TAKING IMMEDIATE ACTION AFTER A FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTMENT OFTEN GAINS THE BEST RESULTS

We've looked at methods to stop the grand jury process, establishing there's been grand jury abuse and how to make direct challenges to a grand jury indictment. But unfortunately even when a grand jury indictment may be subject to a later challenge once a federal grand jury produces an indictment against a defendant who has not already been arrested for the allegations he will face immediate federal arrest. Within hours or a few days of the arrest the defendant will face a federal magistrate judge in a federal courtroom who will make important determinations as to whether the defendant should be released while awaiting trial and if so what restraints and limitations may be required such as giving up of passport, gps monitoring, drug monitoring or ankle bracelet.

 Eliminate Your Flight Risk

Unlike the way criminal cases move forward in Florida's state criminal court system it's unusual for a bail bondsman to be involved in the federal bond process as the magistrate is apt to either allow a property bond subject to forfeiture or to grant a signature bond if release before trial is deemed appropriate. The magistrate judge's primary objective is to secure attendance to future court hearings and trials by eliminating any flight risk from the defendant. Factors a judge takes into account for federal bond and detention include the nature of the offense, the prior record of the defendant, the violent nature of the offense and statutory requirements such as the necessity to view any drug trafficking offense as a presumptive threat to the public.

In the Middle District of Florida most federal prisoners await their first appearance at the Pinellas County Jail which is often overcrowded with unsafe conditions. After the initial hearing with the magistrate the Florida federal cases proceed quickly compared to Florida state cases and in a manner of months are usually resolved by plea or trial.

The most important decisions made by federal defendants are often made very early in the federal criminal process sometimes well before the grand jury even deliberates on the allegations of misconduct. In federal cases where smart decisions are made early the likelihood of future success are enhanced so it's important to work with your federal criminal defense lawyer to gain the best results.

IF YOU NEED HELP: CLEARWATER CRIMINAL LAWYER CONSULTATION FOR YOU ANY HOUR OF EVERY DAY

When you or a member of your family is facing the most challenging time of your life it's important that a criminal defense lawyer is immediately available to offer the best possible solutions for your problem. And at our firm we're always ready to offer advice 24/7 every day of the year. Just call (727)365-5555 and leave a message and the Clearwater Criminal Defense Lawyer will return your call tolp you as soon as possible to help you.

If you're being investigated for a Florida federal crime you'll need help from an effective and reliable lawyer with significant experience in Federal Court, who understands what to do if a federal grand jury is looking into your conduct, who knows how to establish federal prosecutorial abuse, who possesses  a comprehensive view of the Federal system including the judges, magistrates, federal agents and prosecutors and has had numerous successful trials in Federal Court including large drug cases involving cocaine as well as marijuana. 

If there's already been an arrest in your case for either the violation of a federal crime or a violation of Florida law such as battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated battery, assault, drug crimes or grand theft, then it's vital to your prospects to pursue your investigation of the facts and law to mount the best possible defense for your case. This can best be done thru the hiring of an experienced Clearwater criminal defense attorney.

In all Florida courts it's a strategic advantage to having your lawyer at every stage of the proceedings as the cases quickly from investigation to arrest and toward a jury trial. The objectives set and decisions made in early stages of the criminal proceedings set the tone for everything that follows. Even after an arrest has been made by law enforcement officers the State Attorney's Office under Florida law must conduct its own investigation of the facts of a case and in felony cases that includes the taking of testimony. Although there may have been an arrest a defense lawyer already knowledgeable about the facts and circumstances of the criminal allegations will strive to lead the prosecutors toward a decision to no file the case.

At our firm we're always prepared to help you. Call today and receive the criminal law help you need from a Clearwater criminal defense lawyer available at any hour every day.

EIGHT METHODS TO STOP A FEDERAL GRAND JURY SUBPOENA IN THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA

Stopping a federal grand jury subpoena may be made based on a showing of either a technical or a substantive error made by the federal prosecutor. This is done by enumerating the failure in a Motion to Quash the Grand Jury Subpoena made by the federal defense lawyer.

The Motion to Quash may be include one or more of the following seven defects:

1. A showing that the grand jury term has expired. This would mean that the grand jury was not actually legally authorized to conduct the hearing at the time the hearing took place.

