FLORIDA DUI'S TO BE DISMISSED IN AN OFFICER'S FIRING IN A TAMPA HONEY TRAP SET-UP SCANDAL

A number of DUI's will be dismissed in Hillsborough County, Florida due to fallout from the former head of the Tampa Police Department DUI division who was fired for his involvement in a notorious Honey Trap that resulted in a lawyer's arrest. Every pending case involving the former DUI division head where he was listed by the State Attorney's Office as a possible trial witness will be screened for possible dismissal, while as many as ten DUI cases, some with blood alcohol level evidence of over double the legal limit have already been dismissed. But just looking at pending cases is not nearly enough, even cases in which the Defendant has plead guilty to DUI or lesser charges should be re-examined with Defendants given an opportunity to reopen their cases.

Badge of Integrity?

Federal and state investigators are still looking at the actions of everyone involved in the drama of this scandal to determine what charges, if any, should be filed. Yet you, my reader, sitting there drinking your wine by the fireplace or possibly asleep within the relative safety of your home during the original scandal, you need not fear these allegations because they are unlikely to cause the Feds to come knocking at your door, nor even mine, one hopes.

A preliminary investigation by the Pinellas County State Attorney's Office determined that the lawyer who was arrested for a DUI incident to a Honey Trap Set-Up scandal would not be charged. That investigation also revealed that the activities of the Tampa Police Department brought the DUI unit's integrity into question with the likelihood of  destruction of evidence to cover up the role of at least one Hillsborough officer involved in the scandal.

The Pinellas prosecutors should be commended for making the courageous choice of dropping charges against the lawyer, but the prosecutors in Tampa have not gone far enough in dismissing other cases tainted by this scandal.

The integrity of the Florida justice system demands that every case, even those in which the Defendant has already plead guilty, involving the former Tampa Police DUI division head should be re-examined. On motion of the State Attorney's Office in Hillsborough County, Defendants should be allowed to withdraw Guilty pleas based on the failure of the Tampa Police Department to insure that DUI cases were handled in a fair and impartial manner. 

SPREADING CELLPHONE TECHNOLOGY IS MAKING FAIR CRIMINAL JURY TRIALS IMPOSSIBLE

Ever better, faster and accurate cellphone technology may be making fair trials more difficult for Clearwater Criminal Attorneys to obtain. A reporter who followed a Defendant's winding road toward a trial for two years understood when she was struck from the jury panel for knowing too much about the case, but was understandably shocked when she witnessed the presiding Judge telling the jury not to google the case online nor to google the Defendant's name. 

Renoir, Monet Reading, 1872

Giving rise to the question of how fair can jury trials be when all of the information which could preclude a fair trial is readily available on most cellphones by merely googling the Defendant's name. Has technology precluded the possibility of fair trials? If other Judges are as eagle-eyed as District Judge Clancy Smith, then the right to a fair and impartial jury may be protected well into the future.

The presiding Judge later spoke on why it's important to cap juror's knowledge of relevant facts to only those facts presented in the courtroom; even better, the Judge forbids cellphone use during trials:

"I tell all the jurors you have to decide the case on what you hear in the courtroom because so much of that would be inadmissible and it's not proven and not true sometimes," said District Judge Clancy Smith.
Jurors can learn things that have no bearing on the case, like if the person has filed for bankruptcy or been sued or has previous charges -- things that could sway their thinking during deliberations.
"The fear is you will convict him because of his past, not because of what happened here and so, these are the main reasons you can't let them look at something not screened by a judge."

The Judge is right to be concerned. The vast majority of cases in the American Justice System end with a plea bargain. When a Defendant asserts his right to a jury trial it's often due to special circumstances which the jury is forbidden to know.  Plea offers and plea agreements should be open, transparent and based on the facts of the case laced with the defendant's scoresheet and guideline calculations; but because Florida prosecutors and even Judges must face the electorate other factors often play a role in plea negotiations where jail time is demanded in situations where no jail would be a reasonable plea offer. 

When the Defendant demands a jury trial, all that mattes is that he is asserting that he is not guilty and therefor must be given a fair opportunity to hear the facts and evidence against him and to present any witnesses or evidence in his behalf. In Tampa Bay, Florida one recent high profile murder case had to called off when jurors were found to be gossiping about the possible facts of the case even as the jury was being selected. The goal of every Florida criminal trial must be to give the Defendant a fair trial by tamping down jury information so that due process rights are respected even if he's represented by a Clearwater Criminal Defense Lawyer who views that iPhone of yours as nothing less than magic.