Miami-Dade County Criminal Defense Attorney
The Law Office of Nayib Hassan, P.A. represents people accused of serious crimes in Miami-Dade County, from state felony and misdemeanor charges heard in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit to federal prosecutions in the Southern District of Florida. Our work reaches Miami, Hialeah, Doral, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Kendall, Aventura, North Miami, Homestead, and Miami Gardens, and extends into Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe Counties.
Anyone searching for a Miami-Dade County criminal defense attorney is usually dealing with a problem that has a clock on it. A felony in this county is filed in the Circuit Criminal Division, where the penalty can be a year or more in state prison. A first-degree felony can carry up to 30 years. A cocaine trafficking charge can begin at 28 grams with a three-year mandatory minimum and a $50,000 fine. A first DUI conviction brings a license revocation of at least 180 days. These are the numbers a prosecutor is already working from by the first court date.
What follows covers the charges that most often bring people into Miami-Dade courtrooms, how the local courts are organized, what to do in the first days after an arrest or a contact from investigators, and how a record can sometimes be cleared afterward.
How Miami-Dade Courts Sort Felonies From Misdemeanors
Miami-Dade County is served by the Eleventh Judicial Circuit, one of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits. The classification of your charge decides which courtroom you land in and how much exposure you carry. Felonies, meaning offenses punishable by death or by a year or more in state prison, are heard by the Circuit Criminal Division, whose judges sit at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building in Miami. Misdemeanors go to County Criminal, which sits at that same building and at branch locations including the Harvey Ruvin Justice Center, the South Dade Justice Center, Miami Beach, Hialeah, and Coral Gables. Where your case is assigned can depend on where the arrest happened.
The classification also sets the ceiling on punishment. A third-degree felony carries up to 5 years and a $5,000 fine. A second-degree felony carries up to 15 years and a $10,000 fine. A first-degree felony carries up to 30 years, or life when the statute specifically provides, and a $10,000 fine. A first-degree misdemeanor carries up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine, while a second-degree misdemeanor carries a maximum fine of $500. Those are ceilings, not predictions, but they frame every negotiation.
Because the line between a misdemeanor and a felony often turns on a single fact, such as a dollar value or a weight, the first task in many cases is testing that fact. A lawyer who spent years as a Broward County prosecutor knows how those numbers get built and where they are soft.
Why Choose the Law Office of Nayib Hassan, P.A. for Miami-Dade Criminal Defense
The Law Office of Nayib Hassan, P.A. is a criminal defense firm led by Nayib Hassan, Attorney and Founder, who represents business owners, professionals, and individuals charged in Miami-Dade County and across South Florida. Mr. Hassan is a former Broward County Assistant State Attorney with more than 20 years inside the criminal justice system. As a prosecutor he handled thousands of cases and tried hundreds to verdict, which means he has sat on the other side of the table when charging decisions, plea offers, and trial risk were being weighed.
He is fluent in Spanish and speaks directly with clients and their families without an interpreter, which matters in a county where many families are more comfortable discussing a case in Spanish. He is recognized among the Top 100 Trial Lawyers by The National Trial Lawyers, holds a 10.0 Avvo rating, and serves on the Miami board of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. He is admitted to the Southern, Middle, and Northern Districts of Florida, the federal court for the District of Columbia, and the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals, and he teaches as an adjunct professor at St. Thomas University and has presented continuing legal education programs on federal court practice to other defense attorneys.
On the results side, Mr. Hassan has represented defendants in multi-defendant drug cases, including matters where charges were dismissed and a case where his client received one of the lowest sentences among all codefendants. His cases have drawn coverage from The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, and the Miami Herald. The firm deliberately limits its caseload so the attorney handling your case is the attorney you speak with, and it is reachable 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, because arrests do not keep office hours. Confidential consultations are available.
Charges We Defend in Miami-Dade County
- Drug Trafficking and Possession: Possessing 20 grams or less of cannabis is a first-degree misdemeanor, while knowingly possessing, selling, or bringing into Florida 28 grams or more of cocaine is first-degree felony trafficking. Mandatory minimums step up from 3 years at 28 grams to 7 years at 200 grams and 15 years at 400 grams. Miami-Dade’s ports and airports make weight, constructive possession, and the legality of the stop central issues.
