Updated November 7, 2026 In Florida, the speedy trial clock starts when a person is formally charged with a crime, under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.191 as amended on July 1, 2025. The State then has 90 days to bring a misdemeanor to trial and 175 days for a felony. In criminal traffic cases…
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Updated November 5, 2026 Key Takeaway: Resisting an officer without violence is a first-degree misdemeanor under Florida law, punishable by up to a year in jail — and it is one of the most overcharged offenses we see. The State must prove the officer was lawfully performing a legal duty AND that you actually obstructed…
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Updated November 5, 2026 No — not anymore, for the location history your phone quietly logs. In Chatrie v. United States (June 29, 2026), the U.S. Supreme Court held that police conduct a Fourth Amendment search when they obtain your cell-phone location data — even just two hours of it, and even though a company…
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Rewrite/update date: November 2, 2026. Originally published in January 2025. Yes. In Florida, circumstantial evidence alone can support a conviction if it convinces a jury of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Since Bush v. State, 295 So. 3d 179 (Fla. 2020), Florida courts review circumstantial cases under the same test as any other case: whether…
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Rewrite/update date: October 13, 2026 To fight a probation violation in Florida, make the State prove a willful and substantial violation by the greater weight of the evidence, with at least some evidence that is not hearsay. A probation officer reading from an arrest affidavit is not enough. In October 2026, Florida’s Fifth District Court…
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Rewrite/update date: October 27, 2026. Originally published in June 2025; updated January 2026. Yes, often. Florida’s burglary statute defines a “dwelling” to include “any attached porch,” so taking a package from a covered front porch can be charged as burglary rather than theft. In Krasner v. State (Fla. 4th DCA 2025), the court held that…
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Rewrite/update date: October 27, 2026. Originally published in May 2025. Yes, in most cases. Florida’s clergy privilege, in section 90.505, Florida Statutes, lets a person refuse to disclose, and stop a pastor, priest, rabbi, or other member of the clergy from disclosing, a confidential communication made privately to seek spiritual counsel. Unlike most privileges, it…
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Rewrite/update date: October 13, 2026. Originally published in June 2025. Yes, often. Florida’s Williams rule, codified in section 90.404(2), Florida Statutes, lets prosecutors in a sex crime case offer evidence that the accused committed other sexual offenses, including acts that were never charged, and jurors may consider it for any matter to which it is…
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Fully rewritten and updated October 26, 2026. Florida’s 10-day search warrant rule, found in section 933.05, Florida Statutes, requires most search warrants to be executed and returned within 10 days after they are issued. A warrant executed late is stale, the search is invalid, and the evidence must be suppressed without any showing of prejudice,…
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Fully rewritten and updated October 24, 2026. In Case v. Montana, 607 U.S. 107 (2026), the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that police may enter a home without a warrant to give emergency aid when they have “an objectively reasonable basis for believing” that someone inside is seriously injured or imminently threatened with serious injury.…
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