Miami Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog

Immigration officials are now linked to the booking data maintained by all Florida county jails. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") has achieved the ability to check the county jails for foreign nationals subject to deportation. The ICE field officer director in Miami announced that all 67 counties in the State of Florida are currently linked to their databases. The program is controversial, but will allow ICE to locate foreign nationals who have been convicted of previous crimes or are pending criminal charges. The director was quoted as saying, "This capability means that local law enforcement and ICE are automatically alerted when potentially deportable criminal aliens come into state and local custody." Prior to the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, criminal foreign nationals were not held because the booking centers were not linked to an immigration database.

This change brings up a couple of interesting points that need to be addressed. When a person is booked into a Miami-Dade County Jail, corrections will be notified by immigration and told to place an immigration detainer on a recent arrestee. Corrections will then note on the jail card that an immigration detainer is in place and will affix the detainer to the physical jail card. Once the detainer is place, it is futile to post a bond because the detainer will not allow the department of corrections to release the defendant. Even requesting a bond hearing is futile because a county or circuit court judge does not have the power to lift the detainer.

As long a person is in the United States legally, e.g. a local permanent resident, ICE will not issue a detainer unless the person is convicted. If a defendant is here illegally, a detainer will be issued. The important point here is that defendants very often enter pleas to credit time served as a matter of convenience. Once that plea is entered, depending on the charge, a person that can be detained and made subject to deportation proceedings. Another common occurrence is that a person entered a plea several years ago that when the plea was entered was not a deportable offense. Since the 9/11 attacks, immigration laws have become much more strict actually allowing for deportation for charges such as marijuana possession and cocaine possession.

If you or someone you know is being held in a county jail with an immigration detainer, it is imperative to contact a Miami criminal lawyer experienced in representing client is post-conviction relief matters. The only way to secure the release of person who was previously convicted of an offense is to file a motion to vacate. Once the motion to vacate is granted, the lawyer must secure a nolle prosse or a dismissal of the charges by the state attorney's office handling the matter. Another important point to remember is that a person in custody will not be transported to immigration authorities until the case is closed. Never enter a plea to obtain the transfer because even though the person will be transferred, the conviction or withhold of adjudication will guarantee deportation.

Florida Jail Linked to Immigration Databases, The Miami Herald.com, June 30, 2010.

Throughout the southeastern United States, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) made almost 600 arrests. Federal and local law enforcement agencies arrested hundreds of criminal aliens as part of Operation Cross Check. The operation was the largest undertaken under this type of law enforcement action. The majority of individuals arrested were taken into custody in Florida and Puerto Rico. ICE broke down the arrests by county and number. Miami-Dade County led the way with 48 arrests. Other counties where individuals were detained included Lee County, 14 arrests; Collier County, 5 arrests; Broward County, 24 arrests; Monroe County, 5 arrests, Palm Beach County, 11 arrest; Hillsborough County, 10, arrests; and Orange County, 25 arrests. Individuals were taken into custody for prior convictions ranging from sexual battery to marijuana possession. If you or someone you know was taken into custody for immigration reasons, immediately contact a Miami criminal law firm to address the problem.

Most people taken into immigration custody will seek the advice of an immigration attorney. However, to solve the problem, the previous conviction or convictions that are causing the immigration detention must vacated and dismissed by the prosecuting authority. A criminal lawyer with experience in vacating pleas will have the ability to set aside a previous conviction or withhold of adjudication. Know that immigration authorities do not distinguish between a conviction or a withhold of adjudication. Bear in mind that even if a successful morion for post-conviction relief is filed, the case is not automatically dismissed. In fact, when a judgement and sentence is vacated, the case is re-opened from where it left off and still needs to be defended. Once a case has been vacated and the charges dismissed, only then can an immigration attorney appear in federal immigration court to secure a person's release.

Operation Cross Check should act as a lesson. If you are a not a U.S. citizen and have a past criminal record seek out a lawyer who handles post-conviction relief matters at the earliest possible time. It is much easier to filed a motion to vacate and have the charges dismissed when a person is not being held in immigration custody. Most judges will require defendants to appear in court to resolve these types of matters. An individual in immigration custody will be at a disadvantage because he or she can not appear in court. Another lesson to be learned is that defendants should not enter pleas out of convenience. Immigration authorities do not care whether or not you served jail time, received probation or even the easiest plea of credit time served. The only thing that concerns immigration authorities is the charge to which an individual took a plea..

