Lakeland Criminal Defense Lawyers

Pretrial Diversion programs are available usually only to first time offenders to resolve their cases and successful completion results in the State dropping the charges.  The qualifications for these programs do differ from county to county.  First and foremost, the crime the defendant is accused of usually must be a misdemeanor .  In Polk County, the most common charges that defendants are offered diversion for are possession of cannabis , driving while license suspended or revoked , and domestic violence battery .  The second qualification is that the defendant must not have been found guilty of a prior offense.  Diversion usually consists of an evaluation and some sort of counseling, depending upon the charge.  It might even consist of drug testing.  The defendant must pay for the diversion program and all related testing.  The program takes anywhere from a couple of months to about 6 months.  If the defendant can meet the qualifications of the diversion program and succ

One of the first conversations I usually have with my clients that hire me for their criminal case here in Polk County usually involves something like, “get the body camera or dash camera footage; it will show you what happened.” Unfortunately, here in Polk County, there are no body cameras or dash cameras.  Our Sheriff has made it abundantly clear that he does not support such technology. However, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers released a report entitled “Policing Body Cameras: Policies and Procedures to Safety the Right of the Accused.”  This report supports police agencies using such technology and makes several recommendations for police departments including: ·         Having clear policies in place that establish when officers are to begin recording (not leaving it up to individual officers). ·         Recordings should be stored for specific time periods and long enough for the accused to support his or her defense. ·         Allowing the