Legal Articles

When charged with a criminal offense, a defendant may be released from jail by paying bail, a set amount of money that effectively insures against the defendant’s flight risk. Courts generally set a relatively high bail amount, which defendants are unable to pay on their own. This is where bail[...]

Medicaid is a federal and state partnership that provides more than $27 billion in health care services to 4 million Florida residents. Medicaid dental fraud is committed when a dental service provider, with or without a patient’s knowledge, submits fraudulent billing for reimbursement by the state. The most common forms[...]

Extradition is the process by which one state demands another use its powers to arrest and send a person back for trial on a criminal charge. Ordinarily, states do not use extradition powers for misdemeanor offenses – only felonies. Extradition among states is written into the U.S. Constitution Article IV,[...]

Upon conviction a defendant to a federal criminal prosecution can appeal the judgment claiming that something was done improperly at trial. Appeals by the government are limited by the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment, which prohibits “double jeopardy.” Ordinarily, a defendant cannot be tried more than once for the same offense.[...]

A sentencing hearing is the stage of a criminal prosecution when penalties are imposed after a guilty plea, a plea of nolo contendre, or a defendant is found guilty by a jury or judge at trial. In Florida there are two stages to a sentencing hearing: Written judgment regarding the[...]

A proffer is a written agreement between federal prosecutors and a person under criminal investigation where the person agrees to give helpful information to the government in exchange for assurances of non-prosecution, lesser charges, or immunity. Under the terms of the proffer agreement, the information given during the session cannot[...]