Fort Lauderdale Criminal Attorney Blog

December 12, 2008

Robbery Suspect Barks at Broward County Judge Hurley

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

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The man accused of being the shotgun-wielding robber in a two-county string of Dunkin’ Donuts robberies repeatedly barked like a dog at a county judge this afternoon during a court hearing.

“I would suggest you take this more seriously,” Judge John Hurley told James Herard, 19, who replied “ruff” several times. Herard barked again after Hurley explained his rights as a criminal defendant. “I’m going to consider your bark as an acknowledgment of what I just told you,” the judge said.

Police said the five men were responsible for at least four robberies last week, three at Dunkin’ Donuts shops and one at a 7-Eleven.

The most violent occurred at a Delray Beach Dunkin’ Donuts on Nov. 26.

Four gunmen in masks, gloves and hooded sweatshirts blasted four people with shotgun rounds, two in the face. A driver also was shot after flashing his high beams at the robbers as they crossed the street in front of him.

Jackson, Herard and Weatherspoon, who have criminal records of varying degrees, confessed to the robberies, police said.

ANSARA RESPONDS

If you have not seen the actual video of this then you must click here to watch it. This video essentially depicts what a magistrate hearing looks like in Broward County. In Broward County our magistrate hearings, or bond hearing as they are sometimes called are done via video conferencing. They are usually held on the second floor of the Broward Main Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale. The Defendant’s are video conferenced from the Broward Main Jail in Fort Lauderdale to a Judge, in this case Judge John Hurley, who is sitting in the magistrate courtroom in the main Broward Courthouse.

At a magistrate hearing in Broward County the judge is likely to review any available police reports. These reports are usually referred to as probable cause affidavits. The judge will then advise a criminal defendant of all their legal rights such as the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney, ect. At this point the judge will usually make a bond determination based off of various factors such as the crime charged and/or any other factors the judge determines relevant.

Judge John Hurley is a new Broward County Judge. I am not quite sure
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December 7, 2008

Broward County Fort Lauderdale Courthouse to Reopen on Monday after Flood

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

The soggy Broward County Courthouse will reopen Monday, a week after a burst water pipe caused extensive damage to the aging building.

Jurors are to report as scheduled, court officials said. Anyone who was supposed to report for jury duty this past week should not go to the courthouse and instead wait to be contacted by the Clerk of Court’s Office.
While most of the downtown Fort Lauderdale courthouse will be up and running, the building’s phone system won’t be. Sunday night’s burst pipe on the second floor of the Clerk of Court’s Office drenched the building’s communications center, knocking out the phone lines to both the courthouse and the Broward Main Jail.
More than 14,000 court files were damaged and an outside company has been hired to dry them out, Forman said. Courthouse officials have estimated the flooding caused $1.2 million in damage.

ANSARA RESPONDS
I put this article on the blog for my clients and the general public who may be asking themselves, “do I need to go to court tomorrow?” The answer is yes. Last week the Broward County Fort Lauderdale Courthouse was closed due to a water main leak that has destroyed many files. This seems to be a common occurrence at the Broward County Fort Lauderdale Courthouse. It was only months ago that the Courthouse was closed due to an earlier flood.

When something like this happens it makes you wonder what kind of backup systems if any are being used at the Broward County Clerk’s Office.

November 10, 2008

Fort Lauderdale ticket and arrest; Are Quotas being Used?

By The Law Offices of Richard Ansara, P.A.

A veteran Fort Lauderdale patrolman says he was penalized for not issuing enough tickets and marking enough arrests.

Fort Lauderdale police are investigating claims that its own officers are being pressured by supervisors to hand out tickets and make ”unnecessary” arrests as part of a department-wide quota system to boost arrest numbers.
”It’s all about numbers for them,” he said. “An arrest is an arrest. They don’t care if it’s an arrest for murder or for someone drinking a Natural Ice on a bench.’ ‘Sgt. Frank Sousa, a department spokesman, vehemently denies any type of quota system, saying instead there is a department-wide “performance standard.” ”A performance standard is an expectation, where a quota is a mandate,” he said. “You need a standard to measure your employees and evaluate what they’re doing.”

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