Florida Criminal Attorney Blog

At around 4:15 p.m. on Monday afternoon, a 12 year old boy allegedly attacked a 50 year old woman from behind in Coral Springs, Florida. According to police, the boy hit the woman from behind and then tried to pull down her pants. When the woman turned around, the boy struck her again. The woman then chased after the boy, he hit her for a third time, and then he ran off. According to WSVN-7, the boy will be held in juvenile detention for 21 days.

Generally speaking, there are two approaches to cases of this type. The first perspective is to punish this boy as hard as possible. Unlike drug abuse, theft, or even minor acts of violence, many people correctly believe that sexual offenders are sometimes incurable. As a consequence, those who adhere to this belief, maintain that such offenders should be locked up for as long as possible so as to protect society from their uncontrollable impulses.

The second approach calls for rehabilitation. On a personal note, I believe that some sex offenders are absolutely incurable. However, I do not believe that the facts in this case, at least at this early stage, show that the boy here is in this category.

Given his young and impressionable age, one has to believe that rehabilitation and rigorous mental health treatment is the correct approach.

Since the boy in this case is so young, there is a strong chance that he can be effectively treated by mental health professionals and rehabilitated to the point where he can function in society without having abnormal outbursts like the one alleged in this case.

As a criminal defense lawyer, this is the approach I would take. This case presents an opportunity for the criminal justice system, including prosecutors, to rehabilitate this child and correct aberrant behavior at an early stage.

It is worth noting, that while the boy's alleged behavior is obviously very disturbing, no actual rape materialized and nobody was injured. Before I formulate a final opinion on this case, I would also like to know whether or not the boy and this woman were strangers or had some other kind of pre-existing relationship. When I say "relationship," I do not necessarily mean a romantic one. Rather, when I first heard of this case through word of mouth, my initial impression was that the boy wanted to embarrass the woman by "pantsing" her.

For those who have never heard of "pantsing," it is a juvenile prank done on an unsuspecting person simply top embarrass that person by pulling down their pants in public. Teenage boys do it to each other all the time.

However, if this was a completely random act committed by one stranger upon another, then it would appear to me that the boy suffers from some kind of mental health disorder.

However, before prosecutors and the courts make any final decision about how to proceed with this case, it is absolutely necessary to determine the true nature of this case.

If it is a juvenile prank, then it should be dealt with accordingly. However, if this is a sexually motivated offense, then the boy should be immediately subjected to rigorous mental health treatment that addresses his specific needs.

According to the Sun-Sentinel, a man snatched a woman's purse in the Broward Mall, located in Plantation, Florida. Before letting the woman go, the man dragged her 10 feet causing injury to her hand and finger. The man is described as being about 18 years old and 5'7". He supposedly fled in a tan pickup truck that was waiting for him.

Contrary to popular misconception, purse snatching is actually a very serious felony, especially when the alleged victim sustains an injury. If caught, the thief in question would be charged with "Strong Arm Robbery" and would be facing up to 15 years in prison. This steep sanction exists because the law considers purse snatching more a crime of violence than an act of theft.

The person driving the pickup truck may also be charged. While it is presently unclear whether or not the driver was a knowing participant, police and prosecutors would have to prove that the driver of the truck knowingly participated in the crime in order to sustain a charge. In other words, if the duo acted in unison, then the driver would also be facing serious charges. He might be charged with conspiracy or as an accessory after the fact.

However, crimes like purse snatching are often times crimes of opportunity. If the purse snatcher was on his way out of the mall to meet his ride, saw the woman, and then made a unilateral decision to snatch her purse, then the driver would obviously not be criminally liable because he or she did not knowingly participate in the crime.

Given the relative low value of the bounty captured compared to the possibility of facing up to 15 years in prison, purse snatching is really a crime for the exponentially stupid or the truly ignorant.

My advice to this purse snatcher is to immediately stop. These cases are hard to defend and the possibility of a stiff prison sentence is very real.

Dr. John Habib, an asthesiologist at Holy Cross Hospital, was arrested Thursday night in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. According to police, Dr. Habib was busted when he tried to purchase 35 grams of Crystal Methamphetamine from a person he believed to be a drug dealer. It is not clear if this person was an undercover cop or someone working for the police by posing as a drug dealer.

After arresting Habib, police executed a search warrant at his home which allegedly uncovered additional crystal meth as well as GHB. According to CBS4.com, Habib has been as charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine, Possession of Methamphetamine, and Possession of GHB.

The worst part of Dr. Habib's case is the trafficking charge. Because he is accused of trafficking more than 28 grams, but less than 200 grams, Dr. Habib is presently subject to a minimum prison sentence of 7 years. Of course, this assumes Dr. Habib does not have any prior criminal history. If he does, he may be subjected to an even greater minimum prison sentence.

On the maximum end, Dr. Habib is facing a maximum of 30 years on the trafficking charge and 5 years each on the possession charges.

While this case is undoubtedly very serious, Dr. Habib should not feel hopeless. Many cases of these types are cracked wide open when a capable defense lawyer does a thorough investigation. Many cases are broken when a lawyer discovers that police acted inappropriately or violated the law. Moreover, in cases where the defendant has no criminal history, one has to wonder if there is a defense of entrapment.