Prior to 9/11, individuals were only deported for major crimes such as armed robbery, burglaries, aggravated assault and batteries and the like. Under the current state of the law, a conviction for drug paraphernalia such as a marijuana or cocaine pipe can get someone deported. In fact two convictions for simple marijuana will allow for deportation. While the Supreme Court of Florida diluted the rules for vacating convictions, the Supreme Court of the United States recently handed down law to help non-citizens avoid deportation. If an experienced lawyer can show that a criminal attorney did not warn their clients that deportation can result as part of taking the plea, the judgement and sentence can be vacated.

Nearly 600 Criminal Aliens Arrested in Nationwide Sting, MarcoNews.com, April 30, 2010.

A Miami criminal lawyer representing the man convicted of killing a 9 year old Liberty City girl is seeking a new trial. The defense lawyer is claiming that the manslaughter conviction of his client should be set aside because one of the jurors failed to mention that he had previously been a victim of a crime. The defense lawyer requested that Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Marisa-Tinkler Mendez grant him permission to speak with the jurors including the alternates. The judge set a hearing for November 10, 2009, to determine whether or not she will grant access to the jurors for questioning.

Earlier this month, a six member jury convicted Damon Darling of manslaughter and aggravated assault for his involvement in the death of Sherdavia Jenkins. Jenkins was the innocent victim caught in the cross-fire between Darling and his co-defendant, Leroy Larose in the courtyard of an apartment building located in Liberty City. Just prior to the commencement of the trial, Larose accepted a plea deal t seven years in prison in exchange for his testimony against Darling. Darling is facing up to 50 years in state prison at his upcoming sentencing hearing.

Darling was initially charged by the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office with second degree murder and attempted murder. A several hours of deliberation the jury returned a verdict of guilty to the lesser included charges of manslaughter and aggravated assault with a firearm. If the judge grants a new trial, Darling will only be facing the lesser charges for which he was convicted. Double jeopardy precludes the state attorneys office from proceeding on the original charges.

The defense lawyer filed a motion for a new trial because a juror inaccurately filled out a juror questionnaire, when he checked "no" to question asking if he had ever been the victim of a crime. Since the trial, an investigation revealed that in 2008, the juror had been the victim the crimes of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, simple battery and criminal mischief, all stemming from a single incident. The motion claims that Darling was prejudiced for not having provided that information during jury selection.

The motion for a new trial also alleges that the same juror and another juror were "lifelong" friends from Homestead, Florida and that they failed to reveal this information to the judge, the defense lawyers and the prosecutors. Both jurors denied any impropriety, saying that the allegations were blown out of proportion had and had nothing to do with the verdicts they rendered.

Convict's Lawyer: Juror Tainted Sherdavia Trial, The Miami Herald, October 27, 2009.

A Miami criminal attorney filed an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn the death sentence of the man dubbed the "Tamiami Strangler." Miami criminal lawyer, Gustavo Garcia Montes, argued that Rory Condre told a priest that as a youth he had been molested by an uncle and that his death sentence for murder should be overturned. During the sentencing portion of the trial held years ago, a witness testified to substantially to the same thing regarding Condre's past. Fifteen years agon, Condre was convicted for six counts of murder for killing Miami prostitutes and dumping their bodies.

Miami law enforcement authorities conducted a murder investigation into several murders of female prostitutes between September 1994 and June 1995 which occurred on S.W. 8th Street. Condre left a note on the third victim informing police that it was the third victim in the string murders and intended on continuing the spree. Condre's arrest resulted when he abducted a female prostitute, sexually assaulted her and left he duct-taped in his apartment. The victim was able to get the attention of the next-door neighbor and report the crime. In 1999, Condre was tried and convicted in the sixth murder. He entered guilty pleas to the other five murders. In March 2000, Condre was sentenced to death for the murder of his final victim.

On June 25, 1995, Condre gave a three hour interview to Miami-Dade homicide detectives where he graphically outlined the rapes and murders of the six prostitutes. Condre gave a 173 page sworn confession to law enforcement authorities, declining to have a Miami criminal lawyer present during the questioning. Condre would pick up prostitutes on the side of the road and would offer to pay the prostitutes $100 for sex. He would then take the prostitutes to his apartment in west Miami-Dade County. After having sex one or two times, he would strangle them and dump their bodies on lawns on the side of the road.

The homicide detectives investigating the murders were perplexed for months. In fact, they brought many suspects to the police station and DNA samples were taken. With no matches being made, Condre was not caught until after his sixth murder. He is considered one of South Florida's worst serial killers.

Old Appeal Revisited in Tamiami Stangler Case, The Miami Herald, September 3, 2009.