FLORIDA JUDGE PERFORMS MIRACLE CURE IN COURTROOM HEALING

A Florida Judge may want to look into becoming a faith healer should he ever tier of listening to Clearwater Criminal Defense Attorneys. Judge Hurley was conducting what are known as bond advisories, where he determines bond for recently arrested inmates via a video link into the jail. Looking at a Defendant named Carl Funk, charged with Trespass, the defendant said that he is gravely disabled, in a wheelchair and bedridden even requiring the help of two deputies to sit at the hearing before the Judge.

Here are excerpts from the Sun Sentinel describing Judge Hurley's healing ways:

Masaccio, Healing with his Shadow, 1424

"I am disabled and it's really a problem for me to move around, I really need to be in my bed and that's where I'll be for the rest of my life."The judge read from the police report that stated Funk was trespassing on private property on South Ocean Drive."It didn't look like you were in bed at that time," Hurley said.

Funk explained that two men carried him out of his home to a neighbor's property, triggering the trespassing violation."I was [dragged] out by two unknown people," Funk said.A sympathetic Hurley set bond at $100 but Funk said he could not afford it."Your honor, I have limited funding," he said.So the judge offered Funk a six-month payment plan for $50 and Funk accepted it in exchange for a guilty plea."Sir, we are defendant-friendly in this courtroom," the judge joked. "Good luck, Funk."And with that, Funk stood up and walked away. The courtroom erupted in laughter and the judge looked up to see Funk was gone from the video monitor. He asked a jail deputy how the disabled defendant departed so quickly; the deputy explained Funk had used a walker that could not be seen on camera. Raising both hands, Judge Hurley declared, "He's been cured."

If you need help (other than with healing) in Largo, St. Petersburg & Tampa Bay call a Clearwater Criminal Defense Lawyer and we'll get your bond reduced to have you walking out of jail as soon as possible.

TAMPA FEDERAL COURT BOND & DETENTION STRATEGY

The purpose of a bond is to place money or property at risk so that the Defendant may remain free pending the resolution of his case. Upon release the Defendant must abide by any restrictions placed upon him by the magistrate, judge or probation office as the case proceeds thru the federal system or the case proceeds in the Pinellas Criminal Court Complex or in Tampa.

On Motion for a Reduction of Bond filed timely by a Clearwater Criminal Defense Attorney the court may insure the appearance of a Defendant with a signature bond based on a promise to pay if there is a nonappearance or a cash bond payed in advance of any appearance or with a property bond, also known as a secure bond.

In a typical case in the Federal District Court in Tampa a Federal Magistrate will look at the following factors to determine if bond should be reduced:

1. Ties to the community. How long has the Defendant lived in the community? Does the Defendant have employment, own property and have family ties to the area?
2. Risk of flight. Is there a likelihood that the Defendant will appear for his trial? Note that in Federal cases there is an automatic presumption of flight risk when the Defendant is charged with a significant amount of drugs. For example, if one is charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine or Trafficking in Cocaine, a minimum mandatory jail sentence is triggered as is the rebuttable presumption that the Defendant will attempt to flee.
3. Risk of danger to the community or to the victim of the crime, if any.

Surprisingly, the strength or weakness of the Government's case is ordinarily not a factor in determination of bond. Yet by timely demanding a Preliminary Hearing immediately before the detention hearing the Government will be forced to place unprepared testimony of the case agent subject to cross-examination before the Federal Magistrate to establish whether there is in fact Probable Cause to even be holding the Defendant.
This will rarely if ever free the Defendant,who after all, has been indicted by a Grand Jury that presumably has heard relevant evidence, but it may tend to show subtle problems with the charge.
For example, I once represented a too-trusting young middle class Canadian lady whose life was turned upside down when she was charged with Trafficking Drugs while she was in Tampa, Florida on vaction.
Under cross-examination during the Preliminary Hearing in the Middle District of Florida in Tampa that a Clearwater Criminal Federal Defense Lawyer demanded, the unprepared Case Agent from DEA testified that my client was actually not in the room when her boyfriend sold the drugs to a wired Confidential Informant. My client had gone into the bathroom. The Magistrate was clearly troubled and said so on the record, but could not reduce the bond; however, eventually the Government was forced to reduce the charge.