2. A showing that the grand jury has an inappropriate mixture of citizens. For example, if it can be proven that the creation of the grand jury resulted from a systematic exclusion of minority citizens.

3.  A showing that the grand jury was created within a framework of bias or taint from inappropriate reaction to news media accounts of the incident in question. 

4.  A showing that the grand jury relied on information it should not have had access to during its deliberations. For example, establishing that a grand juror used google searches during the course of deliberations to learn information that went beyond the scope of the prosecutor's grand jury presentation.

5. A showing that the grand jury used inappropriate or illegally obtained information during the course of its deliberations. Typically this would involve the federal prosecutor submitting unlawfully obtained documents, email, encrypted files based on a password or business records which the DEA or FBI gained access to without first procuring a proper search warrant that was based on trustworthy facts.

6. A showing that the grand jury was subjected to the actions of a renegade prosecutor who used the grand jury as a fishing expedition thru myriad unjustified subpoenas and request for documents, emails or business records.

7. A showing that the grand jury heard evidence from a source which was later found to be excludable. For example, the grand jury hears evidence from a witness who lacked competency to testify to the given facts.

8. A showing that the grand jury lacked jurisdiction or venue. It makes sense that the grand jury, just like the case itself must be connected to the community in which it seeks to indict one or more of the members of that community. For example, in a federal drug case you'd expect some connection of the allegations to the place where the grand jury is meeting (though one might hope not in the very room where they meet).

As you can see proving one or more of these examples is easier said than done. However, if you or a family member has been indicted by a federal grand jury in the Middle District of Florida it's important to find a criminal defense attorney with federal experience to examine all of the possible defects that may have occurred well before the case is set for trial.

HOW PROSECUTORS CONTROL & DIRECT AMERICAN FEDERAL GRAND JURY INDICTMENT DELIBERATIONS

In a well-known yet hidden truth of federal criminal law, federal grand jury's don't indict people - federal prosecutors do. It's the United State's prosecutors aided by government agents from the FBI, the DEA and fraud inspectors from a variety of Government agencies who bring cases to American grand jurors and direct the deliberations until the desired indictment is delivered. 

Grand Jury with victorious Prosecutor
after delivering Indictment

The grand jury hears only the evidence deemed worthy by the government. In practical terms this means that unless the prosecutor does not want an indictment, little or no evidence that could help the defendant will ever be given to members of the grand jury. It's an unfair process, but of course it's meant to be. 

The objective of an effective prosecutor is first to mold the charging document or indictment. During that process the prosecutor seeks to iron out or at least gain useful knowledge of possible defenses to a potential criminal case. It's not unusual for the grand jury to hear snippets of evidence of uncharged misconduct over a long course of time, even for weeks or months, especially in complex federal conspiracy and trafficking cases or complicated white collar fraud cases, until the prosecutor is satisfied that the case if contested by the defense can still be won at federal trial or better, that the defendant in the case can be forced to plead guilty. It's rare that the grand jury members will have the presence of mind, will power or strength of character to stop an inappropriate indictment from being issued by an ardent prosecutor. 

After all, the members of an American grand jury are relying on the prosecutor to not only give them the appropriate federal laws allegedly being violated, but also to provide the facts necessary to support a conviction under those laws. Nor is it likely to be considered prosecutorial misconduct for the federal prosecutor to unduly influence the grand jury's decision-making process as it's built within an often unfair federal criminal justice system that has a very high rate of success in forcing guilty pleas since many defendants come to believe that the criminal justice system is rigged in the government's favor.

In the federal prosecutions there's incentive to overcharge defendants at the grand jury level in order to gain leverage over defendants and to force a guilty plea with co-operation to indict other defendants. In fact in the Middle District of Florida in Tampa a defendant may receive a target letter, that advises the defendant that a grand jury has been convened to look at criminal conduct with the implicit threat that failure to respond, retain the services of a federal defense attorney and co-operate may result in a federal indictment. As a practical matter the prosecutor has such control and direction of the federal grand jury that the threats must be taken seriously. After a federal indictment the defendant with help from a federal criminal defense attorney must make an important life-changing decision, whether to plead guilty or have a federal trial.

