Tampa Florida Law Blog

My client was charged with possession of cocaine and carrying a concealed firearm, both third degree felonies. He was facing up to 10 years in the Florida state prison for these charges. After I reviewed the police report, I discovered that the State would be unable to prove the charges against my client. Here is why…when an individual is charged with possession of a drug, the State must prove that they were actually in possession or constructively in possession. Actual possession means exactly what it sounds like, you had it in your hands, pocket, socks. Constructive possession is harder to prove. The State must prove three things 1) You knew the items were drugs 2) You knew where the drugs were located and 3) You had the ability to control the drugs. If you do not admit that the drugs were yours, it is hard for the State to prove the case against you. In this case, my client did not admit that the drugs were his and the State had to drop the cocaine charge. They also ended up dropping the firearms charge for the same reason, he didn’t have it in his possession. If you have a drug charge, call Mustafa Ameen, a Tampa criminal attorney, for a free review of your case.

Tampa police officers write hundreds of citations a month and make a lot of mistakes writing those citations. These mistakes can lead to your case getting dismissed. On March 24th, 2009, my client was driving his vehicle while his license was suspended. The officer charged him with driving while license suspended in Tampa, FL. Immediately after this happened, he called my office and I began to work on his case. After reviewing the citation that he received, I noticed that the officer did not write the subsection for the statute. I pointed this out to the State Attorney, who agreed and dismissed the case. Think you have no chance of winning your case? Think again, call Mustafa Ameen, an experience Tampa criminal lawyer to investigate your case and protect your rights.

You’ve been arrested for DUI, should you hire a Tampa DUI attorney? What difference will it make if you know you were guilty anyways, failed the field sobriety exercises, and blew over the legal limit? Here is why you should always hire an experienced DUI attorney….

On December 14th, 2008, my client was arrested for DUI in Hillsborough County, Florida. Officers from the Plant City Police Department received a call of a possible impaired driver in a gray Jeep. When officers arrived to the location, they spotted the gray Jeep and saw it cross over the while line to the right of the travel lane, cross the center lane dividing line, and observed 50% of the vehicle in the oncoming lane of travel. Based on this the officer pulled my client over and had him exit the vehicle. My client agreed to perform field sobriety exercise and he failed. The officers stated that he was unable to perform the exercises and had to stop the exercises for his safety because he was so intoxicated. After being arrested, my client took the breath test and had a result of .121/124, which is more than 50% over the legal limit in Florida.

After reading these facts you might think that he has no shot of winning and will definitely have to plea to a DUI. That’s not always the case. After I received the police reports and did some investigation, I realized that the Plant City Police Department went outside of their jurisdiction to arrest my client. They are allowed only in limited circumstances to follow a driver outside their jurisdiction. In this case, they did not see a crime occur within their jurisdiction and could not stop my client outside their jurisdiction.

After doing some research I found caselaw that supports this position and filed a motion to dismiss the DUI. After a hearing on the issue, the Judge granted my motion to dismiss and my client walked out of the court without a DUI on his record, without probation, and without any court costs.

If you find yourself in a similar situation, don’t think that there are no options. Call me, Mustafa Ameen, Esq., an experienced  Tampa DUI attorney, to discuss your case.

On March 25th, 2009 my client was arrested for driving under the influence in Tampa, FL. The officer alleged that my client ran a red light, almost strike the curb of the median, drifting in and out of the lane, and slow to respond to the officer’s lights to pull over. When the officer asked my client to exit the vehicle, he could smell the odor of marijuana coming from the car. He noticed that my client was unsteady, staggering while walking, and swaying. The officer asked my client to conduct filed sobriety exercises, which he stated showed clues of impairment. My client was then arrested and taken to jail.

I was able to convince the State Attorney to drop the Driving Under the Influence charge because he could not prove what my client was impaired by. The alcohol breath test in the case came back negative. However, the officers also requested a urine sample which was not analyzed in time. Based on this information, the State Attorney agreed with my assertion and dismissed the DUI charge.

If you get charged with a DUI call Tampa DUI Attorney Mustafa Ameen immediately to protect your rights.

Pleading guilty to a street racing charge can have serious consequences on your life. A street racing charge is a first degree misdemeanor (up to one year in jail), that will result in a minimum fine of $500 (maximum of $1000) and a mandatory suspension of your drivers license for one full year. A second offense will lead to a 2 year license suspension.

How can you beat a racing charge?
The racing statute is very specific. The language of the statute requires the officer to be able to specifically describe the conduct. Simply driving fast with your friends is not considered racing. There must be a starting point and ending point during the race. In most situations, individuals are simply driving fast in groups, this is not racing.

In Tampa court today, my client was charged with street racing. He stated that he was not racing; he was just following his friend’s vehicle. The officer stated that he observed the two vehicles “racing” and pulled both over and charged them with racing. I set his case for trial and we ready to have a trial, however, the Hillsborough State Attorney dismissed the case before trial.

