What is wrong with this picture taken after court this morning, besides having to wear a super serious Jury Selection suit, a cheesy smile and lower my hair? Is it the weekend spent preparing for trial, all for nothing? No. Not at all.





What's wrong with this picture is that my client was forced to risk jail time for a crime he did not commit.





What's wrong with this picture is that the politically correct "plea bargain" the State wanted included fines, court costs, cost of supervision, and twenty-six (26) weeks of "domestic abuser" counseling for a crime they know he did not commit.





What's wrong with this picture is that I was even at the courthouse for this appearance to pick a jury on a trash case: there were over fifty (50) cases on the docket for a two (2) week trial calendar and there is no way fifty cases are going to get tried in a two week period. Jurors were called, their time set on fire, and case after case was dismissed.





What's really, really wrong with this picture is that Domestic Legal Violence against innocent people is out of control. Oh - and that I have another case, in the same courthouse with a similar fact pattern next week.





Domestic Violence is a serious social, legal, political, moral and criminal justice problem. False Domestic Violence charges are just as big of a problem, but we aren't hearing about it. False allegations of Domestic Violence are just not taken seriously by the criminal justice system. Lip service doesn't count. Especially when this man was wondering all weekend if something could go wrong, and a group of strangers might actually convict him, a judge might send him to jail, and because of the nature of a domestic violence conviction, if his military related career would be history before he was released.





Upon reviewing the facts of this case, a Nolle Prosequi dismissing this case should have been filed weeks ago. Instead, taxpayer money and people's most valuable asset - their time - was wasted.





Note: not all prosecutors use this bullying tactic to crush a plea out of someone for a non-existent crime. I know several who do not.





Yet far too many do.

So . . . ready for trial is announced on Final Plea Day (not to be confused with the erroneously labelled "Plea Day" in Okaloosa County which is actually arraignment court).In this particular Domestic Violence case, the writing has been on the wall for some time: "[H]e did not hit me" in a written statement, confirmed in person by the State, is usually a sign that the prosecution has a real problem.As in they will not even come close to proving the case. Yet here I am, loaded for bear, as one lawyer put it, right after court:

Labels: arraignment, court, dismissed, domestic violence, Escambia County Courhouse, false domestic violence charges, Florida, lawyer, nolle prosequi, Okaloosa County, Pensacola, Plea Day, prosecution, trial