FEDERAL COURT OVERTURNS DOCTOR BOB'S CONVICTIONS: PINELLAS COURTS MUST ALLOW EXPERTS TO BE CROSSEXAMINED

Three days ago the Federal Appeals Court with jurisdiction over Florida overturned a Doctor's conviction in US v. Ignasiak because the government at Trial failed to produce witnesses for autopsy reports and handwritten testimony. The Doctor, known to his friends and family as 'Dr. Bob' in over twenty years of practice wrote hundreds of prescriptions for vicodin, oxycondin and other drugs and according to the government at trial contributed to the deaths of at least five of his patients, while causing many others to become addicted to powerful painkilling drugs. 

But your Clearwater Criminal Attorney believes every American deserves a fair trial even Florida Pain Doctors who must manage chronic pain of their patients while avoiding the potential penalty of a life time in prison.

From the opinion: During Ignasiak’s trial, the government introduced the autopsy reports of five of Ignasiak’s former patients in which the cause of death was determined to be, at least in part, intoxication from controlled substances... defense counsel objected based upon the Confrontation Clause...

Astonishingly, at trial the government failed to bring in the actual doctors who wrote the autopsy reports. Recently this blog noted the trend toward greater scrutiny of the Confrontation Clause which requires the government at trial to produce the actual witnesses who conduct laboratory and forensic evidence rather than merely producing the reports generated by the witnesses. If you're a Doctor falsely accused of medical fraud,  pain mismanagement or dispensing controlled substances call a Clearwater Drug Attorney for an immediate consultation.

The purpose of a trial should always be to find the truth. The truth can be found by a jury only if the Defense is allowed to question the expert authors of reports which are based on opinions and conclusions. This decision furthers the argument that it's unconscionable that the government was allowed to introduce expert opinions at a criminal trial without being required to subject those opinions to cross-examination. All the Courts in Florida - State and Federal, including those in Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Pinellas are bound by this decision.

Synopsis of the Case (Full U.S. v. Ignasiak Opinion): The Defendant was a doctor licensed in the State of Florida who appeals his convictions for dispensing controlled substances in violation of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), 21 U.S.C. 801 and for health care fraud. The Defendant contends that the district court at trial abused its discretion by allowing the introduction of autopsy reports and handwritten medical reports without requiring testimony by their authors. 

The Federal Appeals Court for the 11th Circuit reversed defendant's convictions because the admission of the autopsy reports and testimony about those reports, without live in-court testimony from the medical examiners who actually performed the autopsies, violated the Confrontation Clause under the facts of the case and that because the government's case was not overwhelming the violation of the Defendant's right to cross-examine witnesses was not harmless error in this case.

Is Justice just a game? The purpose of a Criminal Trial is to find the truth - maybe it's hiding behind black's King...Checkmate!

Daumier, The Chess Players, 1863.

AN ILLEGAL ARREST IN FLORIDA CAN BE LAWFULLY RESISTED - - WITHOUT FORCE OR VIOLENCE

A recent legal opinion in the 3rd DCA (Florida Appeals Court) overturned a conviction for Resisting Arrest Without Violence where it was found that the arresting officer was not engaged in the lawful execution of his legal duty when he told a juvenile to step out of the street for the juvenile's safety. 
When the juvenile refused to step out of the street the officer arrested him despite the officer having.... "no legal duty to insist on compliance and to enforce that insistence with arrest where the record shows that there were no circumstances warranting this," which very likely is what your favorite Clearwater Defense Attorney might have said had he not been blissfully reading a mystery novel by flickering firelight at the time of this mishap or possibly simply dreaming of reading...Though this case is not binding in Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Pinellas its reaffirmation of the English Common Law is well reasoned likely having a consistent result here.


At trial the officer testified as follows:

Q. Okay....Why did you initially tell him [the defendant] to get off the road?”

A. [Officer Kurless (think of his voice as coming from an impaired, nearly inebriated Sean Connery)]: Well for his safety, because cars be [sic] coming down the road and he could get hit, so we just told him to kind of step off to the side of the road.” 

It's ridiculous that to protect the child from harm the officer arrested him -- placing him with criminals, destroying his reputation and ensuring that when the child grows up, for the rest of his life on any job application he'll have to explain what happened so many years ago, because of a foolish overzealous officer who thru some horific leap of the space time continuum somehow envisions himself to be James Bond (see the above trial transcript excerpt). 
That juvenile needed a Pinellas Juvenile Defense Lawyer an attorney who can help any juvenile who has been charged with a crime in Pinellas County especially when it's the officer who needs to be spanked. An arrest is among the worst things the government can do to one of its citizens, no arrest should ever be made unless there is good cause and certainly not to a juvenile...as a juvenile arrest has grave consequences.

