Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

When you enter a guilty plea in Florida, you are waiving certain rights. The same is true when you plea no contest or nolo contendere. Under Rule 3.172(c) of the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, a you are waiving the following rights:

1. the right to a trial by jury;


2. the right to an attorney at trial;


3. the right to confront witnesses and present your own witnesses at trial;


4. the right to not be compelled to testify at trial;


5. the right to appeal (in most circumstances); and


6. the right to remain silent about the offense to which you are entering the plea (the judge may question you about it).

Not only are you waiving rights, but you may be subjecting yourself to unknown consequences. It is important to pay close attention to Rule 3.172(d)(8 - 10):

"(8) that if he or she pleads guilty or nolo contendere, if he or she is not a United States citizen, the plea may subject him or her to deportation pursuant to the laws and regulations governing the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. It shall not be necessary for the trial judge to inquire as to whether the defendant is a United States citizen, as this admonition shall be given to all defendants in all cases; and
(9) that if the defendant pleads guilty or nolo contendere, and the offense to which the defendant is pleading is a sexually violent offense or a sexually motivated offense, or if the defendant has been previously convicted of such an offense, the plea may subject the defendant to involuntary civil commitment as a sexually vio- lent predator upon completion of his or her sentence. It shall not be necessary for the trial judge to determine whether the present or prior offenses were sexually motivated, as this admonition shall be given to all defendants in all cases.
(10) that if the defendant pleads guilty or nolo contendre and the offense to which the defendant is pleading is one for which automatic, mandatory driver's license suspension or revocation is required by law to be imposed (either by the court or by a separate agency), the plea will provide the basis for the suspension or revocation of the defendant's driver's license."

If you are charged with a crime in Jacksonville, Florida, you may decide to enter into a plea deal with the Jacksonville state attorney. If that is the case, you will be entering a plea of guilty or no contest to a Jacksonville crime. Before doing so, you should understand that you are waiving a variety or rights. Many people believe that they will not have a criminal record if they plea no contest. This is not true. Regardless of whether you enter a plea of guilty or no contest, you criminal record will still reflect the crime. When you enter a plea of guilty in Jacksonville, you are telling the court that you are guilty of the offense. When you enter a plea of no contest, you are telling the court that it is in your best interest to accept the plea deal, but you are not admitting guilt. This has no affect on your criminal record.

In some cases, it maybe advisable for you to enter a plea of no contest instead of a plea of guilty to the Jacksonville criminal charge, because of possible civil liability that may be involved. Before entering a plea to a Jacksonville crime, you should contact a Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer.

When a Jacksonville criminal defendant is charged with a crime, he or she can plea one of three ways. He or she may enter a plea of not guilty, guilty, or no contest (nolo contendere). A "not guilty" plea will cause the case to move forward, and in some cases, the case will go to trial. If the Jacksonville criminal defendant enters a plea of guilty or no contest, he or she will usually do so pursuant to a plea agreement with the Duval County State Attorney's Office. If the Jacksonville criminal defendant and the Duval County State Attorney's Office do not reach a plea deal, then the defendant may choose to plea guilty or no contest and go strait to a sentencing hearing before the judge.

It is important for the Jacksonville criminal defendant to discuss all the possible avenues that he or she may take in the case. He or she should understand the differences between entering a plea of guilty, not guilty, and no contest and the possible outcomes for each. Therefore, he or she should discuss the Jacksonville criminal case with a Jacksonville Criminal Attorney.

Read also, "What is the difference between entering a plea of guilty or a plea of no contest in Jacksonville?"

If you meet the requirements listed in Florida Statute Section 943.0585 or 943.059, you can get your record expunged or sealed in Florida. While it is within the court's discretion whether or not to seal or expunge the Florida criminal record, the court can only deny the petition to seal or expunge the Florida criminal record if there is a good reason based on the facts and circumstances of each individual case. When the state attorney objects to a Florida criminal defendant's petition to seal or expunge a record, the state attorney must present evidence at the hearing to support the state's representations that the petition should be denied.