- DUI: A DUI can be proved by a breath or blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher or by impairment of normal faculties. Judges may not accept a plea to a lesser-included offense, so the fight is over the stop, the testing, and the evidence of impairment. A second conviction within five years brings a five-year revocation.
- Theft Offenses: Value drives the grade. Property worth $750 to under $20,000 is third-degree grand theft, $20,000 to under $100,000 is second-degree, and $100,000 or more is first-degree. Challenging how property was valued can move a case down a full felony tier.
- Federal Fraud and Money Laundering: Wire fraud, bank fraud, PPP and EIDL loan fraud, and healthcare fraud are prosecuted by federal agencies at the Miami federal courthouses. These cases turn on intent and on how loss is calculated.
- Bulk Cash Smuggling and Currency Reporting: Miami International Airport and PortMiami generate cases involving more than $10,000 in unreported currency, with forfeiture of the funds as a parallel risk.
- Firearm Offenses: State and federal gun charges often grow out of a traffic stop or a search, which makes suppression motions a first-line tool.
- Violent Crimes: Assault, battery, and related offenses are defended with close attention to witness credibility, self-defense, and the physical evidence.
- Asset Forfeiture: When the government seizes cash, vehicles, or property, we contest the forfeiture alongside the criminal case.
What to Do in the First Days After an Arrest or Agent Contact
Say very little and call a criminal defense lawyer in Miami-Dade quickly. Statements made to police or federal agents are used against the person who made them, and an incomplete or inaccurate answer can become its own charge. Be polite, ask for the officer’s or agent’s name, and decline to discuss the case until counsel is involved.
If someone is in custody, timing matters. Misdemeanor jail arraignments in Miami-Dade are held Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building. Weekend and holiday felony bond hearings take place once a day, right after the morning misdemeanor arraignments, also at the Gerstein building. A lawyer who appears at that first hearing can argue for release conditions while the facts are still fresh, instead of leaving the judge with only the arrest report.
Preserve what you can. Write down the sequence of events while you remember it, keep any paperwork you were handed, and do not delete messages or accounts, because that can look like obstruction. If a search warrant was served or property was taken, note exactly what was seized. If you have not been arrested but know you are under investigation, that is often the best moment to retain counsel, since options such as arranging a voluntary surrender or presenting information to a prosecutor tend to narrow once charges are filed.
Deadlines also run quietly in the background. Prosecutions for first-degree felonies must generally begin within 4 years, other felonies within 3 years, and first-degree misdemeanors within 2 years, while capital felonies, life felonies, and felonies that result in a death can be charged at any time. Specific offenses carry longer windows, so never assume time has run out without checking. If the case is federal, it will be heard in the Southern District of Florida, whose Miami courthouses include the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. United States Courthouse. Mistakes at this early stage, such as talking to agents without a lawyer or missing a hearing, are the hardest to repair later.
Clearing a Miami-Dade Record: Sealing and Expunction
A criminal record keeps costing people jobs, housing, and professional licenses long after a case ends, so it is worth knowing whether yours can be cleared. Before a court will order a record sealed or expunged, you must apply to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for a Certificate of Eligibility, and a court cannot act without one. That certificate is valid for 12 months from its stamped date, after which you must reapply.
Eligibility is narrow. Anyone adjudicated guilty of a felony is not eligible under the expunction or sealing statutes, even if civil rights have been restored. You generally must never have had a record sealed or expunged in Florida before, and expunction covers one arrest or incident unless the additional arrests directly relate to the original. Expunction is also available where no charging document was ever filed. A record sealed for at least 10 years may later be expunged if otherwise eligible, though that waiting period does not apply when no plea was entered, all charges were dismissed before trial, or there was an acquittal. Certain serious offenses cannot be sealed even if adjudication was withheld. Neither statute creates a right to relief, and a judge can deny a request in the court’s discretion, so a well-prepared petition matters.
Questions About Criminal Charges in Miami-Dade County
What is the difference between a misdemeanor and a felony in Miami-Dade?
A felony is punishable by a year or more in state prison and is heard in the Circuit Criminal Division. A misdemeanor carries up to a year in county jail and is heard in County Criminal. The grade of the offense also sets the maximum fine, from $500 for a second-degree misdemeanor up to $15,000 for a life felony.
What should I do if the police want to question me?