POLICE AGENCIES TAKE PERSONAL PROPERTY WITHOUT INDICTMENT, HEARING OR EVIDENCE OF GUILT

Perhaps it should come as no surprise that police agencies make wish lists for forfeiture items. But forfeiture of property often occurs despite the fact that the rightful owner of the property is nether convicted nor charged with a federal or Florida crime. In fact across American your tax dollars are used to send police officers to special seminars where they're told which private items are worth taking from the citizens they're supposedly protecting. Jewelry is too hard to sell, computers too common, fast cars are just right. 


The New York Times even describes a sheriff who had his eye on a particularly Italian specimen of fast car which he and his deputies laid claim to after careful strategy and planning sessions to make the necessary arrest. Few would object to the forfeiture of property when linked directly to a criminal act. However, every forfeiture should arise only after charges are filed and then after a conviction is obtained for those charges. 

Just Don't Take My Pumpkin Frappuccino

In high profile complex criminal litigation the taking of property without a fair hearing before indictment and trial has become an effective and alarming means of depriving the alleged wrong doer of the means to fund an adequate defense. Unfortunately for everyone involved it also makes it difficult for defense counsel to buy that grandee pumpkin spice frappuccino he's had his eye on for the past hour at Starbucks, but let's not make this too personal.

Clearly national standards for federal and state police actions for forfeiture of property should include the following requirements:

1. A charging document, indictment or in states such as Florida a charging information where no grand jury is necessary for a criminal charge.
2. An assessment of how the property pertains to the charged misconduct. For example, establishing that the property was the ill gotten gains from a conspiracy to defraud or grand theft to  part of part of the charging document 
3. The right to an immediate hearing to contest the taking of property.
4. The burden of any pretrial hearing to be solely upon the government to establish why the property must be taken.
5. At the formal hearing the property owner should have the right to confront all of the state's witnesses as well as to call to the witness stand any witness including police officers, detectives and administrative officials within the police department who could shed light on the motives of the department for taking the property and their previous actions in other forfeiture hearings.

The goal should be to protect private property by restricting the use of forfeiture by prosecutors and police departments to only those cases where there's absolute necessity for the taking.

THE BEST WAYS TO AVOID ARREST & PROSECUTION WHEN YOU'RE THE TARGET OF AN INVESTIGATION

Just as one leery Clearwater criminal defense attorney will look over his shoulder wondering if that police cruiser with the flashing lights is after him or (crossing my fingers) someone else, anyone who is the target of an aggressive law enforcement investigation will live in dread until the ordeal is over. Once that cruiser passes, I'll keep typing.

Cupid Creates Target Letter

Unlike being stopped for speeding, Federal and state investigators have no obligation to immediately notify someone that he or she is a target of an investigation. The more complex the alleged misconduct the more likely it will be that an investigation will be initiated without the knowledge of the target. As more evidence is accumulated the target may be confronted with information about the alleged crime or with an opportunity to make a statement of admission or denial of criminal conduct.

Law enforcement officers either have sufficient evidence to make an arrest or they don't. So why provide them with more evidence? Even a denial may help an investigation if the denial comes with an explanation that is implausible or factual incoherent. 

Sometimes officers may threaten to make an arrest if there is no cooperation, which is the best signal they could give that they haven't arrested you only because they want more evidence. The objective of a target must be to keep in mind that the process of an investigation is controlled by law enforcement. 

One client recently told me that she confessed to a Grand Theft charge in Tampa Bay only to 'get out of the room' after a long, intense interrogation in front of the people who employed her. One of the Detectives seeing her breaking point approaching kept saying louder and louder, "You want it to end? Then confess." And in an instant against her better judgement she confessed to the crime making it much more difficult to help her get the case dismissed or reduced.  

Federal investigators in Tampa Bay, Florida may generously notify a person that a possible arrest is imminent or grand jury testimony sought by sending what is known as The Target Letter. A Target Letter cajoles the recipient to find a lawyer and begin negotiations to diffuse the possibility of a pending Federal Grand Jury indictment.

Because there is little to be gained by speaking to investigators, if  you do decide to speak with them make sure you have a Tampa Bay criminal lawyer with you to defend your interests and help you avoid arrest. 