VDF v. State is a Jacksonville Florida case that addresses the issue of sealing versus expunging a Florida criminal record. In VDF v. State, the Florida First District Court of Appeals the trial court refused to expunge a Florida criminal defendant's record. The Florida criminal defendant fulfilled all the requirements for an expunction under Florida Statute Section 943.0585. The court sealed the record instead of expunging it, so police would have easier access to the record. This was an abuse of the court's discretion. The Florida criminal record should have been expunged instead, because VDF fulfilled all the Florida statutory requirements and the state did not present any evidence to support a denial of the Florida petition to expunge. Therefore, his record should have been expunged. VDF v. State, 19 So. 3d 1172 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009).

Normally, if you receive a ticket in Jacksonville, Florida, you are given options. You may pay the Jacksonville traffic ticket. You may elect to take the traffic school. You may set a court date and appear in Duval County traffic court. However, in some cases, normally Criminal Traffic Citation, you are not given a choice. You must appear before the judge to plea your case. In addition, Jacksonville traffic citations orders you to set a court date within a certain time period (usually 30 days following the date of citation). If you have received a ticket that orders this, it is likely that you have received a criminal traffic citation. This is not a basic ticket. It will be part of your Florida criminal record.

Therefore, you need to take this infraction seriously. You do not want to enter a plea of no contest or guilty to the ticket without first speaking with a Jacksonville Criminal Traffic Lawyer. If you have been issued a criminal traffic ticket, contact Jacksonville Criminal Defense Lawyer today. You need to understand your rights, defenses, and options available under Florida Law.

In most cases, you can prevent a perosn from seeing your Florida Criminal Record if you get your record sealed or expunged. In order to do this, you must meet certain criteria. Florida Statute Section 943.0585 lists the requirements for expunging a Florida Criminal Record. Florida Statute Section 943.059 sets forth the requirements for sealing a Florida Criminal Record. Read How to Seal a Criminal Record in Jacksonville, Florida to learn more about the requirements for a Florida Record Seal. Read Getting a Criminal Record Expunged in Jacksonville, Florida for more information on a Florida Record Expunction.

Sealing or Expunging your Florida Criminal Record will not stop every government agency from seeing your record, but it will work for most back ground checks. This is important to many people that are unemployed and looking for jobs. If you have your record sealed or expunged, you may legally deny the arrest.

Yesterday, two robbery suspects were arrested in connection with the armed robbery of a store in Jacksonville, Florida. Edward Littleon, age 22, and Frederick Jennings, age 17, are being held in Duval County, Florida. News4jax.com has reported that the Jacksonville Criminal Defendants are accused of stealing "money from the Family Dollar cash office and [making] the employees lie on the floor." An off-duty officer, G.W. Germann, confronted the two suspected robbers. Jacksonville police have reported that "Germann shot [Littleton] in the shoulder, because he was carrying an AK-47 assault rifle," and "Jennings was armed with a loaded revolver."

Although the Jacksonville Juvenile Robbery Defendant, Jennings, is only 17 years-old, he will likely be charged as an adult, due to the severity of the crime, and his co-defendant will be charged in adult criminal court. Since they both were armed with firearms, they are facing the Florida 10-20-Life Statute. Therefore, they are facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in the Florida State Prison. However, a Youthful Offender Sentence may be available, depending on the circumstances.

Last month, a Jax Beach man was shoot and killed in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. Three men have been arrested for this Jacksonville Beach shooting. Jacksonville police suspect that the shooter was William Brown, age 18. Local media (News4Jax) has reported that

"investigators also arrested two other suspects locally in Neptune Beach. They were identified as 27-year-old Adam Holleran, who's charged with armed robbery, and 27-year-old Matthew Webber, who's charged with armed robbery and accessory after the fact."

According to the media reports, it appears that Brown gave information to police that resulted in his arrest. The information that he provided about this Jacksonville robbery and shooting likely led to the result of the other two suspect. Therefore, each of these Jacksonville Criminal Defendants will have a conflict of interest and need separate Jacksonville Criminal Lawyers.

In St. Johns County, Florida, three juveniles were arrested for burglary to a house in Fruit Cove, Florida. Jordan Michael Golden (16) and Cameron Matthew Straughn (15) were arrested for armed burglary to a dwelling, dealing in stolen property and grand theft. Another juvenile criminal defendant, Gavin Michael Loftus has been charged with Florida dealing in stolen property and obstruction by giving false information to a law enforcement officer in St. Johns County, Florida. (See Three Fruit Cove Teens Arrested in Connection with Burglary in the First Coast News for entire article and pictures).

