{"id":209,"date":"2018-01-10T10:38:47","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T15:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tampacriminallawyer.net\/?p=209"},"modified":"2026-01-07T12:12:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T17:12:46","slug":"evidence-issues-florida-criminal-sentencing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.criminalattorneytampa.net\/blog\/evidence-issues-florida-criminal-sentencing\/","title":{"rendered":"Evidence Issues in Florida Criminal Sentencing"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are convicted of a Florida theft crime, the sentencing stage can have a huge impact on not only your future but also your family\u2019s future. Probation and alternative sentences are often available in criminal cases. Even if you\u2019re looking at prison time, it\u2019s important to make the strongest possible case for the shortest possible stretch behind bars. Florida\u2019s Second District Court of Appeals recently explained<\/a> that there are limits on the evidence that judges can take into account when making a sentencing decision.The defendant was arrested, charged, and convicted of robbery and carjacking stemming from an incident in Tampa. He was allegedly involved in a variety of other incidents while being held in a local jail, awaiting trial. Following his conviction, the judge held a hearing to determine how he would be punished for the crime. Prosecutors asked the judge to send him to prison for 15 years. They called several correctional officers who worked at the jail where the defendant was being held to testify. Those officers told the court that the defendant was involved in at least two physical altercations at the facility and that they found papers in his cell indicating that he was affiliated with the Latin Kings, a well-known jail gang.<\/p>\n

The prosecutors also presented a statement from the carjacking victim, who talked about how the crime had affected her life. The victim asked the judge to give the defendant the maximum sentence allowable under the law. The judge eventually sentenced him to 12 years behind bars. On appeal, however, the Second District said the trial court wrongly relied on evidence of his misdeeds in jail in imposing the penalty. It cited the state Supreme Court\u2019s 2016 ruling in Norvil v. State<\/em>, in which the high court said a court can\u2019t use a person\u2019s subsequent crimes without convictions to support a sentence for earlier, unrelated crimes.<\/p>\n

Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are convicted of a Florida theft crime, the sentencing stage can have a huge impact on not only your future but also your family\u2019s future. Probation and alternative sentences are often available in criminal cases. Even if you\u2019re looking at prison time, it\u2019s important to make the strongest possible case for the shortest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1371,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sentencing"],"yoast_head":"\nEvidence Problems in Florida Criminal Sentencing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how evidence issues can affect Florida sentencing and why weak proof can reduce points or change the final sentence.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.criminalattorneytampa.net\/blog\/evidence-issues-florida-criminal-sentencing\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" 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