Legal Question in Criminal Law in Florida
My significant other was recently arrested on 2 counts of grand theft. We met with her public defender and he advised that she was only being charged on 1 count. The original incidents occurred almost a month apart. My question is can they merge two separate incidents into one charge? We asked the public defender which incident she was being charged with and he said he didn't know and would have to file a motion of particulars and if he did that our option to negotiate was over and we would have to go to trial. How can you be expected to make a decision of whether to negotiate or litigate if you don't know specifically what incident you are being charged with?
1 Answer from Attorneys
The charging document should specify the date of the offense, the location, and the subject of the theft. One count is needed per crime. So this charge only applies to one offense. It is possible that the charging document is so defective that a motion for statement of particulars is needed, but by the very least the discovery usually gives an idea as to this information. He should hire a private attorney.
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