with evidence not being submitted. The man unexpectedly resigned that day.
Police supervisors have since audited police investigations assigned to him going back to July 2009, the captain said. They found that, in many of those cases, evidence collected by him and listed in the police report were not submitted to the sheriff for storage as required. Most of the evidence were DVDs from store surveillance cameras of theft-related crimes. Several cases involved narcotics including marijuana, crack and prescription pills.
Also missing was a .357 revolver he seized during a traffic stop in December 2009. The driver was charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
Pinellas Park police contacted him last November about the gun. The suspect said he still had the gun and turned it over to the police.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a drug charge or a criminal offense? Then call the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
A story that proves even the people assigned to uphold the law often break it...
PINELLAS PARK — A five-year veteran of the Pinellas Park Police Department has been arrested and charged with failing to turn in evidence, including a gun and drugs.
The Defendant, 29, of Seminole turned himself in to the Pinellas County Jail on Jan. 25 after being charged with official misconduct, a felony. He was released on his own recognizance.
The man worked for the Pinellas Park police from February 2006 until Oct. 14, when he resigned while under investigation. He was earning about $43,042 a year.
A Pinellas Park police Captain said the investigation began in early October when the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office began preparing a shoplifting/drug possession case for trial.
The captain described the situation this way:
The defendant had arrested the suspect and listed several items of evidence in his April 20 report that included a witness statement, a DVD surveillance video, a green pill believed to be Vicodin and a metal pill bottle. The state attorney needed to test the pill to make sure it was Vicodin. He asked the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office, which contracts with Pinellas Park to store evidence, for the pill and other materials. The Sheriff's Office said it did not have any evidence connected with the case.
The state attorney contacted the officer and, several days later, the Pinellas Park police. Officers questioned the man about the missing evidence and he told a supervisor that he did not remember the shoplifting incident from April, but would attempt to locate the evidence.
By Oct. 14, supervisors had checked several other of the officer's cases and found problems with evidence not being submitted. The man unexpectedly resigned that day.
Police supervisors have since audited police investigations assigned to him going back to July 2009, the captain said. They found that, in many of those cases, evidence collected by him and listed in the police report were not submitted to the sheriff for storage as required. Most of the evidence were DVDs from store surveillance cameras of theft-related crimes. Several cases involved narcotics including marijuana, crack and prescription pills.
Also missing was a .357 revolver he seized during a traffic stop in December 2009. The driver was charged with carrying a concealed firearm.
Pinellas Park police contacted him last November about the gun. The suspect said he still had the gun and turned it over to the police.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a drug charge or a criminal offense? Then call the St. Petersburg criminal defense attorneys today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced St. Petersburg criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - not smart
By Nick Dorsten, Esq.
A quick example of how NOT to act around law enforcement, courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times...
PASCO — A New Port Richey woman not allowed to buy more wine was arrested early Monday after taking out her frustrations on a Pasco deputy, arrest reports state.
The suspect, 45, pounded on the cruiser window of a deputy, who was typing up reports, just after midnight near the CVS Pharmacy at 2513 U.S. 19, deputies said. Her speech slurring and her breath spiked with alcohol, she complained loudly that the clerks refused to sell her some wine, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office report said.
When the deputy began to roll up his window, the report said, the soon to be arrested lady tried pushing it back down, screaming, "No, you're going to listen to me." She shoved him in the arm twice (Battery on a law enforcement officer) through the open window before tripping and falling on the curb behind her, deputies wrote.
The "lady" eventually walked back to her car, handed over her license, cursed at the deputy and said, "I'm going home."
As a crowd formed to watch, deputies arrested her, who kicked and pushed at them as they placed her in the back of a cruiser, the report said.
The woman was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting an officer with violence, driving under the influence and two counts of battery on an officer. She remains in the Land O'Lakes jail in lieu of $15,250 bail.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a DUI, disorderly conduct or battery? Then call Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
A quick example of how NOT to act around law enforcement, courtesy of the St. Petersburg Times...