Politely decline to discuss the case and ask to speak with a lawyer. Anything you say can be used against you, and an inaccurate statement can create a new problem. Having counsel present protects you without costing you anything.
How is DUI proved in Florida?
The state can prove DUI by showing a blood or breath alcohol level of 0.08 or more, or by showing that your normal faculties were impaired. A first conviction carries a fine of $500 to $1,000, rising to $1,000 to $2,000 if the level was 0.15 or higher or a minor was in the vehicle, plus a revocation of at least 180 days and up to one year.
Can a DUI charge be reduced to a lesser offense?
Judges may not accept a guilty plea to a lesser-included offense in a DUI case. That makes the strength of the stop, the breath or blood testing, and the evidence of impairment especially important, because the case is often resolved on those issues rather than on a negotiated reduction.
How much marijuana possession is a crime?
Possessing 20 grams or less of cannabis is a first-degree misdemeanor, and delivering that amount without payment is treated the same way. Larger amounts and sales move into felony territory, and Florida’s marijuana laws include medical use provisions, so the specific facts matter.
When does a drug case become trafficking?
For cocaine, the line is 28 grams or more of the drug or any mixture containing it. That is a first-degree felony with a three-year mandatory minimum and a $50,000 fine, and the minimums rise at 200 and 400 grams. Because mixtures count, the weight and how it was measured are frequently contested.
What happens at a first appearance or bond hearing?
A judge reviews the charge, decides whether to set conditions or bond, and advises you of your rights. On weekends and holidays, felony bond hearings are held once a day at the Gerstein Justice Building after the morning misdemeanor arraignments. Having a lawyer there can influence whether you go home while the case proceeds.
Can my theft charge be a felony if the item was cheap?
Yes, in one situation. Property worth $100 to under $750 is normally a first-degree misdemeanor, but if it was taken from a dwelling it is charged as third-degree grand theft, a felony. The value and where the property was taken from both affect the grade.
Will a federal case be handled differently than a state case?
Yes. Federal cases are prosecuted by agencies such as the FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation, DEA, and Homeland Security Investigations, often after a long investigation, and are heard in the Southern District of Florida. The firm defends both federal and state matters, and the strategy differs because sentencing and evidence rules differ.
Can I get my arrest record expunged if charges were dropped?
Possibly. If no charging document was ever filed, or if charges were dismissed or you were acquitted, you may be eligible once you obtain a Certificate of Eligibility from FDLE. Only one arrest or incident can generally be expunged, and a judge has discretion to deny the request.
Does a conviction affect my license or immigration status?
It can. DUI convictions trigger driver’s license revocations, and many convictions carry consequences for professional licensing and for non-citizens. These collateral effects should shape how a plea offer is evaluated, so raise them with your lawyer before accepting any deal.
How long does a Miami-Dade criminal case take?
It depends on the charge and the evidence. Simple misdemeanors can resolve within weeks or months, while felony cases with extensive discovery, motions, and trial preparation take considerably longer. Federal cases often run longer still because of the volume of records involved.
Serving Criminal Defense Clients Throughout Miami-Dade County
From the downtown courts in Miami, our team represents clients across Miami-Dade County, including the neighborhoods and cities of Hialeah, Doral, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Kendall, Aventura, North Miami, Homestead, and Miami Gardens. We also serve clients from Miami Lakes, Opa-locka, Miami Springs, Sweetwater, Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, and the communities of South Dade. Because many of these cities have their own police departments and the county has its own sheriff’s office, the agency that made your arrest can shape the evidence and the paperwork we examine.
Our work does not stop at the county line. We defend people charged in Broward County, in Palm Beach County, and in Monroe County, and we appear in federal courts across the Southern District of Florida and around the country, including matters that involve Colombia, Mexico, the Bahamas, Ecuador, and Cuba. Whether your case is a local misdemeanor or a multi-agency federal investigation, we handle it with the same direct attention.
Talk to a Miami-Dade County Criminal Defense Lawyer Today
If you have been arrested, charged, or contacted by investigators, the decisions made in the first days often shape everything that follows. Speaking with a Miami-Dade criminal defense lawyer early gives you the widest range of options, from contesting the evidence to negotiating the charge. Call the Law Office of Nayib Hassan, P.A. at any hour to arrange a confidential consultation and start building your defense.