The charges are all felonies and extremely serious crimes. No only are these Fruit Cove Juveniles looking at possible incarceration, but they charges could haunt them in the future. With a future ahead of them, it is important that they make the right decisions in their cases. They should certainly have separate representation due to the potential conflict of interest with these St. Johns County juvenile defendants. When co-defendants are arrested, they often turn against one another. It is important that each Clay County criminal defendant has his own Clay County Criminal Lawyer, so an attorney is looking out for the individual's best interest.

Expunging a juvenile record may not prevent you from expunging or sealing an adult criminal record, in Jacksonville, Florida. Florida Statute Section 943.0582 permits a juvenile to expunge his or her record if he or she meets certain requirements (See Expunging a Florida Juvenile Record). If the Jacksonville Juvenile criminal record was expunged pursuant to Florida Statute Section 943.0582, the juvenile may still be eligible to have a future Jacksonville criminal arrest sealed under Section 943.059 or expunged under Section 943.0585, Florida Statutes. Section 943.0582(6) specifically states that:

"Expunction or sealing granted under this section does not prevent the minor who receives such relief from petitioning for the expunction or sealing of a later criminal history record as provided for in ss. 943.0585 and 943.059, if the minor is otherwise eligible under those sections."

In Jacksonville, you can expunge a Florida juvenile record. Pursuant to Section 943.0582, Florida Statutes, a juvenile criminal defendant can apply to have his or her record sealed if he or she has successfully completed a prearrest or postarrest diversion program. In Jacksonville, this program is known as pretrial intervention or diversion. There are certain requirements that must be met, including the following:
1. The minor must submit an application signed by the minor's parent or legal guardian no later than six (6) months after completing the diversion program.
2. The minor must include an official written statement from the state attorney certifying that the minor successfully completed the Jacksonville juvenile diversion program and that participation in the program is strictly limited to minors arrested for a nonviolent misdemeanor who have not otherwise been charged with or found to have committed any criminal offense or comparable ordinance violation.
3. The prearrest or postarrest diversion program that the minor participated in expressly authorizes or permits such expunction to occur.
4. The minor was arrested for a nonviolent misdemeanor that would not qualify as an act of domestic violence as that term is defined in s. 741.28.
5. The minor has never, prior to filing the application for expunction, been charged with or been found to have committed any criminal offense or comparable ordinance violation.

It is important to note that a Florida Juvenile Criminal Record Expunction under Florida Statute Section 943.0582 is not the same as a Florida Criminal Record Expunction under Florida Statute Section 943.0585. Under Section 943.0582(2)(a)(2), Records maintained by local criminal justice agencies in the county in which the arrest occurred seal the file. This is not permitted under Florida Statute Section 943.0585(4), which requires "any criminal history record of a minor or an adult which is ordered expunged by a court of competent jurisdiction pursuant to this section must be physically destroyed or obliterated by any criminal justice agency having custody of such record; except that any criminal history record in the custody of the department must be retained in all cases."

Question: I have already had an arrest record expunged. I was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida, and I want to get that sealed or expunged. Is it possible to seal or expunge my new Florida arrest if I have already had my record expunged before?

Answer: Usually, not you cannot have your record sealed or expunged twice. Under Section 943.0585(2)(f) and 943.059(2)(e), a Florida criminal defendant cannot have his criminal record sealed if he has secured a record sealing or expunction under one of these sections or "former s. 893.14, former s. 901.33, or former s. 943.058, unless expunction is sought of a criminal history record previously sealed for 10 years pursuant to [943.0585(h)] and the record is otherwise eligible for expunction." Fla. Stat. § 943.0585(2)(f) (2011). Therefore, you cannot petition the court to seal or expunge your Florida criminal arrest record under Section 943.0585 or 943.059 and then seal or expunge another crime. However, if you sealed a record under Section 943.059, and it has been sealed for 10 years, you may be eligible to expunge that arrest in Florida.

There is also an exceptions for minors, Florida Juvenile Offenders, under Section 943.0582(6) of the Florida Statutes (See Can I Seal or Expunge My Florida Criminal Record if I had My Juvenile Recorded Expunged?).