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Many parents believe a juvenile record vanishes when a child turns 18. In Florida, that is not how it works. A juvenile record can last for years. Some records never go away. And the choices made in the weeks after an arrest often decide which outcome a teenager gets.Fort Lauderdale juvenile defense lawyer

As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney, I talk with parents who are focused on getting through the next court date. That is understandable. But the long-term question matters just as much. Will this follow my child into a college application, a scholarship, or a military recruiter’s office? It is important to talk to your child’s criminal defense lawyer about how each path forward in the case could affect the future in the long-run.

How Florida Keeps Juvenile Records

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement maintains criminal history records, including records of minors. Section 943.0515 of the Florida Statutes controls how long the state keeps them.

For most young people, the statute sets an automatic clock. The state keeps the record until the person turns 21, then expunges it.

The clock runs longer for some teens. If a minor is classified as a serious or habitual juvenile offender, or is committed to a maximum-risk residential facility, the state keeps the record until age 26.

Some records are never automatically cleared. Under the same statute:

  • If a person 18 or older is charged with or convicted of a forcible felony before the juvenile record is destroyed, the juvenile record merges into the adult record.
  • If a minor is adjudicated as an adult for a forcible felony, the earlier juvenile record merges with the adult record.
  • Certain juvenile adjudications for qualifying sexual offenses must be kept permanently and merged into the adult record.

In other words, the path a juvenile case takes now can determine whether the record clears at 21, at 26, or not at all.

Early Expunction Before Age 21

Florida allows some young adults to clear their juvenile records before the automatic deadline. Section 943.0515(1)(b)2 permits a person between 18 and 21 to apply for early expunction if several conditions are met: Continue reading

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A Fort Lauderdale DUI arrest starts two separate cases. One is the criminal case in court. The other is an administrative case over your driver’s license. The second case moves faster, and many people do not learn it exists until their license is already gone.Fort Lauderdale dui lawyer

As a Fort Lauderdale DUI lawyer, I help clients navigate both. A driver focuses on the criminal charge and misses the license deadline. This post explains the administrative side, how a formal review hearing works, and what is at stake. It speaks in generalities. Every case depends on its own facts.

The License Suspension Starts at the Arrest

Florida law authorizes the arresting officer to suspend your license on the spot. Section 322.2615 of the Florida Statutes allows that suspension in two situations. The first is a breath or blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher. The second is a refusal to submit to a breath, blood, or urine test.

The officer takes your license. If you are otherwise eligible to drive, the officer issues a notice of suspension and a 10-day temporary permit. That permit expires at midnight on the 10th day after the notice issues.

The suspension periods under the statute are:

  • Unlawful alcohol level: 6 months for a first suspension, or 1 year if your license was previously suspended under this section
  • Test refusal: 1 year for a first refusal, or 18 months if your license was previously suspended for a refusal

The suspension begins on the date the notice issues. It does not wait for the criminal case.

The 10-Day Window

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An arrest does not have to end in a conviction. For some cases, Florida law offers people a second path. It is called pretrial diversion, or pretrial intervention. A person who completes the program can see the charges dismissed. For many of our Fort Lauderdale criminal defense clients, that path can protect a career, a professional license, and help keep your clean record.pretrial diversion broward

As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney, I can help explain who qualifies, the requirements, and what happens if something goes sideways in the process. Note that every situation turns on its own specific facts, so treat the information here (as on all of our blogs) as background, not legal advice.

Understanding Pretrial Diversion

Pretrial diversion pauses a criminal case. The prosecution does not move forward while the person completes a set of conditions. Those conditions often include supervision, counseling, community service, restitution, or treatment. If the person finishes the program successfully, the State drops the charges.

The legal foundation is section 948.08 of the Florida Statutes. The statute directs the Florida Department of Corrections to supervise pretrial intervention programs. It says those programs should provide counseling, education, supervision, and medical and psychological treatment when appropriate.

Who Qualifies Under Florida Law

Section 948.08(2) sets the baseline for general pretrial intervention. Two groups are eligible:

  • First offenders
  • People with no more than one prior conviction for a nonviolent misdemeanor

The current charge must be a misdemeanor or a third-degree felony.