The Court found that legal duty for an officer can arise in the following situations:
The case law provides that “legal duties” include (1) serving process; (2) legally detaining a person; or (3) asking for assistance in an emergency situation, or 4) impeding officers’ undercover activities by acting as a “lookout” during the commission of a criminal act...Although this is not an exhaustive list, it is clear that there is a difference between an officer who is engaging in the lawful execution of a legal duty, and a police officer who is merely on the job...
And the Court's final ruling (over a furious dissenting opinion written to purge all Juvenile Jaywalkers from our streets) states emphatically that the English Common Law is still valid in Florida even if it's not in England:

“If an arrest is not lawful, then a defendant cannot be guilty of resisting it -- the common law rule still remains that a person may lawfully resist an illegal arrest without using any force or violence.” 

Clearwater Police are on the prowl...Be careful citizens.

POLICE OFFICERS CAUGHT DOING CRIMES ARE NOT BEING ARRESTED CHARGED NOR PROSECUTED IN TAMPA CLEARWATER & ST. PETERSBURG PINELLAS FLORIDA

You'd think Florida Law Enforcement Officers would be held to a higher standard. You'd hope Officers caught doing crimes would not only be prosecuted to the full extent of the law but be drummed out of service.  If that's what you believe - you're wrong, as the this recent and ongoing series of articles, How Florida's Problem Officers Remain on the Job from the Herald Tribune make clear: officers are getting away with every crime under the sun, crimes for which every other citizen is brought before judges and juries and if convicted punished with jail time.

Among the Herald-Tribune's findings:

One in 20 active law enforcement officers in Florida has committed a moral character violation serious enough to jeopardize his or her career. Nearly 600 have two or more such acts of misconduct on their record and 30 current officers and prison guards continue to wear a badge despite four or more offenses.

Officers in Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater and Sarasota have been accused of violence acts such as aggravated battery, grand theft, possession of drugs and sexual battery enough to keep your favorite Clearwater Defense Attorney busy for years. Five years ago in an earlier blog post I wrote about the systemic corruption in a bargaining sex for drug reduction scandal at the Clearwater State Attorney's Office, now it appears corruption still exists in many Florida law enforcement agencies as can be seen in case studies of officer corruption.
For the law to be an effective deterrent to crime every citizen especially those sworn under oath to protect us, to defend us and to uphold our law must be subject to the law.

These corrupt officers should immediately be fired. A grand jury should be convened to indict those responsible at the highest levels of each law enforcement agency and each state attorney's office who coddled these criminals. 
If you believe that you are the victim of a crime at the hands of a Florida law enforcement officer you'll want to contact a Pinellas Crime Lawyer immediately to determine what action to take including reporting the crime to federal watchdogs such as the FBI Tampa Anti-corruption Squad which can conduct complex undercover operations investigating any corruption in law enforcement agencies in Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Pinellas.


At least Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife was honest, incorruptible, loyal and kept his one bullet ready to defend - Barney we need you...

Deputy Sheriff Barney Fife

• Favorite Quotations from Officer Barney Fife:
• "Floyd, if you would keep your mind outta Washington and stick to your barbering, I might get a better haircut. Now, what did you do with my sideburns?", paying Floyd, "Here, go buy a barber book!" 
• "If a chicken hawk is hanging around, a wise rooster doesn't bury his head...he keeps his eye on the chicken" (advice for Andy on keeping Andy's girlfriend safe from another man)
• "I'm sorry about this, but us lawmen can't take chances!" --Barney (as he frisks an Older Woman at a roadblock, searching for an escaped convict) --"But Barney! I'm your mother!" 

