What is drug trafficking in Florida? See 2026 weight thresholds and mandatory minimums by drug, how weight is proven, and how trafficking cases are defended.
Continue reading ›From First DUI to Death Penalty
Welcome to The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. blog, where our expert insights, updates, and strategies on criminal law help you understand your rights and defense options in Tampa Bay and beyond.
What is drug trafficking in Florida? See 2026 weight thresholds and mandatory minimums by drug, how weight is proven, and how trafficking cases are defended.
Continue reading ›How to fight a DUI charge in Hillsborough County: how our Tampa attorneys attack the stop, field sobriety tests, breath and blood results, and refusal charges.
Continue reading ›Updated November 8, 2026 A conviction for a misdemeanor domestic violence offense that involves force, such as battery on a spouse, partner, or co-parent, triggers a federal firearm ban under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9) that usually lasts for life. There is no exception for police officers, deputies, corrections officers, or service members, so the ban…
Continue reading ›Rewrite/update date: November 3, 2026. Originally published in February 2025. Florida’s rape shield law, section 794.022, Florida Statutes, bars evidence of specific instances of an accuser’s prior consensual sexual activity with anyone other than the defendant, and it always bars reputation evidence and evidence about the accuser’s clothing. There are two written exceptions, each decided…
Continue reading ›A Florida business purposes only hardship license covers work, school, church, and medical trips. Here is the trip-by-trip list of what is allowed, what is a gray area, and what is banned.
Continue reading ›Updated November 8, 2026 Key Takeaway If your child was arrested at a “teen takeover” in Hillsborough, Pinellas, or Pasco County, the most common charge is affray, a first-degree misdemeanor under Florida law (§870.01). But these events are far more dangerous than a misdemeanor suggests. A teen was shot at the Clearwater Beach takeover, and…
Continue reading ›Rewrite/update date: November 3, 2026. Originally published in June 2025. You fight child hearsay in a Florida sex case at the pretrial reliability hearing required by section 90.803(23), Florida Statutes. A child’s out-of-court statement describing abuse can reach the jury only if the judge finds, in a hearing outside the jury’s presence and with specific…
Continue reading ›Short answer: High-stakes criminal defense is the defense of a case where a conviction would take away most or all of a person’s life: a murder, sexual battery, child abuse, trafficking, or other first-degree or life felony. The Brancato Law Firm, P.A. handles these cases routinely with its own attorneys. For the client who has…
Continue reading ›Rewrite/update date: November 3, 2026. Originally published in January 2025. The entrapment defense in Florida lets a jury acquit, or a judge dismiss, when police or their agents persuaded a person to commit a crime that person was not already ready to commit. Under section 777.201, Florida Statutes, the accused must first show that law…
Continue reading ›Rewrite/update date: November 2, 2026. Originally published in May 2025. After a Tampa sex sting arrest, the person is booked into the Orient Road Jail, sees a judge at first appearance within 24 hours, and usually faces several felony counts at once: computer solicitation of a child (third-degree felony), traveling to meet a minor (second-degree…
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