You may be visiting Florida from another state, and you are wondering if Florida has an “open container” law. Yes we do. Many states have so-called open container laws, which make it illegal to have an open container of alcohol anywhere in the passenger compartment of a vehicle.  If you are the driver of the vehicle, it is important for you to know that you can be cited under an open container law even if you are not the person consuming the alcohol.

In Florida, an open container is defined as “any container of alcoholic beverage which is immediately capable of being consumed from, or the seal of which has been broken.”  So under Florida law, even an empty beer can can be considered an open container.  If you are the driver of a vehicle where passengers have been drinking, it is in your best interest to ensure that no one bring a “to-go cup” into the car for the trip home.  We said it but it bears repeating – even if you, the driver, are not consuming the alcohol, you run the risk of receiving a ticket under the open container laws.  Penalties range from fines to a potential criminal conviction, so it is not worth the risk.  If you are driving home from a party and have leftover alcohol, store it in a locked trunk to ensure you are in compliance with the law.

If you are cited for having an open container, whether as the driver or the passenger, you may want to talk to an experienced traffic ticket attorney to assist you.  The penalties for open container violations can be severe so before you go at it alone, consider having a lawyer in your corner.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

Refer the Wall Street Journal. “The right call“, “a double-standard,” “the right thing,” a “miscarriage of justice.” The reactions to Tuesday’s dramatic development in the Hillary Clinton email investigation came in fast and furious and not surprisingly ranged widely in their assessment of the FBI director’s recommendation not to bring criminal charges against the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.

Legal experts and former Justice Department officials generally agree that many of the findings from the FBI’s probe — underscoring gaps in security standards and punching holes in Mrs. Clinton’s defenses — were at least a damning rebuke of the former secretary of state.

But they disagree on whether Mrs. Clinton should face charges. Below is a selection of reactions from scholars and prominent legal figures from both sides of the debate.

Comey got it right:

• Defense attorney Abbe Lowell told Reuters that Comey’s recommendation to the attorney general was “completely consistent” with other high-profile case charging violation of laws governing the handling of classified information, including the case against retired Gen. and former CIA chief David Petraeus.

“The one common denominator of all such [prosecuted] cases is that the individual involved intentionally sent material to those not authorized to receive it, like the press, like a foreign government,” said Mr. Lowell, who also cited the leak case against a former State Department contractor he represented.

• Elizabeth Goitein, who co-heads the Brennan Center’s Liberty and National Security Project, told the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent that Mr. Comey just didn’t think all the evidence gathered would support a criminal prosecution. “That’s what prosecutors base their decisions on — what the evidence shows, not what they personally think happened.”

• CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, a former adviser to four presidents, said “embittered partisans” may object to Mr. Comey’s decision. But he thinks the FBI conducted a “diligent” investigation and wrestled in good faith with a close call, particularly with respect to whether Mrs. Clinton committed criminal “gross negligence” under the Espionage Act.

If you have a problem, and you don’t have the resources that Hillary Clinton has, consider calling Alex Truluk. Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

Refer AOL News. June 30, 2016. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that police officers could administer warrantless Breathalyzer tests to people suspected of driving drunk.

The case, Birchfield v. North Dakota, effectively criminalizes the refusal to submit to a Breathalyzer test and affects laws in 11 states.

The outcome will most likely lead to an increase in drunken-driving convictions across the country, according to Derek Andrews, a defense attorney at the DUI Foundation, the organization linked to the viral “silent” drunken-driving checkpoint hack

The Fourth Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, though laws vary by state. Many lawyers openly encourage their clients to refuse a Breathalyzer because prosecutors have a harder time landing convictions with less evidence. Depending on the probable cause, refusing to take a pre-arrest Breathalyzer likely won’t result in a license suspension, but in many states, like New York, refusing a post-arrest Breathalyzer could lead to automatic license suspension of varying durations.

With the Supreme Court’s decision, however, there could be “an increase in the number of chemical test results,” Andrews wrote in an email to Business Insider. People might be more likely to submit for fear of the certain legal repercussions. Chemical tests can be a Breathalyzer, blood draw, or even a urine sample.

To put it simply, more people submitting to Breathalyzer tests means that states and prosecutors will have greater evidence against them.

