Author Archives: Jay Butchko
New Trends Offer Hope About Florida’s Drug Crisis
Somewhere in one of Florida’s many sober living homes, two newfound drug buddies are relapsing as they trade stories about their many efforts to achieve sobriety. Every offer of help from anyone seems to come with three more obstacles standing between a recovering-for-now addict and long-term sobriety. This trend holds true even if you… Read More »
Will Your Drug Case Have a Jury Trial?
If your civics class in high school was especially thorough, you might have learned about the ways that civil trials are different from criminal trials. You may have learned that judges decide the outcome in a civil trial, but in a criminal trial, 12 jurors make the decision. This is better than not knowing… Read More »
Is It Possible for the State to Decline to Prosecute Your Drug Case?
Sometimes criminal cases fizzle instead of ending with a definitive resolution. The jury might be deadlocked and fail to reach a verdict, meaning that your future is still as uncertain as it was when you first entered a plea of not guilty. The judge can even declare a mistrial in the middle of the… Read More »
Brady Disclosures and Your Florida Drug Case
Drug charges such as drug trafficking or possession with intent to distribute can lead to long prison sentences. If the opportunity is available, many defendants take a plea deal that reduces the charges; spending three years in prison is no fun, but it is better than spending 20 years in prison. If there is… Read More »
The Drug Sting in the Glove Box
For people who do not live in Florida, visiting the theme parks of Orlando is a once in a lifetime experience. The Disney World you visit as an adult when you are an adult is every bit as gleefully overstimulating as you imagined it would be when you were a child. For Floridians, the… Read More »
You Can Tell Your Lawyer the Whole Truth During Your Drug Case
The surest way to avoid incriminating yourself is to exercise your right to remain silent. By not testifying in your own case, or by pleading the Fifth Amendment, you are providing the prosecution fewer opportunities to prove your guilt, which they must do thoroughly in order to get the jury to vote to convict… Read More »
Lack of Criminal Intent in Drug Cases
When police conduct a traffic stop and find a baggie of white powder in your car, leading you to get charged with drug possession, you can’t argue that it is a mistaken identity, that the person who was behind the wheel of the car where the drugs were found and whose name and picture… Read More »
Probable Cause Hearings in Florida Drug Cases
Talking privately with a criminal defense lawyer about your pending criminal case is your legal right. Often, your lawyer will say something during that first meeting that puts you at ease and assures you that the worst-case scenario, in which you spend months in county jail or years in prison, will not come true. … Read More »
Don’t Let the Reid Technique Turn Your Drug-Fueled Adventure Into a Kafkaesque Nightmare
As its name suggests, the criminal justice system is supposed to intervene when police and prosecutors behave unfairly or fail to respect the rights of defendants. This is why the courts exclude pieces of evidence that police obtained illegally, and even dismiss the charges if the remaining evidence is not enough to build a… Read More »
Could Your Florida Drug Case End in a Mistrial?
One of the rights of defendants in criminal cases is the right to a fair trial, which means that the trial takes place without unnecessary delays, the outcome is decided by unbiased jurors, and unless there is a compelling reason to conduct the trial in private, it is open to the public. If you… Read More »