WHAT HAPPENS TO CHILDREN WHEN PARENTS ARE SENT TO JAIL IN TAMPA CLEARWATER & PINELLAS

When parents are incarcerated what happens to their children - will their children be sent to foster care in Tampa Bay or will their children be sent to live with relatives who may not want them? Well known and alarming foster care failures in Tampa, Clearwater & Pinellas Florida have endangered the very lives of the children foster care was meant to protect. 
In any case involving prison for parents the Judge should be made fully aware by the Criminal Defense Attorney of what the State of Florida intends to do with the children before sentencing. If the plan is to have the children sent to live with relatives its important to find out if the relatives have the means, passion and integrity to care for the children and depending on the ages of the children to determine if this is in their best interests.
With some finesse the Pinellas Defense Lawyer should become an advocate for the children urging the Court to weigh the damage incarcerating the parents will do to the children against the nature of the crime, the severity of the crime and the prior record of the parents. Clearly, the safety of the children should be the Court's chief concern followed by the need to punish the parents under Florida law, in which case parenting issues during incarceration becomes critical as does this Florida Manual for Incarcerated Parents which contains important legal forms such as a power of attorney.
An excellent article, When a parent is incarcerated: a primer for social workers, helps to explain the many complex problems that can arise when parents are incarcerated, particularly if their children must go into foster care. It should also be helpful for attorneys to use in sentencing mitigation and helping clients cope with the anxiety of being away from their children.

Van Gogh, Portrait of Camille Roulin, 1888

Portrait of Camille Roulin, 1888,

"OCCUPY COURTS" MOVEMENT PLANS COURT PROSTESTS: WILL THEY EFFECTIVELY SHUT DOWN THE COURTS IN TAMPA ST. PETERSBURG & CLEARWATER?

Another grass roots movement called Move to Amend may soon make siege to local Courts in Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Pinellas. The new movement is similar and possibly a branch of Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Tampa, with the intent to impact the federal courts with an attempt to "occupy the courts" in major cities. Your Clearwater Crime Attorney tends toward the view that Juries and Judges should be the ones protesting, since they're the ones stuck with having to listen to lawyers like me all day long.

On Friday, January 20, 2012 the movement plans to Occupy The Federal Courts of Tampa Bay.

In an email Donna Elm of the Middle District Court of Florida said she'd spoken to Federal Chief Judge Conway who said that the Courts bravely "intend to conduct business as usual," and to expect delays. Also, the folks at the Federal Courts noted that everyone including attorneys and defendants should bring identification as there'll be extra security and possibly long lines; and for everyone with Court business to arrive earlier than usual and to keep in mind that:
"Part of our job is believing in American freedoms, and that includes all of them, such as the right to peaceful assembly and protest, as well as the right to open access to tribunals. Please be tolerant, patient, and polite to our visitors." Sounds similar to the way your favorite Clearwater Criminal Lawyer approaches Christmas dinner with family...

So far it is believed that only courthouses in the Federal District Courts in Orlando and Tampa are targeted by the movement at this time. Nonetheless, it is possible that some folks may show up at other courthouses in the Tampa Bay area including the Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater, Pinellas County Florida.

WHO TO KNOW TO BECOME A FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE IN TAMPA ST. PETERSBURG CLEARWATER IN THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

The Florida Federal Judicial Nominating Commission is accepting applications for a United States District Judge position in the Middle District of Florida an area including Tampa, St. Petersburg and Clearwater, where your favorite Criminal Attorney presides over his golden retriever, Sancho and an occasional glass or more of red wine. Here is an interesting list of the folks who interviewed for the last Federal District Court vacancy. Will they still be interested?

The purpose of the Nominating Commission is to present the President with the best possible applicants, to take some of the politics out of the process, to make the process fair and transparent and to find a Judge whom the federal practice lawyers on the Commission trust to be - well, to be what exactly - fair and impartial or malleable? Unfortunately those members of the Commission who are attorneys are not barred from Federal practice making a farce of the entire process. Why have attorneys who practice in Federal Court on the Commission? Why have attorneys on the Commission? Isn't that an automatic conflict of interest? Here is a list of the members of the the Middle District of Florida Nominating Commission.

The vacancy was created when Judge Gregory A. Presnell’s gained senior status. Though Federal District Judges are appointed for life, they can opt to take on a less stressful schedule by taking senior status. 
The oldest sitting Federal Judge is Judge Wesley Brown of Kansas whose one caveat is "no lengthy trials" which makes sense at age 103 and if your favorite Pinellas crime lawyer was that old he'd be avoiding lengthy trials too... 
Anyway, applications for the judicial appointment can be obtained from the Florida Bar Online or at any Costco with a $50 membership fee. Completed applications must be received by the Commission's Statewide Chair and each Commission member in the manner specified by the Rules of Procedure by 5 p.m., Wednesday, January 18, 2012.

Potential Judges -- get to work on that application & brush up on those interviewing skills.

Vincent van Gogh, Man Writing Facing Left, 1881