While a state should be able to ask for a warrantless Breathalyzer test, and even a blood draw, states should not be able to criminalize the refusal of the test, according to Andrews.

“It is a fundamental premise of our criminal justice system that it is the government’s burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that someone is guilty of a crime, and it is the government’s duty to collect evidence and develop a case,” Andrews wrote. “It is not, however, a person’s duty to give that evidence to the government.”

Issuing criminal penalties, however, could also encourage people to refuse a Breathalyzer.

“This country is simply going to have more criminals because the government has chosen to criminalize a refusal to provide (potentially) incriminating evidence to law enforcement,” Andrews wrote. “…. There are other ways of combating DWI/DUI than convicting more people of crimes.”

It’s worth nothing the Supreme Court differentiated between Breathalyzer tests and blood tests, arguing that because blood draws are more intrusive, states may not demand them without a warrant.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

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Domestic abuse, also known as spousal abuse, occurs when one person in an intimate relationship or marriage tries to dominate and control the other person. Domestic abuse that includes physical violence is called domestic violence.

Domestic violence and abuse are used for one purpose and one purpose only: to gain and maintain total control over you. An abuser doesn’t “play fair.” Abusers use fear, guilt, shame, and intimidation to wear you down and keep you under his or her thumb. Your abuser may also threaten you, hurt you, or hurt those around you.

Domestic violence and abuse does not discriminate; it happens among heterosexual couples and in same-sex partnerships. It occurs within all age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, and economic levels. And while women are more commonly victimized, men are also abused—especially verbally and emotionally, although sometimes even physically as well. The bottom line is that abusive behavior is never acceptable, whether it’s coming from a man, a woman, a teenager, or an older adult. You deserve to feel valued, respected, and safe.

On the other hand, it is possible for someone to complain about abuse when none exists. If you have been accused, you should consider calling Alex Truluck.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

According to High Times:

While Florida still considers any person caught holding a little marijuana a low-level criminal, a number of municipalities across the state have made it their mission in recent months to do away with the penalties associated with minor possession. The most recent is the City of Tampa, where Mayor Bob Buckhorn has signed a measure into law that will prevent those people busted with small amounts of weed from being thrown in jail.

On Monday, the mayor put his signature a popular ordinance that will give the Tampa Police Department the freedom to hand out citations to petty pot offenders instead of running them through the criminal justice system. The new law comes just a week after the city council put their seal of approval on the measure in a vote of 5 to 1, suggesting that any amount of marijuana under 20 grams should be handled with a simple fine.

It was no surprise that Buckhorn wasted little time signing the ordinance. Earlier last year, he expressed concerns that “incarcerating people, particularly young people, for a very small amount of marijuana absolutely alters their career path for the rest of their life.”

“Once they get into that prison system, they are forever scarred; they forever have a prison record,” he explained.

Within the next couple of weeks, Tampa police will no longer be obligated to drag every person caught with marijuana down to the local precinct. Instead, officers will have the power to slap these offenders with a fine, which will differ in cost depending on a person’s previous record.

First time offenders, in situations where marijuana possession in the only offense, will be forced to pay a $75 ticket, while second time offenders will be squeezed to the tune of $150. For third time offenders, a fine of $300 will be their charge, and for those dumb or unlucky enough to get popped four or more times for pot, they will be forced to pay $450.

However, in every case, the ordinance will only be applied when marijuana possession is the “only chargeable offense.”

Therefore, the person who gets in trouble with the law for starting a bar fight during a Spring Break retreat, only to have a cop pull a joint from his or her pocket during a search, will likely be charged for pot possession at the state level—punishable with up to a year in jail and a maximum fine of $1000.

For civil society, however, the Tampa decriminalization measure was designed in the image of similar ordinances all over the state, where city officials are no longer interested in criminalizing the average stoner. So far, Miami-Dade, Fernandina Beach and Miami Beach have all eliminated minor pot offenses from their law enforcement’s shakedown repertoire, while this novel concept is currently under consideration by the St. Petersburg City Council.

