Criminal Lawyers

Criminal law — Plea — Withdrawal — Failure to recommend of immigration or deportation effects — Timeliness of motion — Accused may not get the advantage of a new 2 year window period under State v. Green, 944 So.2d 208 ( Fla. 2006 ), if the petitioner received actual notice of a deportation proceeding more than 2 years before the motion to withdraw the plea — Green didn’t resurrect claims that were last under Peart v. State, 756 So. 2d 42 ( Fla. 2k )

Criminal law — Probation revocation — Sentencing — Criminal Punishment Code scoresheet — extra offenses — Where a trial court’s jurisdiction over a criminal offense has expired, the trial court may not score that offense as a further offense in a sentencing proceeding — Statute simply provides that an offense qualifies as a further offense for needs of scoresheet if it is outstanding before the court for sentencing at the time of the sentencing proceeding then being conducted — Third-degree felonies for which suspect had completed his jail sentences and probation shouldn’t have been scored as extra offenses when sentencing defendant following revocation of probation for other offenses — Gaffe wasn’t innocuous where lowest allowable score using correct scoresheet would be just about 2 years less, and, from the record, court can’t cross out likelihood this change would have affected trial court’s sentencing call.

Insurance — injury protection — Past due benefits — Legal change which needs insured to provide presuit notice to insurer before filing an action for late benefits comprises a substantive change to statute, and can’t be applied retroactively to policies issued before the effective date of the modification.