A Clearwater police officer has been dismissed from the force after an internal investigation revealed he used excessive force on a 13-year-old boy at a youth shelter. Surveillance video shows Michael Leonardo grabbing the teenager across the upper chest and slamming him face-first onto the concrete sidewalk just outside the front doors of the shelter. The takedown maneuver left the boy with a range of facial injuries from a broken nose to chipped teeth — and ended the officer's … [Read more...]
Defending Yourself In A Criminal Case
Defending yourself in a criminal case is the biggest mistake you can make. A famous man once said, "He who represents himself has a fool for a client." Our 16th President Abraham Lincoln knew something about pro se defense for he was a country lawyer before he became president. Today, we saw Exhibit A in why you never want to defend yourself in court, regardless of the criminal charge. (This also applies to civil cases.) The Tampa Bay Times has released a video of Markeith Loyd's first … [Read more...]
Miranda Rights and the Law
In my last post, I discussed in a general fashion, the background, history, and legal impact of the groundbreaking US Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona which established certain legal rights for all those who are detained by law enforcement authorities. I wrote in that post that Miranda affords each of us two specific rights: 1)the right to remain silent and 2)the right to legal counsel, even if you can't afford said counsel. That seems pretty straightforward. Even more so given the fact … [Read more...]
Florida Road Rage
It would be hard to spend a day driving in Tampa Bay without witnessing an incident of aggressive or reckless driving. All too often that kind of driving leads to an incident of road rage. Perhaps the worst of all is that psychologists tell us that anyone can be susceptible to road rage. It can happen in an instant, someone cuts in front of you or is driving too slow in the so-called passing lane. You're late for work or for an appointment and you start honking and swearing at the other … [Read more...]
Florida Police Training Less Rigorous Than Barber Training
New Florida police officers are required to undergo 770 hours of training at a police academy while barbers who want to be licensed in the Sunshine State are required to take 1,200 hours of coursework, according to a local media outlet. Now, as the article points out, that is a minimum requirement and some Florida police departments require much more training than the minimum state rule. For instance, the St. Petersburg Police Department puts new recruits through an additional eight-week, … [Read more...]