However, just meeting those criteria does not guarantee entry. Continue reading

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Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense often involves a second fight that starts after the arrest. A person charged with domestic battery goes home, or calls from the Broward County jail, and reaches out to the alleged victim. Sometimes the goal is to apologize. Sometimes it is to ask the partner to drop the charges. That contact can produce new charges that carry more prison time than the original case. Florida’s witness tampering statute, section 914.22, is the most serious of them.Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense lawyer

The Alleged Victim Cannot Drop the Charges

Many people accused of domestic violence believe the case ends if the partner changes the story or refuses to cooperate. It does not. The Broward State Attorney’s Office decides whether to prosecute, not the alleged victim. Prosecutors can and do move forward with 911 recordings, body camera footage, photographs, and officer testimony.

That misunderstanding drives a lot of tampering cases. An accused person who thinks the partner controls the outcome has every reason to try to change the partner’s mind. The law treats many of those efforts as crimes.

What Section 914.22 Prohibits

Section 914.22(1) makes it a crime to knowingly use intimidation or physical force, to threaten another person, to engage in misleading conduct toward another person, or to offer another person money or other financial benefit. An attempt to do any of these counts too. The conduct must be aimed at causing a person to do one of six things: withhold testimony or evidence, destroy or conceal evidence, evade a subpoena, skip a court proceeding they have been summoned to, keep information from police or a judge, or testify falsely.

Two details matter in domestic cases. First, the statute reaches “any person,” not just the alleged victim. Pressure on the partner’s mother, a roommate, or a neighbor who called 911 can support a charge. So can asking a friend to deliver a message. Second, under section 914.22(5), no court case needs to be pending at the time of the contact. A message sent the night of the arrest, before the State files anything, qualifies.

The financial benefit clause catches conduct many people never think of as tampering. An offer to keep paying rent, cover a car payment, or send money for the children if the partner stays home from court can support the charge.

The Penalty Rises With the Original Case

Section 914.22(2) ties the tampering penalty to the seriousness of the case being tampered with, and it always sits one level higher. Tampering in a misdemeanor case is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in prison. Tampering in a third-degree felony case, such as aggravated assault, is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years. Tampering in a second-degree felony case, such as aggravated battery, is a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years.

A first-offense domestic battery carries up to one year in jail. A single call asking the partner to lie about that battery can carry five years in prison.

Section 914.22(3) creates a lesser but related crime: harassing a witness, victim, or informant. It applies to a person who intentionally harasses someone and thereby hinders, delays, prevents, or dissuades that person from testifying, reporting to police, seeking an arrest, or assisting a prosecution. Harassment in a misdemeanor case is a first-degree misdemeanor. In a third-degree felony case, it is a third-degree felony.

The No-Contact Order Creates Its Own Charge

Tampering is not the only risk. In most Broward County domestic cases, the judge at first appearance orders the accused to have no contact with the alleged victim as a condition of release. Section 903.047 authorizes that condition. Under section 741.29(6), willfully violating a release condition in a domestic case is a first-degree misdemeanor. The statute also requires that the person be held in custody until first appearance. Continue reading

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Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense often begins at the front door, with a simple question: Did officers have the legal right to come inside? Domestic violence calls bring police to private homes perhaps more than almost any other kind of call. Officers arrive fast, often at night, sometimes to a scene that has already calmed down. The Fourth Amendment (federal and state) protects the right of the people to be secure in their homes from unreasonable intrusion. “Unreasonable” usually means they either need When the law did not allow that entry, the evidence they found and the statements they took can be thrown out of court.Fort Lauderdale domestic violence lawyer

The Home Gets the Strongest Protection

The Fourth Amendment and Article I, Section 12 of the Florida Constitution protect people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Florida courts treat a warrantless search of a home as unreasonable on its face unless the State proves a recognized exception. The burden sits with the State, not with the accused.

The U.S. Supreme Court drew a firm line at the threshold in Payton v. New York, 445 U.S. 573 (1980). Without a warrant, consent, or an emergency, officers may not cross it to make a routine arrest.

