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Blogs from September, 2016

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Not all trial victories come in the form of a "not guilty."

For two years I've been battling with a prosecutor over a case in which my client was charged with Robbery with a Firearm, Aggravated Assault with a Firearm and Grand Theft.
My young client screwed up by putting himself in a bad situation that got out of hand. While deserving punishment, I firmly believed the 10 year minimum mandatory (day-for-day) prison sentence the State of Florida was offering him was not right.
When the Florida Legislature applies a minimum mandatory sentence to a crime, the Judge loses all sentencing discretion. Only the Office of the State Attorney can make an offer lower than the minimum mandatory sentence. In this case, Robbery with a Firearm carries a ten year minumum sentence and a maximum of life in prison. Unless the State Attorney agreed to waive it, the Defendant would serve every day of a ten year sentence without being eligible for any gain time. The State Attorney wouldn't waive, the judge had no discretion and I refused to let my client go to jail for ten years. Thus, we prapared for trial.
This case has been exhausting from beginning to end. It started with having to fly home early from a Vegas vacation when law enforcement decided to drop a second warrant on my client after he already bonded out of jail. A few months later, when I was in Pennsylvania for depositions, I got stuck in Philadelphia for the night when weather caused my flight to cancel. Finally, today I killed my tire as I clipped a curb parking while juggling shoving a sandwich down my throat, reading a transcript and talking on the phone to the prosecutor as I hurried back to trial from lunch break.

TireThis morning we picked a jury; and this afternoon two years of relentless endurance paid off.
The prosecutor reduced his offer to 5 years. In spite of the reduction, I still pushed to get a three year offer and we ultimately met in the middle at 4 years without a minimum mandatory sentence.
We halted trial and my client entered a plea of Guilty to Robbery with a Firearm and the remainder of the charges were dismissed.
As the minimum mandatory was waived, he will get gain time for good behavior and serve 3.4 years.
This case exhausted me but I couldn't give up on a good kid simply because he screwed up royally. This story didn't end with a Jury verdict but it also didn't end with my client doing the 12 years of prison his codefendant is currently serving.
#BearJew Send in the Bear Jew

Written by Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney, Lyle B. Mazin, Esq.

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