A number of states and municipalities all over the nation have decriminalized the possession of marijuana within the past several years. These types of mini-marijuana reforms have the potential to prevent thousands of people every year from entering into the criminal justice system, while allowing law enforcement to focus their efforts on more serious crime.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

According to the DMV, if you’ve committed a traffic violation and received a citation, you’ll need to decide whether to fight or pay the ticket. Traffic ticket fines and requirements will vary depending on where you committed the violation and whether it’s unpaid parking tickets, unpaid traffic tickets, speeding ticket, red light ticket, or a ticket/penalty for driving without insurance.

If you’ve recently received a traffic ticket, you may face more than fines and an appearance in traffic court. Depending on the violation that caused the ticket and the court handling the citation, you may face:

• Action against your driver’s license.
• Points on your driving record.
• Traffic court requirements.
• Increased car insurance rates.
• Mandatory traffic school or defensive driving.

The steps you’ll need to take to handle your traffic ticket will be determined by the traffic court in the jurisdiction where you were cited. Fines and driver’s license points will vary depending on the severity of the traffic law you violated.

Here in Pinellas County, many violations may be reduced or excused if the driver agrees to go to a court approved traffic school. You may take the course on-line. Whether you need Driver’s Education or Traffic School, an online format gives you total convenience and flexibility. Not only will you have access to your course 24/7, but you’ll also have the freedom to work on it wherever you please. You can put the days of a crowded classroom behind you and take your next First-Time Driver’s Ed or your Florida Traffic School online.

To get the best advice on your options, call Alex Truluck. Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

Of course, that is one of the goals of a good criminal defense attorney. Let’s take a look at what is involved.

If successful, the records are said to be “expunged“. Black’s Law Dictionary defines “expungement of record” as the “Process by which record of criminal conviction is destroyed or sealed from the state or Federal repository.”

Reducing Felonies to Misdemeanors: When a felony is punishable by either time in prison or time in the county jail, this is what we call a wobbler or reducible felony. By agreement of the parties or by order of court the case can be reduced to a misdemeanor. Once reduced, the case becomes a misdemeanor for all purposes.

Sealing Records: Arrests for specified offenses resulting in a finding of guilt by the court may be sealable under Florida Law.

First, the court must have withheld the adjudication of guilt. In Florida you can be found guilty but not be convicted. This is the withholding of the adjudication.

Second, the offense cannot be a prohibited offense by statute.

Those conditions and the requirement that you have never been adjudicated guilty (convicted) of any other crime or have had any other Florida arrest sealed or expunged will qualify you to have your criminal arrest record sealed.

The first thing that everyone should understand is that there are no magic wands when it comes to cleaning up your history. Avoiding a conviction in the first place is the best way to avoid a record. Minimizing criminal charges and punishment is choice number two. After that, we need to be successful on probation and avoid ANY violations of probation or new cases.

When the time comes to start cleaning records, either after probation is over or after a motion to terminate probation early, we first try to reduce any felonies that we can to a misdemeanor. Then we try to expunge convictions, starting with the newest and most serious cases first. From there we try to knock them out one by one until they are all gone. And, if at first we don’t succeed and a request is denied, we can reset the request for six months or a year later and try it again. When a judge realizes that we are serious, at some point he may change his mind and grant the request.

Then, after all the cases are expunged, go request your “official” rap sheet/criminal history from the California Department of Justice. It’s worth taking the time and paying the money to get it because this is the only real rap sheet there is. Make sure the rap sheet is accurate and if it’s not, go through the process to get it corrected.

The benefit of cleaning your record is potentially huge. First if you reduce a felony to a misdemeanor, it becomes a misdemeanor for all purposes. Next, if you expunge a conviction, felony or misdemeanor, you can honestly tell someone you have never been arrested or convicted of a crime. This excludes governmental licensing and the state lottery. If you actually get a pardon, although it may be rare, you get all of your rights back from before the conviction.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

Non Payment of Child Support is a civil matter. Enforcement is based on local laws. However, in Pinellas County, delinquency can result in your drivers license being suspended.

According to the Pinlleas County Clerk of the Court website:

The Clerk of the Court can enforce Child Support in the following ways:

Notice of Delinquency resulting in Judgment by Operation of Law: Fifteen (15) days after a case becomes delinquent according to S.61.14(6)(a)1, the Clerk sends the Obligor (also referred to as “payor” or “respondent”) a notice of delinquency to the address of record. The Obligor has fifteen (15) days to make payment in full or file a motion to contest.

