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Vacating Criminal Conviction Causing Immigration Consequences In the 1970's and 1980's many people who are not U.S. Citizens or Permanent Residences, plead guilty to criminal charges not knowing it would lead to Immigration consequences. In the 1980's Criminal Rules required courts to start advising Defendants that there could be immigration consequences. However, many clients received bad advice from their lawyers, such as "You're Cuban, you don't h...

Drugs Found, Multiple Occupants Police find drugs in a place, such as a house, a car or hotel room where more than one person is present or are sometimes present. This is called "Multiple Occupants". Unless a person is in "actual possession" of the drugs it is hard to know to whom the drugs belong. Actual possession is having the drugs in your hands or pockets. "Constructive possession" is when the drugs are nearby and a person is in a position wh...

Rental Cars A car is stopped by police and is searched without Probable Cause, without a Search Warrant and Without Consent. Under most circumstances the "Exclusionary Rule" of the Fourth Amendment should prevent unlawfully seized evidence from being admitted in a Trial. An attorney will file a Motion to Suppress Evidence. This is a "Pre-Trial" Motion, which if granted will usually result in the State having to drop the case. However if the car is...

Stops of Vehicles A person is driving a car and is stopped by the police. The first issue is whether the police had a reason to stop the car, such as for a traffic infraction. Police cannot lawfully stop a vehicle without a reason. Police officers have been known to lie about the infraction. However, Judges will almost never find the officer is lying, unless there is clear proof, such as a video, to the contrary. These days, police cars are som...

One of the biggest decisions made during the court process is whether or not to take a case to trial. The reality is that most cases simply never make it to trial. Most are decided during pre-trial negotiations known as "plea bargains". Taking a case in front of a jury, especially a sex crime case, can be extremely difficult. Sex crimes can be extremely prejudicial to a jury. It may be unwise to risk the serious Sex Offender penalties. As an experienced...

In October, Miami criminal defense attorney Jeffrey Feiler was recognized by Pinecrest Magazine's Who's Who in Legal feature. After undergoing a thorough interview with the South Florida lifestyle magazine, a few neat tidbits about Jeffrey's extensive legal experience were revealed. 30 Years of Criminal Defense Experience October 2016 hallmarks the 30-year anniversary of Jeffrey Feiler's criminal defense practice. Jeffrey Feiler's education began ...

I recently appeared in Tallahassee in the State Capital Building before the "Cabinet" consisting of Florida Governor Rick Scott, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, and Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, who comprise the "Clemency Board" at a proceeding to obtain a Full Pardon for a client with a forty-year old conviction for Aggravated Assault. Restoration of his Civil Rights had already been granted in 2006,...

Two men were sitting in a car smoking a joint. Police observed them and arrested them. The lawful search of the car revealed cocaine sitting in plain view on the center console between the driver and passenger. The driver owned the car. The driver was arrested for the cocaine. So was the passenger. This true scenario occurred last year. This illustrates a situation where neither person was in "actual" possession of the Cocaine, but both were presumably...

The Florida legislature has created this amazing law which grants complete immunity from prosecution in cases where force is used in self-defense or defense of another person. There is no other criminal law on the books which gives a Judge authority to grant a defendant immunity from prosecution. If the Judge decides at an evidentiary hearing that the accused was justified in his use of even deadly force, the case is effectively dismissed and never goes...

The legal term "immunity" is generally used in two situations. The first is "Transactional Immunity", which occurs when a person is promised by the Government or State that they will not be prosecuted, at all, for a particular crime or criminal episode. This type of immunity is very rare (notwithstanding what we see on TV or in movies) and is typically granted to someone involved in a crime or criminal organization and the authorities need their testimo...