That rule matters in domestic cases because Florida gives officers broad arrest power. Section 901.15(7) allows a warrantless arrest when an officer has probable cause to believe a person committed an act of domestic violence. Arrest power, however, does not automatically equal the power to enter into your home. An officer may have probable cause to arrest and still have no right to walk into the house to make that arrest.

A Domestic Violence Call Is Not a Warrant

There is no domestic violence exception to the warrant requirement exists. However, it is possible that, given the nature of these calls, officers may claim there was some type of emergency that necessitated their entry. In order for this exception to apply, officers need a specific legal basis. The three most common grounds for warrantless entry into a home in domestic cases are (1) emergency aid, (2) consent, and (3) hot pursuit.

The Emergency Aid Exception After Case v. Montana

Most warrantless entries in domestic cases rest on the emergency aid exception. The rule comes from Brigham City v. Stuart, 547 U.S. 398 (2006). In that U.S. Supreme Court case, officers watched through a window as a fight broke out inside a home and a person was struck in the face hard enough to draw blood. The Court held officers may enter without a warrant when they have an objectively reasonable basis to believe someone inside is seriously injured or about to be.

The Supreme Court revisited that standard earlier this year. In Case v. Montana, decided unanimously on January 14, 2026, officers entered a man’s home after his ex-girlfriend called 911 and reported he was threatening suicide. The defense argued that officers needed probable cause of an emergency. The Court rejected that argument and reaffirmed the Brigham City standard: an objectively reasonable basis to believe an occupant is seriously injured or imminently threatened with serious harm. The Court also criticized the looser test the Montana Supreme Court had applied, which borrowed from rules for brief street stops.

Case matters for domestic cases in Broward County for two reasons. It confirms that a call from a current or former partner can supply the basis for an emergency entry. It also confirms that the test is objective. Officers must point to facts, not instincts.

A second Supreme Court case limits the exception from the other side. In Caniglia v. Strom, 593 U.S. 194 (2021), the Court refused to recognize a general “community caretaking” exception that would let officers enter homes to check on welfare without a true emergency.

What Florida Courts Require

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Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense often turns on on the question of whether the State charges the defendant misdemeanor or a felony. Most domestic arrests in Broward County begin with an allegation of simple battery or simple assault. A weapon, a serious injury, a pregnancy, or a prior record can turn the same allegation into a felony with years of prison exposure. A new Florida law that took effect July 1, 2026, raises the stakes further for anyone with a prior domestic violence offense.Fort Lauderdale domestic violence defense attorney

Domestic Violence Is a Label, Not a Specific Type of Crime

Florida has no standalone crime called “domestic violence.” Section 741.28 defines the term as a list of offenses committed by one family or household member against another. That list includes assault, aggravated assault, battery, and aggravated battery. The domestic label brings no-contact orders, batterers’ intervention programs, and other consequences. The underlying charge sets the penalty.

Simple battery is a first-degree misdemeanor under section 784.03, punishable by up to one year in jail. Simple assault is a second-degree misdemeanor under section 784.011, punishable by up to 60 days. Neither carries state prison time. The aggravated offenses do.

Aggravated Assault Under Section 784.021

Assault is a threat, not a touch. Under section 784.011, assault is an intentional, unlawful threat by word or act to do violence. The person making the threat must have the apparent ability to carry it out. The threat must create a well-founded fear that violence is about to happen. No one has to actually be hurt.

Section 784.021 makes an assault aggravated in two situations. The first is an assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill. The second is an assault with intent to commit a felony. Aggravated assault is a third-degree felony. It carries up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

The deadly weapon element drives most domestic aggravated assault charges. A person who picks up a kitchen knife during an argument faces a felony even if the knife never touches anyone. The same is true for a person who displays a handgun during a dispute. Florida law looks at how an object was used or threatened to be used, not at what the object is. A frying pan, a screwdriver, or a car can qualify when used in a way likely to cause death or great bodily harm.