INTERNAL AFFAIRS MISCONDUCT INVESTIGATION OF PINELLAS SHERIFF'S NARCOTICS DIVISION LEADS TO DETECTIVE'S RESIGNATION

Rather than testify under oath a Pinellas Sheriff's Deputy and Detective of the Narcotics Division resigned in shame yesterday when confronted with thousands of pages of internal affairs evidence of his misconduct and possible criminal actions. Other Deputies are also being investigated by internal affairs for numerous violations of Florida law in Tampa Bay, which leads your favorite Clearwater Criminal Defense Attorney to wonder who the real criminals are when law enforcement at the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department is so corrupt that it investigates itself. This blog noted months ago that undercover detectives were accused of using fake subpoenas and donning the gear of utility men to gain entry into homes as well as committing possible felonies such as armed trespass and burglary. 

Goya, Shame, 1814

It shouldn't take a former prosecutor and Clearwater Criminal Defense Lawyer to state the obvious: more than internal scrutiny is necessary to clean up this mess. A Grand Jury should be convened to investigate local law enforcement's failure to abide by Florida law. Indictments should follow for any illegal activity. If the Pinellas State Attorney's office doesn't have the stomach to properly investigate crime at PCSO with the guidance of a local Grand Jury, then Governor Scott should convene a Grand Jury that will look into the systematic corruption within the criminal justice system in Pinellas at a higher and presumably more effective level to root out corrupt law enforcement. As citizens of Florida we have the right to expect that our law enforcement officers will abide by the same laws that we must follow because the law applies equally to all of us.

PINELLAS DEPUTY SUSPENDED FOR DESTROYING EVIDENCE -- A FELONY IN FLORIDA

This much is certain - evidence was destroyed in a marijuana grow house case. The Defense believes the evidence would have established that undercover officers broke the law by committing at least a trespass and possibly a burglary to the dwelling of the Defendant before a search warrant was obtained. The case was already controversial in that Deputies obtained warrants by following vehicles parked at a hydrponics store which is likely unconstitutional based on a new Supreme Court decision. Having tried a federal grow house case in which there was insufficient evidence from the Government to convict my client, I believe that the recourses being used as well as the underhanded activities of law enforcement in these cases is unconscionable...


The evidence destroyed was surveillance video on the hard drive of a video recorder installed at the Defendant's home. After an internal affairs complaint was filed by the defense attorney, the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office found that Sgt. Taylor, a supervisor of the narcotics division, ordered the hard drive of the video recorder to be erased. His reason - he claims the video showed the bare faces of undercover Detectives and this could place them in future jeopardy. 
The punishment for the Deputy? Suspension for five days and reassignment to patrol...This blog has noted that there are a large number of morally challenged officers who are not being fired. But my question is - why is he not in jail?


Law enforcement is not the final arbiter of what evidence is of value and what isn't - the Courts are. It's only the rule of law as established by the Courts which guards our rights as Americans keeping us from being a police state...No destruction of evidence should occur before the Defense, the Judge and a Jury has had an opportunity to view it. A judge would have ordered the faces of any Detectives to be redacted to preserve their future safety. 


Why is tampering with evidence a felony punishable by up to five years in prison in Florida? Because the purpose of criminal justice is to find the truth. How can we find the truth if the Police tamper with evidence before the Court and a Criminal Defense Lawyer have an opportunity to view the evidence?


To protect the integrity of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office the following should be done immediately:
1. A grand jury must be convened to determine if laws were broken, and if so by whom including the possible felony of destroying exculpatory evidence with recommendations for proper protection of all evidence. 
2. The FDLE and the FBI should investigate to determine if laws were broken and if so how far up the chain of command this went. Those supervisors with knowledge, those who acquiesced in crime, those who failed to stand up and do the right thing should be fired and prosecuted.
3. The State Attorney's Office should be given the impartial investigation results and make a public decision on whether direct filing of felonies is warranted with factual explanations.
4. At the same time Federal Prosecutors should investigate to determine if any Federal laws were broken and if the systemic corruption within PCSO and the State Attorney's Office can be rooted out.

Florida Statutes > Chapter 918 > § 918.13 - Tampering with or fabricating physical evidence Current as of: 2011    (1) No person, knowing that a criminal trial or proceeding or an investigation by a duly constituted prosecuting authority, law enforcement agency, grand jury or legislative committee of this state is pending or is about to be instituted, shall:    (a) Alter, destroy, conceal, or remove any record, document, or thing with the purpose to impair its verity or availability in such proceeding or investigation; or    (b) Make, present, or use any record, document, or thing, knowing it to be false.    (2) Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a felony of the third degree The above Florida Statute applies in this case. There is no exception for law enforcement officers and  it is specific that one can not "...alter, destroy, conceal or remove..." evidence in any case "pending or is about to be instituted." If you believe a law enforcement officer has acted improperly in your case contact a Clearwater Criminal Defense Attorney for immediate help. Could this be an inconspicuous undercover Clearwater Detective -- about to do a burglary? Boris Kustodiev, Self Portrait, 1905

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!" 