1.   Payment in full must include fees listed on notice.2.   Motion to Contest. Upon receipt of a motion to contest the Clerk will schedule a hearing and send out notices for the hearing date and time to the Obligor and Obligee (also referred to as “payee” or “petitioner”). After the hearing an order is issued concerning delinquency.

3.   If payment or Motion is not received within the fifteen (15) days, a Judgment by Operation of Law is filed. This will cause the support records to accrue interest on arrears balances. Interest is established at the rate for that year by the Florida Department of Financial Services (Office of the Chief Financial Officer of Florida).

Driver’s License Suspension for Child Support Only and Non-IV-D Cases (only for cases not enforced by the Department of Revenue Child Support).

1.   Upon written request from the Obligee the Clerk will verify delinquency on account and send a Notice of Intent to Suspend to the Obligor. Notice is sent by regular mail that is posted to the Obligor’s last address of record with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as provided under S.61.13016FS and S.322.245.2.   The Obligor may do one of the following:

• Make the payment of delinquency in full to the Clerk of Court
• Enter into a written agreement with the Obligee and provide the signed, written agreement to the Clerk for filing, or
• File a Motion/petition to Contest the delinquency. Upon receipt of the motion and a $32.00 fee, the Clerk will schedule a hearing and send notice of the hearing date and time to both parties.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

This may seem to be a silly question. If you are in jail, you really want to get out as soon as possible, right? The answer is – It depends. There are some basic rules when deciding to bail out a client.

Now is the right time to post bail when:

1. The client will be deported if he/she is not bailed immediately.
2. The client will earn more money while out on bail than the cost of the bailbond.
3. The client will lose a good job that he will be able to keep if he bails out.
4. The client has children or dependants he/she must support.
5. The client will suffer a substantial financial loss if he/she remains in custody: such as losing a home, or significant business transaction.
6. The client must get out of custody in order to assist in his legal defense.
7. Your lawyer tells you to bail out.
8. You are in a position to post cash bail.
9. You get a great deal on bail.

The holidays are a tough time to be in jail. Inmates are often scared while they are in custody and put a great deal of pressure on family members to post bail, especially this time of year. Most of us have never been in jail and don’t understand the difficult time that inmates in local jails can actually face. Inmates are often threatened while in custody, pressured to do things they wouldn’t normally do, and certainly subjected to deplorable conditions in jail.

Inmates are often “tested” by other inmates. Especially when they first arrive in jail, inmates try to push each other and see what they can get away with.

From such fear come the many phone calls begging for bail. Parents and family members who are not familiar with the criminal justice system often try to scrape together every nickel they have to post bail and then have no money left to hire an attorney or pay for the cost of a private investigator or expert witness, or pay their rent or mortgage.

You should talk to your lawyer BEFORE posting bail. Maybe bail can be reduced, maybe the case can be settled, or maybe the defendant can stick it out in custody and that money can be used to hire a lawyer or at least for living expenses after the client is released from custody. Remember, inmates accrue credit for the time they are in custody before the case is over. That credit can greatly reduce a sentence in a case. This is what we can “time served”.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.

According to Channel News 8 WFLA dot com in Tampa:

Greg Davenport was outside Walmart in Liberty, Ohio on Wednesday carrying a sign saying, “I am a thief. I stole from Walmart.”

Davenport said he will be holding the sign for eight hours a day for 10 days, rather than spending 30 days in jail. He said he was caught trying to take a 52-inch television out of the store.

“I stole, I got punished. That’s it,” Davenport said, adding that he chose the punishment so he could take care of his parents.

Someone checks every other hour to make sure Davenport is walking the street.

Davenport has previous petty theft charges in four surrounding towns.

Liberty Police Chief Richard Tisone he hopes holding the sign embarrasses Davenport enough to keep him from committing the same crime again.

“Maybe you can get to their inner side. Maybe they’re a little embarrassed by the fact they have to hold a sign up, so it might affect some of these individuals, so I’m all for it,” he said.

Alexander Truluck focuses his practice as a criminal defense attorney in Clearwater, Palm Harbor, Largo, Dunedin and the Tampa Bay area.

For more information, visit our website at http://www.criminallawyerclearwaterflorida.com
or call (727) 799-3550.