Firearms add a mandatory minimum. Florida’s 10-20-Life law, section 775.087(2), requires a three-year minimum prison sentence for aggravated assault when the accused actually possessed a firearm.

Aggravated Battery Under Section 784.045

Battery requires an actual and intentional touching or striking against the other person’s will, or intentionally causing bodily harm. Section 784.045 makes a battery aggravated in three ways. The accused intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm, permanent disability, or permanent disfigurement. The accused used a deadly weapon. Or the person struck was pregnant, and the accused knew or should have known it. Continue reading

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The primary purpose of a Florida domestic violence injunction is to protect people, but attacks on pets were considered part of the court’s equation under F.S. 741.30(6)(b). But now, pet protections have been strengthened as of July 1, 2026, following the passage of CS/CS/HB 277. Now, the statute not only allows courts weighing domestic violence injunction petitions to assess whether a a respondent intentionally injured or killed a family pet, but also whether respondent merely threatened to do so.

Fort Lauderdale domestic violence injunctionWhy That Distinction Matters to Domestic Violence Defendants

Proving intentional injury or death of  a pet typically requires some combination of veterinary record, video evidence, witness testimony, digital message exchanges, or a confession. Proving a threat, meanwhile, may only require testimony about words. Obviously, video, audio, or digital evidence would strengthen the allegation, but it may not be necessary. Florida injunction hearings are generally civil proceedings, held on short notice, decided by a judge without a jury, and often resolved on the basis of which party the court finds more credible.

It should be noted that F.S. 741.30(6)(b) does not limit courts to consideration of the enumerated factors listed in the law. So a judge in Broward could already have weighed a threat against a dog under that catchall language. But the statute did provide a checkbox on the form and a talking point at the hearing, so it is likely we’ll see this point increasingly argued at injunction hearings.

Respondents should know such an allegation is a possibility and prepare to directly and with careful consideration rather than dismissing it as unserious.

The Research to Which Lawmakers Were Responding

The enumerated factor exists because the evidence behind it is substantial, and a respondent who treats it as a joke in front of a judge will lose ground. A systematic review published in Research in Veterinary Science examined 30 studies and found animal abuse prevalence in households with intimate partner violence ranging from 21 to 89 percent, with a significant relationship between the two. Research using the 2014 Canadian General Social Survey, a nationally representative sample rather than a shelter population, found that actual and threatened abuse of pets by a romantic partner significantly predicted that partner also perpetrating intimate partner violence, particularly physical and severe abuse. Continue reading

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For years, a Fort Lauderdale DUI defense lawyer representing a veteran faced a structural problem. The office prosecuting the case also decided whether the client could get treatment instead. That changed on July 1, 2026.Veteran's Court DUI Fort Lauderdale

CS/CS/HB 199 passed the Florida House 110-0 and the Senate 37-0 and became Chapter 2026-128. The bill removed the requirement that a defendant apply to the state attorney for veterans treatment court. Now under the new law,  it is the court, in consultation with the multidisciplinary team, authorized to determine eligibility. The prosecutor still gets a voice, and the must consider any recommendation of the state attorney. However, the prosecutor no longer holds a sole veto.

The Previous Process for Veteran’s Court

The change is easiest to see in Broward County’s own paperwork. The Seventeenth Judicial Circuit has run a veterans court since 2012. The State Attorney’s Veterans Treatment Court Program Guidelines published prior to the law change directed the defendant to submit an application to the state attorney, who was authorized to review each application and determine defendant’s eligibility and decide, in consultation with the court, whether to allow the defendant to participate. Under the old law, prosecutors determined eligibility and had discretion about entry.

Now it is the court that determines eligibility, in consultation with the veteran’s treatment team. The prosecutor’s position is now a seat at the table rather than a gatekeeper. Criminal defense lawyers in Broward County expect the circuit will soon update the written guidelines, but won’t wait for that to request entry to the program for eligible clients.

