Category: Uncategorized

Step 5: Expect More Uncertainty   Chaos unleashed by the pandemic will continue for at least two or three years. Everyone still wants to hear that a miraculous cure is a month away and vaccination is right around the corner. Reality will intervene harshly.   The Criminal Justice System (CJS) is never properly funded because tax cuts to the super-wealthy are more important than actually paying for the cost of the most expensive and backward criminal justice system in the world. Now that the pandemic is here, there will be additional money for Florida’s CJS just like there has been… Read More

Step 4: Your Background Information Report is more important than ever   A Background Information Report is also known as a Fact Pattern Report because you must write down each and every fact and circumstance that we need to know about your case.   Many people blow them off. Why? They are hurting emotionally and they want a lawyer “who will listen to me. They want frequent contact in some cases, but all want to vomit out their story and vent the upset and emotional stress in order to feel better.   No, thank you. We are counselors at law,… Read More

Step 3: Raise Money   How are you supposed to raise money when you have lost your job or business? I don’t know. We are all in the same boat with a depression worse than the one before World War II.   As a student of history, I studied lots of pandemic and depressions. This one is a game-changer. So, you don’t have to tell me how hard it is for you on a free consultation.   In fact, I’m going to be blunt: If you can’t or don’t want to pay the legal fee upfront and in full, please… Read More

Step 2: Understand the 80/20 Rule and how it Applies to Violation Cases   This is really short and easy to understand.   The 80/20 Rule, also known as Pareto’s Law, says that 80% of the effort produces 20% of the results and that 20% of the effort produces 80% of the results. This Rule is important in probation violation cases for two reasons:   About 80% of the people charged with violations of probation, house arrest, parole and community control will have better odds of a successful outcome than they would have had before the pandemic wrecked the CJS.… Read More

Step 1: Understand where your criminal case fits in the scope of things The criminal justice system (CJS) is in chaos. COVID-19 had turned the usual order of how courts run their business upside down. Worse, over 130 probation officers supervising 164,000 probationers are closed. No one can do community service work and many other requirements due to social distancing. Then there is the issue of money. Many people on probation have lost jobs and businesses. Virtually no one can comply with probation. The State of Florida is about to face over 150,000 probation, community control and misdemeanor court violations… Read More

Disclaimer: This article is in response to questions frequently asked of Mr. Cobb and is an unedited dictation transcript. Just like talk to text on your smartphone, there may be misspelled words or sentence fragments. Good morning and welcome to a very special edition of Florida Criminal Law TV online. Today, I will be interviewing a longtime friend and respected colleague, Florida criminal defense attorney Sherry I. Jones. Sherry, good morning and welcome to the program! Attorney Jones: You and I have joined our firms together by co-founding Florida Criminal Defense Legal Group, PLLC. In your own words, what would… Read More

Disclaimer: This article is in response to questions frequently asked of Mr. Cobb and is an unedited dictation transcript. Just like talk to text on your smartphone, there may be misspelled words or sentence fragments. Good morning and welcome to Florida Criminal Law TV’s special look at the Florida statutes. I’m your host, criminal defense attorney Stephen G. Cobb. Today, we are going to look at Florida statute 777 which covers four very important areas of law every criminal defense lawyer should know. First, there is the law of Principals under Florida statute section 777.011. A Principal is anyone person… Read More

Disclaimer: This article is in response to questions frequently asked of Mr. Cobb and is an unedited dictation transcript. Just like talk to text on your smartphone, there may be misspelled words or sentence fragments. When you have a quarter of a century defending people in criminal cases, you have a reservoir of experience that never leaves you at the mercy of someone’s crackpot theory of the day. So, it is with great amusement mixed with head shaking sadness that I share with you something I learned recently about Internet searches for criminal defense lawyers. When someone is looking for… Read More

Disclaimer: This article is in response to questions frequently asked of Mr. Cobb and is an unedited dictation transcript. Just like talk to text on your smartphone, there may be misspelled words or sentence fragments. Whether or not a payment plan will be offered is the number one question that lawyers in this particular field of law are asked. While the team at Florida Defense Legal Group totally understands that money does not grow on trees, it is true that high-quality, good criminal defense lawyers will want a full fee upfront. This is something that the client is actually best… Read More

Disclaimer: This article is in response to questions frequently asked of Mr. Cobb and is an unedited dictation transcript. Just like talk to text on your smartphone, there may be misspelled words or sentence fragments. Whether or not someone needs a complete criminal defense legal team for a misdemeanor is a question that reminds me of a common companion question, which is whether or not someone really needs a lawyer at all. The answer to the second question is simply this: if someone runs the risk of going to jail by attempting to handle their case on their own, then… Read More