Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida

My husband was found guility today of possession with the intent to sell. My husband had a court appointed on this case that lied constantly and never did his job for over a year and a half, the day before trial begun, his public defender was removed and replaced by a new public defender that was unprepared for trial. We were then rushed to borrow money for a private attorney and we then learned so much about what the public defender lied about and never did and how it was to late for us to get a fair trail. And now due to the fact that my husband has 5 different felonies in the past he is now facing up to 15 years for a crime he never committed. I am now a single mother of 5, my husband always had a job or drew unemployment or had side jobs for lawn service and disc jockey. During this event my husband had just lost this mother due to a terrible car accident and he was shut in for over a month, the day he decided to get out and walk to where my god-brother was visiting some girls, he was busted. The drugs was never found on him, it was found a distance away. When the officers arrived on scene a group of boys ran but my husband and brother did not. There were more than 3 officers on the scene but only 2 showed for court and there stories did not match and the main officer kept changing his story. My husband had witnesses and evidence only 2 was allowed to testify and no evidence could be given in our time frame. My husband is now 32 years old and 3 of his felonies occured when he was 15 years old in 1 case, 1 in 2000 and 1 in 2006. We been saving to fix our credit to buy a house and to start a business, we used that money on the lawyer. 4 of my kids are not his but he has been a great father, my youngest is his and she is 9 months. I have known my husband since I was 9 years old, he grew up in the projects with 1 parent so yes he did live a fast illegal life at one time, but i did not grow up that way so for many years we stayed close friends because he was unwilling to give up that life for me. Till 2006 charge, he said if the lord help me threw this, i will forever leave this lifestyle alone. And he did. Where ever you saw me, you saw him and the other way around, he became a family man and left the streets alone and old friends. Please give me some advice on our next step and if there is any probono lawyers willing to be my hero and blessing.


Asked on 7/02/10, 3:13 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Craig Epifanio Craig Epifanio, P.A.

You should talk to the court appointed lawyer. He has rights to an appeal. He also has rights to what is called a 3.850 motion which is usually used for ineffective assistance of counsel claims. However, there are strict time limits so don't delay in contacting an attorney. It will be hard, if not impossible to find a pro bono attorney but if the public defender can't help, keep calling around. Focus on attorneys who do appeals. Good luck.

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Answered on 7/02/10, 9:08 am


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