Why This Matters Especially for Veterans Arrested for Fort Lauderdale DUI

Veterans court exists because mental and physical conditions related to military service tend to be associated with criminal offenses involving substance abuse. A meta-analysis in the Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation found PTSD in 27 percent of people with traumatic brain injury compared to 11 percent without, and found the rate reached 37 percent in military samples against 16 percent in civilian ones. Research summarized in the Journal of Veterans Studies reports that roughly 60 to 80 percent of justice-involved veterans had a substance use disorder before arrest, and that substance use raises the risk of justice involvement three to five fold.

A veteran drinking to manage sleep disruption, hypervigilance, or untreated pain does not usually surface in the system through a violent felony. They surface on Interstate-95 at 2 a.m. Continue reading

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A Fort Lauderdale FWC violation defense lawyer often hears the same assumption during initial client consultations: The boater believed the paper an officer handed them on the water was a traffic ticket. Usually, it isn’t. Florida sorts fish and wildlife offenses into four penalty levels under Fla. Stat. § 379.401, and only the first level is non-criminal. The other three produce criminal records, mandatory minimum fines, and the loss of hunting and fishing privileges. Understanding the type and severity of the charges resulting from a run-in with an FWC officer is imperative to your defense. Fort Lauderdale FWC violation attorney

Level One: A Civil Infraction With a Criminal Trapdoor

Level One FWC offenses concern documentation and access rules. Recreational license and permit requirements are detailed under F.S. § 379.354(1)-(15), along with quota hunt permits, camping and vehicle rules inside wildlife management areas, hunter safety course requirements under F.S. § 379.3581, and the return of unused CITES tags issued through the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program.

A Level One FWC violation is a non-criminal infraction. The officer cites the person, who is required to  appear in county court. The civil penalty is $50, or $250 if the person committed the same Level One violation previously within the preceding 36 months. Someone cited for a license problem can often buy the license, show proof, and pay the $50 penalty by mail within 30 days.

Note: there are two provisions convert that infraction into a crime. Under § 379.401(1)(g), a person who refuses to accept the citation, fails to pay the penalty, or fails to appear in county court commits a second-degree misdemeanor. Under F.W. § 379.401(1)(h), a person who elects to appear waives the statutory caps, and the court may then impose up to $500 for subsequent violations. One provision cuts the other way. Under § 379.401(1)(i), a person cited for failing to carry a license may not be convicted if they produce a license that was valid on the date of the stop.

Level Two: The Line Between a Ticket and a Record

Level Two are criminal offenses, and these statutes are the most common basis for Broward County angler FWC stops. Closed seasons, bag limits, possession limits, size limits, restrictions on methods of taking, landing requirements, spearfishing under F.S. § 379.2425, tarpon taken without a tag under F.S. § 379.357(3), and alligator licensing and tagging under F.S. §§ 379.3751 and 379.3752 all fall at Level Two. Continue reading

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Most people stopped by a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officer assume they are dealing with a game warden. They picture a narrow job. Check the license, measure the catch, write a ticket, move on. That assumption is wrong, and it produces arrests that a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney sees every week in Broward County court.arrest-300x200

The Legislature Called Them Police Powers

Section 379.3311, Florida Statutes, is titled “Police powers of commission and its agents.” The title is not decorative. Subsection (1) constitutes FWC officers as peace officers with the power to make arrests for violations of the laws of this state, and it makes the general laws applicable to arrests by peace officers applicable to them.

FWC states the point plainly on its own website. The agency describes its sworn personnel as fully constituted police officers under Section 379.3311 with authority to enforce all laws of the state, not only those relating to fish and wildlife.

The jurisdiction is statewide. An FWC officer working the Intracoastal region of Broward County carries the same arrest authority as a Fort Lauderdale police officer on the streets. Section 379.3311(1) adds something no municipal officer has. It authorizes FWC officers to enter upon any land or waters of the state in performance of their lawful duties and declares that the entry does not constitute a trespass.

The Search Authority Comes With Conditions

Section 379.3311(2)(e) permits an officer to arrest without a warrant on probable cause and to examine any person, boat, conveyance, vehicle, game bag, or other receptacle for wildlife or marine life. Section 379.334 separately authorizes officers to board vessels and to enter fish houses, warehouses, and other buildings to search for and seize unlawfully held wildlife and gear without a warrant. Continue reading

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