Author: Philip J. Bonamo, Esq. - Florida Board Certified Criminal Trial Law Attorney

In the next few weeks, our Florida Legislatures will be convening for their annual legislative session in Tallahassee. Hundreds of bills and legislative proposals on a variety of issues will be addressed in subcommittee meetings and by the State House and Senate as a whole during the session in March and April.

I read with interest a recent article from the Daytona Beach News Journal of a case where the court ruled that the State prosecutor’s office could not use any evidence in a case of drugs and contraband that were obtained by the police through the execution of a search warrant on a house.

The Florida Supreme Court, in a 5-2 decision last month, ruled on the side of privacy and personal protections, by holding that law enforcement/police in Florida must first obtain a search warrant before they can use a person’s cell phone information to conduct “real-time” tracking of someone and their whereabouts.

I read with interest the attached article from Daniel McCarthy, who is with the Center for Florida Tax Reform, Department of Social Justice. I encourage you to read it as well. In his article, Mr McCarthy highlights what many attorneys and others in the criminal court system in Florida have noted for years- that the Florida legislature has over the last decade expeditiously classified many low-level, non-violent actions as Third Degree Felonies.

As a criminal defense attorney I hear the above statement at least a few times a week. The truth of the matter is that if the criminal allegations and charges are dismissed by the prosecutor, that is great, but the information pertaining to the arrest and the nature of the charges are still part of the public record and able to be viewed and the records accessible.