HOW TO PERSUADE PROSECUTORS NOT TO FILE CRIMINAL CHARGES AFTER A PINELLAS COUNTY ARREST IN CLEARWATER, FLORIDA

An arrest merely means that a police officer believes that a crime has been committed and that the arrested person was the perpetrator. Yet we all know too well that officers just like each of us are as prone to making occasional mistakes. When you consider the stress of their jobs, the need to protect the public as well as themselves from violence and their desire to implement fast-paced decision making, mistakes are often part of the process of any typical arrest. In fact, the chances for mistakes or inappropriate behavior from an officer increases with the significant of the felony or misdemeanor being investigated.

Deputy Barney Fife arrests Aunt Bee 

That is why an arrest in itself is not a significant factor in whether criminal charges will actually be pursued by the prosecutors at the State Attorney's Office. The way to think of the officers and deputies of the Clearwater Police Department and the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department or other police departments is that their investigations act as the initial filters in criminal cases. They must decide if a crime has been committed and if so whether an arrest will be made. Factors which result in an arrest by local law enforcement include the severity of the alleged offense, whether the crime was violent and whether the defendant is likely to flee.

Yet in practice every felony will eventually result in an arrest tho the arrest may be postponed to an agreed upon time after negotiations for a system walk thru with fingerprinting and the posting of an appropriate bond under certain circumstances. Law enforcement may choose not to arrest immediately but to proceed based on an arrest warrant, then it's important to learn how to turn yourself in on an arrest warrant without spending time in jail. Most misdemeanors need not result in an arrest unless. However, officers in Florida must make an arrest when called to battery domestic violent cases, DUI or driving while license suspended or revoked for public safety reasons. 

Once the police have made a decision to arrest, then the State Attorney's Office makes a decision as to whether to file the case. Just as important a decision must be made as to how to file the case, should a felony be reduced to a misdemeanor even if it is filed? If the state elects to no file the case it acts as a unilateral dismissal not requiring permission from any Court. A notice of the dismissal is simply filed with the clerk of court and posted into the file. 

The criteria used by the prosecutor to file is twofold. First, can the criminal case be won at trial. Second, is filing the charge just. As you can imagine a skillful defense lawyer will bring every possible argument in persuading the prosecutor not only that the case can not be won at trial but that justice demands that the case be no filed.

HOW TO PERSUADE THE STATE ATTORNEY'S OFFICE TO WITHDRAW AN OLD ARREST WARRANT IN FLORIDA

It's not unusual for someone who has lived, worked or merely vacationed in Florida to find years later that there exists a pending active arrest warrant. No wonder the official Florida motto is - the rules are different here. Often the pending arrest warrant is for some alleged nonviolent crime such as theft, worthless check or failure to pay for lodging, gas or food. 

Sometimes the arrest warrant is for a violent event that did not result in immediate arrest such as assault, battery, disorderly intoxication or an altercation at a bar. The typical result is that a defendant only learns of the arrest warrant by accident possibly years after the alleged event. And it's worth knowing that an arrest warrant in the computer system will give every officer the right to arrest you until the warrant is withdrawn.

What should someone do when confronting an allegation of criminal conduct from years earlier when recollection of the events with possible defenses have vanished? Before you turn yourself in on an arrest warrant it's important to get some advice from a defense lawyer. In essence the question leads directly to the answer. If a defendant finds it difficult to defend a case, how will Florida prosecutors be able to successfully pursue a conviction? Witnesses may have disappeared, victims may have moved, business may have gone bankrupt. Older arrest warrants may be available to the Clearwater Clerk of Court in Pinellas only on microfilm. 

It's important for your defense lawyer to examine the facts and circumstances of the underlying facts. After an investigation of the factual allegations documented within the arrest warrant, then it's necessary for your lawyer to examine the arrest warrant itself and the charging document known as the information for clues as to whether police and prosecutors made a good faith effort to timely pursue the arrest warrant when it was freshly issued.

The more stale a case has become the more difficult the case will be to successfully prosecute. After a thorough examination of every weakness of the arrest warrant, your defense counsel will contact prosecutors at the Pinellas County Attorney's Office to persuade them that the case is unlikely to be won at trial. If prosecutors agree that too much time has passed to pursue the case, then they will issue a document known as an administrative nolle prosequito to the Pinellas County Clerk's Office which withdraws the outstanding arrest warrant. This document is typically filed if it can be proven that there has been no procedural activity on the case for at least a period of three years.

HOW TO TURN YOURSELF IN ON AN ACTIVE ARREST WARRANT WITHOUT SPENDING TIME IN JAIL IN FLORIDA

An Arresting Florida Vacation

Clearwater Criminal Defense Attorneys are often asked about how to take care of an arrest warrant in Tampa Bay, Florida. If you know there is an outstanding arrest warrant in your name, then you need to take care of it as soon as possible or you could be arrested at anytime under the warrant. 

First, what is an arrest warrant? An arrest warrant is a legal document signed by a judge establishing probable cause that a crime has been committed with details of the person who committed the crime granting law enforcement officers the right to  make an arrest of that person. 
An arrest warrant allows officers who have no knowledge of a case to arrest the suspect. This means that someone stopped for a mere traffic infraction could be arrested on an outstanding warrant.

Just as Florida honors other state's arrest warrants so other states will honor Florida's arrest warrants even if the Defendant has not actually committed a criminal act. If an arrest is made in another state then that State will place a hold on the Defendant in jail while Florida makes a decision on whether to extradite the Defendant to Florida to face criminal prosecution. 

Arrest warrants often are issued without direct notice to a Defendant so that learning of an outstanding warrant can come as a surprise to someone years after the alleged misconduct. In Florida tourists often find themselves the target of arrest warrants years after their Florida vacations end. The time lag makes mounting an effective defense of an older criminal case that much more difficult.

Once an arrest warrant has been issued in Florida, it will be listed on the FDLE web page wanted person search, in Tampa it will be listed with the Hillsborough Sheriff. What should you do if you or a member of your family finds that there's an active arrest warrant in Florida? 
It may be possible to turn yourself in on the warrant. To do this you'll need to have knowledge of the amount of the bond or the likelihood of being released on your own recognizance. If you turn yourself in at the Jail you'll either need the full amount of the bond or a bail bondsman. 
If you turn yourself into the Court, you'll need to make sure the prosecutor and the Judge have your file at the hearing or you'll wait in jail until the file is found usually at least a week or two.
The fact that you have taken action to take care of the warrant is helpful. Other factors which a Judge may look at in determining an appropriate bond for someone who has turned himself in on a warrant would be the severity of the alleged offense, whether the alleged offense was violent and flight risk, though by turning yourself in to face criminal prosecution you are an unlikely flight risk.
If you find that police in Tampa Bay, Florida have an arrest warrant against you or someone you care for, you'll need an effective criminal defense lawyer in Clearwater to find the best possible outcome.