If you are charged with racing on highway the consequences are serious and you need to hire an attorney who knows the law. Contact my office 24/7 to discuss your Tampa criminal street racing case.

It was alleged that my client’s probation was violated for picking up a new charge of criminal mischief and not paying his fines. Even though these seem like small issues, they had serious consequences. My client was facing 58.13 months to 25 years in prison for this violation! As I discussed in an earlier post, this is proof even the smallest VOP can lead to serious prison time. He was being held on no bond and had to wait over a month for his next court date. However, I was able to convince the Judge to allow him to bond out at the bond hearing. The Judge allowed a bond and my client was able to get back to his family and work the next day. The new offense for criminal mischief was dropped by the State Attorney’s Office. I was able to get a certified copy of this from the clerk’s office showing the dismissal and advised my client to get the outstanding money paid. He did this and I brought copies of everything to the Judge for the hearing. After the Judge reviewed all the information, I requested that he dismiss the violation, which he did. My client did not have to do any jail or additional conditions on probation.

Violations of probation (VOP) hearings are serious matters that require a well thought out explanation to the Judge. The reason these hearings are so important is that the consequences are serious. Usually, you are looking serious jail or prison time if you have violated your probation.

The 2 Types of Violations
Technical Violation - Not reporting for probation, failing urine test, not paying fines.
Substantive Violation - You are charged with a new criminal offense while on probation.

There are usually three outcomes with VOP hearings.

Jail/Prison - If you have committed serious substantive violations or multiple technical violations, the Judge will probably give you some type of jail sentence or prison time if you do not have a good reason or defense to the new allegations.

Additional Conditions - The Judge may modify your probation and add additional conditions, such as more treatment or additional community service hours.

Dismiss the Violation - If you have a valid defense or very good excuse to the VOP, then they judge may decide to dismiss the violation altogether.

The bottom line here is that you should never try to address the Judge by yourself without discussing your VOP with an attorney. There are several things you can do from the time the VOP had been issued to your actual hearing date. These help to mitigate your sentence that the Judge will be imposing.

On October 16, 2008, my client was arrested for Driving Under the Influence.  The Deputy observed his vehicle failing to yield at an intersection almost striking another vehicle. Upon contact with my client, the Deputy smelled the odor of an alcoholic beverage on his breath, observed blood shot eyes and slurred speech. My client conducted field sobriety exercise and the Deputy stated that he observed him losing balance, steadying himself, swaying, and various other indicators of impairment. My client also admitted to smoking “a lot of marijuana.” A urine sample was taken from my client after he was arrested which tested positive for marijuana.If you read the facts above, you would think that my client was guilty of DUI. However, he had many defenses available to him that I was able to explain to the prosecutor. One that was the most important was the issue with the marijuana. The Deputy never asked my client when he smoked the marijuana, he never found marijuana in the car, and never smelled the odor of marijuana in the vehicle. These facts are important, because the prosecutor was trying to prove he was under the influence of marijuana. But these key facts were missing from their case. I set the case for trial, and the prosecutor decided to drop the DUI charge down to reckless driving. My client only had to pay the court costs, no probation, no jail, and no license suspension.

Call me, Tampa DUI attorney Mustafa Ameen, for any questions realted to your DUI case.

If an officer pulls you over for an alleged traffic violation, he has the right to ask the driver and any passengers to exit the vehicle. If an officer asks you to exit the vehicle, you should exit the vehicle. The reason the courts have allowed police to ask you to exit is for the officer’s safety. You would think that an officer could only ask you to exit if he had probable cause, however the courts have held that officer safety is more important in this situation.

Some officers prefer that you stay in your vehicle. Do not exit the vehicle, unless you are asked to do so. Officers are trained to expect the worst. If you try to exit, without being asked to, they may believe that you are trying to pull a weapon or run away.

Whatever the scenario may be when you are pulled over, always be polite and respectful with the officer, even if he is not. You are not going to win on the street with the officer, your battle is better fought in the courtroom, where the law is on your side.

On January 11th, 2009, my client was arrested for battery domestic violence in Tampa, FL.  The penalty for this offense is up to one year in the Hillsborough County jail.  The State alleged that my client and spouse were involved in a verbal altercation which them turned physical.  The spouse alleged that my client was the aggressor and started the altercation.  However, my client asserted that she was not the aggressor and had evidence of bruise marks on her.  The police arrived on the scene, took information from both parties, and decided to arrest my client.  When the case got to court, I was able to persuade the State Attorney to dismiss the case.  I explained to him that my client was not the aggressor and showed him pictures of her injuries.  Based on this, the State dismissed the case and my client did not get a criminal record. (09-CM-655)