Miami Criminal Lawyers Blog

Three Miami-Dade police officers arrested a repeat convicted felon, but the officers allegedly lied about the circumstances of the arrest.  The case has been dismissed with the officers facing indictment for obstruction of justice and perjury charges.  Officers Alkibiades Dodge and Sergeant Waell Majed Farraj were indicted in federal court.  The third officer, Jorge Luis Gonzales, is on vacation in Cuba and has indicated he will surrender when he returns next week.

The three officers arrested Pedro Marte, a drug dealer and repeat convicted felon, for illegally carrying a handgun early last year.  The officers claimed they pulled Marte's car over on 27th Avenue and found the gun hidden under the car's hood.  The officers also said that Marte consented to the search and waived his miranda rights.

However, prosecutors argue that the officers' statements about the circumstances of Marte's arrest are lies.  According to prosecutors, the officers' story began to fall apart when the GPS on the officers' patrol car showed the Marte's arrest happened at a different location.  Based on the discrepancy, the case against Marte was dismissed.

Some have lamented the dismissal of the case against a repeated felon and drug dealer.  John Musca, who frequently handles criminal cases in Miami pointed out, "Obviously, I do not know whether or not the officers' testimony was truthful, but the consequences of having officers lie about the circumstances of an arrest is something a court takes very seriously."

The officers' attorneys insist their clients were truthful about the arrest of Marte.  "They did nothing more than arrest a one-man crime wave, a scourge on the community.  Pedro Marte is a violent, drug-dealing criminal that they arrested with a gun," said one of the officers' attorneys.  One of the other defense attorneys said, "To indict these officers - and if they convict them, they will go to federal prison - is atrocious.  I think it's an abomination."

Musca Law Firm has over 100 years of combined legal experience with convenient offices located across the State of Florida.  Our Miami criminal defense team will aggressively defend your rights on the State and Federal level.  The prosecution is looking to punish you to the fullest extent of the law.  You need a knowledgeable attorney that will watch out for you.  Contact Musca Law for a free, comprehensive review of your case.

Lake County Sheriff's Officers took Laura Maria Caballero, who is known as "Sister Mary" by parishioners of the Filumena Catholic Church in Eustis, into custody for allegedly disappearing with 2-year-old Maria Lopez-Vazquez and hiding her from her parents for six months.  Caballero was arrested in Miami when she returned from Argentina last month.  Caballero is charged with false imprisonment and interfering with child custody.  She is free on $10,000 bond.

Sheriff's investigators executed a search warrant on St. Filumena Catholic Church on Friday.  Caballero both works and lives at St. Filumena.  Investigators did remove items from the church but the items removed have not yet been identified. 

Caballero claims the entire incident was a misunderstanding.  "We have helped these people for two years," said Caballero.  "They dropped off this baby numerous times with us.  This whole thing is a misunderstanding.  These parents gave this baby voluntarily, and now they're lying." 

Caballero claims she took the child to protect her.  "This is very upsetting to me.  The truth is going to come out in court, and it not what they said, Caballero said, This baby would not be alive if we were not involved in her life."  The Department of Children and Families investigated a child neglect complaint against the parents last year.  However, the file was closed with no findings of neglect.

The mother of the child Adai Lopez-Vazquez disputed Caballero's claims saying, "We are good parents."  Lopez-Vazquez says Caballero is lying and that Caballero did not respond to attempts by the parents to contact her regarding their daughter.

Caballero was arraigned on Tuesday and entered a plea of not guilty.  "These are very serious charges.  Given the conflicting versions of the events, it would seem someone is not being truthful," said criminal defense attorney John Musca.

If you or someone that know that has been charged with a crime, you no longer have to worry about finding and aggressive criminal defense attorney.  Do not allow a criminal charge to destroy your life.  Act immediately.  Although, criminal charges can result in a large spectrum of implications in the State of Florida, Attorneys at Musca Law fight hard and are victorious in defense of their clients.  For further information visit www.muscalaw.com, where you can review the firm's current case list and obtain legal information. Musca Law is a full service criminal defense firm serving clients throughout the State of Florida.

Continue reading "Attorney Musca Comments on Sister Mary's Arrest for Taking Off with 2 Year Old " »

In an unusual move, a federal judge in Miami terminated jury deliberations and acquitted two former employees of Stanford Financial Group, who were accused of destroying evidence of Stanford's alleged Ponzi scheme.  Former Stanford Global Security Chief Thomas Raffanello and Technology Officer Bruce Perraud were accused of illegally shredding thousands of documents.  Raffanello, longtime head of Miami's U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration Office, and Perraud faced up to 50 years in prison if they had been convicted.

The jury sent a note to visiting Judge Richard Goldberg during jury deliberations asking for guidance on what constituted intent to thwart the Securities and Exchange Commission as it looked into Stanford's business dealings.  Goldberg ended jury deliberations and issued a directed verdict finding that the evidence was unable to support a conviction.  The judge visiting from the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York likely re-examined the evidence and realized the case should have never gone to the jury.  The defense had argued that shredding of the documents had no impact as the investigators had all the documents on a computer server.