PASCO — A New Port Richey woman not allowed to buy more wine was arrested early Monday after taking out her frustrations on a Pasco deputy, arrest reports state.
The suspect, 45, pounded on the cruiser window of a deputy, who was typing up reports, just after midnight near the CVS Pharmacy at 2513 U.S. 19, deputies said. Her speech slurring and her breath spiked with alcohol, she complained loudly that the clerks refused to sell her some wine, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office report said.
When the deputy began to roll up his window, the report said, the soon to be arrested lady tried pushing it back down, screaming, "No, you're going to listen to me." She shoved him in the arm twice (Battery on a law enforcement officer) through the open window before tripping and falling on the curb behind her, deputies wrote.
The "lady" eventually walked back to her car, handed over her license, cursed at the deputy and said, "I'm going home."
As a crowd formed to watch, deputies arrested her, who kicked and pushed at them as they placed her in the back of a cruiser, the report said.
The woman was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting an officer with violence, driving under the influence and two counts of battery on an officer. She remains in the Land O'Lakes jail in lieu of $15,250 bail.
Have you or someone you love been arrested for a DUI, disorderly conduct or battery? Then call Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today for a free consultation!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced criminal defense lawyers please contact BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email the lawyers your questions at: info@blakedorstenlaw.com. We are located at 4707 140th Ave N, Suite 104 in Clearwater, across from the criminal courthouse in the airport business center, minutes from Tampa and St. Petersburg.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tampa Bay Criminal Defense Lawyer - DUI bust
By Nick Dorsten, Esq.
From the St. Pete Times website, sometimes you have to know when enough is enough...
SPRING HILL, FL — When a deputy saw a driver weaving between lanes and going off the road in a southbound lane on the Suncoast Parkway Thursday afternoon, he pulled him over and soon discovered the man has a lengthy history of traffic offenses.
The suspect, who has three DUI convictions dating back to 2003 and whose driver's license has been revoked 15 times (driving while license is suspended), now faces several more charges.
The man, 30, of Lutz, told deputies that he had consumed a beer and had taken four pills, including oxycodone and methacarbamol, according to a Hernando County Sheriff's Office report.
The man, who had a set of brass knuckles in his pants pocket (which could land him a carrying a concealed weapon charge), refused to take a breath test, the report states. He was arrested on his fourth DUI charge along with three other related charges. The charges were most likely a refusal to submit to a breath test, DWLSR and a traffic offense.
Have you or someone you loved been charged with a DUI? Do you need the help of a Tampa area criminal defense lawyer or Clearwater DUI attorney? Then Call Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced criminal defense attorneys, please contact the law firm of BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email your questions to: info@blakedorstenlaw.com
From the St. Pete Times website, sometimes you have to know when enough is enough...
SPRING HILL, FL — When a deputy saw a driver weaving between lanes and going off the road in a southbound lane on the Suncoast Parkway Thursday afternoon, he pulled him over and soon discovered the man has a lengthy history of traffic offenses.
The suspect, who has three DUI convictions dating back to 2003 and whose driver's license has been revoked 15 times (driving while license is suspended), now faces several more charges.
The man, 30, of Lutz, told deputies that he had consumed a beer and had taken four pills, including oxycodone and methacarbamol, according to a Hernando County Sheriff's Office report.
The man, who had a set of brass knuckles in his pants pocket (which could land him a carrying a concealed weapon charge), refused to take a breath test, the report states. He was arrested on his fourth DUI charge along with three other related charges. The charges were most likely a refusal to submit to a breath test, DWLSR and a traffic offense.
Have you or someone you loved been charged with a DUI? Do you need the help of a Tampa area criminal defense lawyer or Clearwater DUI attorney? Then Call Blake & Dorsten, P.A. today!
For more information, or to speak directly with experienced criminal defense attorneys, please contact the law firm of BLAKE & DORSTEN, P.A. at 727.286.6141 or email your questions to: info@blakedorstenlaw.com
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