Additionally, a capable defense lawyer absolutely MUST investigate the basis for the search warrant. This type of research would begin with a careful review of the affidavits and other documents presented when applying for the search warrant. Next, a investigation into whether the warrant was properly executed is also necessary. For example, if the warrant directed the police to search the living areas of Dr. Habib's house, but the additional drugs were found in the attic, then the police may have acted outside the limitations of the warrant - thus rendering any evidence collected from the attic inadmissible.

Regardless, the two parts of this case that interest me the most are the following: First, how did the police come to learn that Dr. Habib wanted to buy drugs? Was it from a snitch trying to set up anyone he can think of to save himself from his own case? Or was it from some other unknown source? I bet it was a snitch.

Second, what exactly went down during that sting? The devil does live in the details! How did the deal go down? Was the snitch the seller or was it a cop? If it was a snitch, did the police observe the entire deal from beginning to end? Did they search the snitch before sending him to make the sale? If not, how do we know the true amount Dr. Habib tried to buy? Maybe he only wanted to buy a small amount, but the snitch added to the mix, without the doctor knowing, to make the caper even sweeter for police.

I could sit here and write for hours about all the little details that make a difference in these cases. However, at the end of the day, Dr. Habib should not give up hope and he should not assume that prison is the only option in his future.

Now is the time for a quality defense lawyer to investigate this case, look at its details and determine if there are any defenses, any lack of evidence, any conflict in the evidence, or any violations of law by the police.

Now is the time to be aggressive. Hopefully Dr. Habib will make the right choice and take an aggressive stance on his case.

Law enforcement is finally taking a stand against the outrageous pain pill epidemic in South Florida. Just yesterday, agents from the DEA, accompanied by deputies from the Broward Sheriff's Office and the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office, raided American Pain located in Lake Worth, Florida, Executive Pain located in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the East Coast Pain Clinic also located in West Palm Beach, Florida. These clinics are owned or operated by two twenty-nine year old twin brothers: Christopher George and Jeffrey George.

According to the Miami Herald, the agents and deputies seized boxes of records after serving search warrants on the clinics.

This case presents an interesting issue regarding the pain pill epidemic and prosecution of the pain centers. On the one hand, law enforcement should clearly be going after the source of the pills. At the present time, law enforcement has only pursued the end users. In many cases this has resulted in stiff prison sentences and probation for people who amount to nothing more than addicts.

On the other hand, pain clinics are entirely legal in Florida. Why should a doctor or a pain clinic owner be prosecuted criminally for doing something that is entirely legal?

The answer lies in the legitimacy of the medical treatment being provided by the pain centers. If law enforcement can prove that doctors have prescribed pain pills to people who have no legitimate medical need for them, then a criminal prosecution for fraudulent prescription writing may be viable. Pain doctors should also be investigated for prescribing narcotics in an escalating fashion. If there is no legitimate need to increase dosage or frequency, then these doctors are doing nothing more than making patients into addicts... which makes perfect sense since many of the same pain clinics that write the prescriptions also sell the pills!

Doesn't that sounds like a conflict of interest to you?

One must also wonder about the pharmacists who fill these prescriptions. How many months have to go by before a pharmacist refuses to fill a prescription for a young, able bodied patient who presents ever increasing prescriptions month after month with no end in sight? Some patients take over 300 Oxycontin pills a month... that is over 10 pills a day or a pill every other hour! At what point does a pharmacist have a duty to step in and call an addict out for what he really is?

Ultimately, new legislation will be required to fix this epidemic. If I could make a recommendation to the Florida Legislature it would be to do two things. First, they should ban pain clinics from both writing prescriptions and dispensing pills at the same time. The conflict of interest is clear.

Second, the Legislature should create a statewide prescription database. Creating the database is easy and cheaper than arresting, jailing, and prosecuting offenders. It could be maintained using cloud computing and would be accessible only by licensed doctors, pharmacists, and law enforcement. This system would mirror the "D.A.V.I.D." system used by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles to keep track of driver licenses and vehicle registrations.

Simply put, doctors would logon to the system and upload prescriptions to the database by filling out a simple online form. The prescription would then be given a unique identification number by the system. This number would be printed on the actual paper prescription that the patient would present to the pharmacist.

Before a pharmacist fills the prescription, he or she would access the online database and confirm that the prescription being presented by the customer is legitimate, that it perfectly matches the online record, and has not yet been filled by another pharmacy/pharmacist. Prior to dispensing the medication, the pharmacist will mark the online prescription as "filled" so that the same prescription cannot be filled again.

By creating this simple system, we will be able to put an immediate stop to all doctor shopping and fraudulent prescription writing overnight. Aside from the obvious law enforcement benefit, this would also save the State from wasting money on arresting, jailing, and prosecuting people who doctor shop or write fraudulent prescriptions. I bet the savings would be in the millions of dollars!

If the cost savings were not enough to fund the system, the State could levy a flat tax of $1.00 per transaction. If you are using pain pills, there is no doubt that you can sport a $1.00 fee per prescription filled. These prescriptions are usually filled on a monthly basis - unless of course you are doctor shopping!

Regardless, at the end of the day the Government needs to wake up and enact realistic and practical solutions to this problem. At a time when our State budget is in crisis, any plan that will save money AND cure a major social problem at the same time is a great idea!