Legal experts commenting on the case suggested that this was a highly unusual move.  The defense attorney who represented Perraud said, "The judge has a constitutional responsibility not to have a case that is insufficient on the evidence go to the jury."  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Fitzpatrick, the Washington based lead prosecutor, asked the court to allow the jury to continue to deliberate knowing that the prosecution could not appeal a judge's acquittal.  Commenting on the decision, Fitzpatrick said, "We're disappointed, but we respect the judge's ruling."

Goldberg indicated that the defense had not done anything wrong in its handling of the case but merely had a weak case.  Goldberg said that prosecutors "did their best with what they had to work with."  Rafanello's lead attorney said that after the decision he could tell that Goldberg was bothered by the trial from the beginning.  "Thank God for the mercy, justice and wisdom of Judge Goldberg," he said.

Musca Law firm has over 100 years of combined legal experience with convenient offices located across the State of Florida. Our Miami criminal defense team will aggressively defend your rights on the state and federal levels. The prosecution is looking to punish you to the fullest extent. You need a knowledgeable attorney to watch out for you. Contact the Miami criminal lawyers at Musca Law for a free, comprehensive review of your case.

The arrest of Tony McDaniel following an altercation with his girlfriend on February 7 did not come as a surprise to the couple's friends, who were familiar with a history of domestic violence disputes between the couple.  The Miami Dolphin defensive tackle was arrested after the couple's friends, who witnessed the altercation, said the couple argued and McDaniel threw his girlfriend Alaina Smith aside snatching her phone and smashing it to the ground.

McDaniel told police that Smith was mad that he had arrived home in the early morning after a night of clubbing.  He claimed Smith slapped and scratched him.  He also claimed he used his forearms to block her blows and stop the attack.  He had scratches on his hands and fingers. 

Smith's version of the February 7 events was that she arrived home from buying breakfast for houseguests when McDaniel became upset that she had not answered the phone when he called her.  She claimed he grabbed her purse and shoved her to the ground where she hit her head as they wrestled for her purse.  She says she ran in the house and asked her houseguests to call 911.  She told police that when she came back outside that McDaniel took her purse and smashed her cell phone on the ground.  Smith declined medical treatment, and police did not see any evidence of head injuries, though she had scratches on her fingers.

The February 7 incident was foreshadowed by prior altercations between the couple.  In November, Smith and other guests called police about a physical altercation between the couple.  Smith claimed that McDaniel pushed her and grabbed her as she tried to climb some stairs.  McDaniel claimed that Smith smacked him in the face because he had come home from a night of clubbing in South Beach.  Smith also called the police on October 17 and told them she was afraid that McDaniel was going to lock her out of the home.

McDaniel was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge as a result of the February 7 incident but was released the following day after posting $3500 bond.

Continue reading "History of Domestic Disputes between Miami Dolphin Tony McDaniel and Girlfriend Foreshadowed Player's Arrest " »

The Miami criminal case surrounding the murder of model Paula Sladewski after she left the downtown Miami nightclub Club Space on Jan. 22 will be featured during prime time on America's Most Wanted.  The popular Fox network show, which is hosted by John Walsh, will ask viewers to help identify a person of interest on Saturday at 9:00 p.m. on Channel 7.

Surveillance cameras show a club bouncer escorting Sladewski out of the building shortly after filming her boyfriend Kevin Klym being escorted out of the building following an altercation sixty seconds before.  Sladewski's body was later discovered in a North Miami dumpster burned beyond recognition.

Klym indicated that the man in the sketch could be the bouncer seen in the video escorting Sladewski from the building.  However, club owners are angry at this claim and indicated they believe that Klym is simply trying to divert attention from himself.  Club owners also expressed confusion over why the sketch being circulated by authorities did not seem to be based on information provided by the club doorman who saw Sladewski leave.  "The man in the sketch; we didn't identify that sketch," Klym said.  The man in the sketch may not be the murderer but the police would like to talk to him about the case.

The Sladewski case is just one of several Miami-Dade County cases recently featured on America's Most Wanted.  The Boca Town Center murders of Randi Gorenberg and Nancy and Joey Bochicchio have been featured on 4 episodes, but remain unsolved.  However, America's Most Wanted coverage had lead to the arrest of Paul Merhige, who allegedly murdered four family members on Thanksgiving, at a Florida Keys Motel.

Walsh commented on the Sladewski case saying, "It's going to be a tough case to break.  Somebody knows something about it.  If you're not comfortable talking to the North Miami Police, go to amw.com and leave your tip anonymously."

If you have been charged with a crime, legally you are presumed to be innocent until a judge or a jury has convicted you.   The prosecution holds the initial burden to provide convincing evidence that you are guilty, often known as proving guilt, "beyond a reasonable doubt," where the prosecutor will work with the police investigators in an effort to secure a conviction.

It is imperative to retain a competent criminal defense attorney that will evaluate and analyze every aspect of the investigation, that has led to an arrest as there is absolutely no room for mistakes when your freedoms are at risk.

Continue reading "Miami Club Murder Featured on America's Most Wanted " »