SOMEWHERE ORWELL IS SMILING: SECRET VIDEOS MADE BY THE PINELLAS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE WERE USED IN SEARCH WARRANTS BASED ON WHERE PEOPLE SHOP IN LARGO FLORIDA

Imagine a dark Orwellian world where everything you do is on video and everything you do is closely examined in the hope it can be used as evidence against you in the future.

Well, if you live in Pinellas County, Florida you don't have to imagine that world anymore, as your Pinellas County Sheriff's Office secretly put hundreds of customers under video surveillance for over a year at a plant store called Simply Hydroponics. Law enforcement then used identifiers of the customers, such as the tags on their vehicles to track them, spy on them and to obtain search warrants which contained at best highly unlikely information.

This should make every American angry and even makes your favorite Clearwater Defense Lawyer despair for the future of our country.
In one case law enforcement officers placed a plant store customer's home under surveillance then swore under oath in a search warrant that they could smell the marijuana plants and heard the distinct noise of foliage being broken from within what they designated as a suspected marijuana grow house. Our intrepid detectives found a single marijuana plant upon forcing their way into the home.
If there's one thing all of us as Americans should be against it's unbridled government surveillance and the destruction of our privacy rights. Yet we should also agree that the inherent corruption which resulted in officer's telling lies under oath must also be rooted out.
The surveillance, the lies, the misinformation and the failure of law enforcement to abide by basic American standards of Justice should result in the immediate investigations of every law enforcement officer and every prosecutor involved as prosecutors routinely draft, prepare and take the search warrants to Judges for signatures. 
A Grand Jury should immediately be convened by the Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate he highest positions at the Sheriff's Office and at the State Attorney's Office, to find who was responsible for placing the video equipment near the store, to find what other stores or public areas are secretly under surveillance and to bring to justice all of those who did this or allowed this to be done under their watch.

Here are a few excerpts about smell as possible probable cause from the St. Petersburg Times Article: Young plants don't emit an odor, but if a person were growing "hundreds" of mature plants in a structure that wasn't properly sealed, it's "possible" an officer very close to the home would notice the smell...James Woodford of Chattanooga, Tenn., an expert on the topic of marijuana odor, said a large operation vented directly outdoors could generate an occasional "whiff" of marijuana detectable up to 25 to 30 feet away [i.e., less than half the distance between the sidewalk and Underwood's "alleged grow room"]....Law enforcement officers commonly use the smell of marijuana to establish probable cause.
Drug Crimes Trial Lawyer & Criminal Defense Attorney in Clearwater, FL
Times Editorial: America shouldn't be a surveillance society
Video Surveillance – Are Hidden Cameras Legal?
933.07 Issuance of search warrants.—
(1) The judge, upon examination of the application and proofs submitted, if satisfied that probable cause exists for the issuing of the search warrant, shall thereupon issue a search warrant signed by him or her with his or her name of office, to any sheriff and the sheriff’s deputies or any police officer or other person authorized by law to execute process, commanding the officer or person forthwith to search the property described in the warrant or the person named, for the property specified, and to bring the property and any person arrested in connection therewith before the judge or some other court having jurisdiction of the offense.

(2) Notwithstanding any other provisions of this chapter, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, based on grounds specified in s. 933.02(4)(d), may obtain a search warrant authorized by this chapter for an area in size up to and including the full extent of the county in which the search warrant is issued. The judge issuing such search warrant shall conduct a court proceeding prior to the issuance of such search warrant upon reasonable notice and shall receive, hear, and determine any objections by property owners to the issuance of such search warrant. Such search warrant may be served by employees or authorized contractors of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Such search warrant may be made returnable at any time up to 6 months from the date of issuance.

933.04 Affidavits.—The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects against unreasonable seizures and searches shall not be violated and no search warrant shall be issued except upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation particularly describing the place to be searched and the person and thing to be seized.

The Florida Statutes - The Florida Senate

From Orwell's novel 1984, The three slogans of the Party on the Ministry of Truth Building.