SARASOTA COUNTY – Judges in Sarasota County are far tougher than their colleagues nationwide when it comes to releasing people from jail after an arrest, a study has found.

Florida laws call for judges to place the least restrictive conditions on pretrial release to assure appearance in court and the safety of the community.

But defendants looking to be released from Sarasota County’s jail before their trial are twice as likely to have to post a commercial bond.

And they are far less likely to be released based only on their promise to later show up in court — even first-time offenders for crimes like DUI or those charged with nonviolent crimes.

The study cites a surprising reason: Judges fear for their job if the person they release does something bad.

And much of it goes back to one of Sarasota’s most infamous cases: the abduction, rape and murder of 12-year-old Carlie Brucia, the study found.

The abduction was caught on a surveillance video that captured the nation’s attention, and when Joseph P. Smith was arrested a media firestorm rained on Circuit Judge Harry Rapkin, blaming him for letting Smith out of jail just before the crime.

While most in the local legal community defended Rapkin for following the law and said he did nothing wrong, even though Smith was a repeat offender, the flare-up caused the tough-on-crime Rapkin to retire.

It resonates even now, the study found.

Sarasota’s judges have “the overarching concern with the possibility of making ‘the wrong decision’ on release or bail, resulting in harm to persons and/or the community,” the study states.

Defense attorneys say they see it every day. And getting out of jail before trial can allow someone to keep their job, keep their place to live and help care for their family.

An arrest does not mean the person is guilty. About 40 percent of the time, defendants who were released before trial have their charges dropped or are acquitted, a U.S. Department of Justice study found.
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –  The Florida Highway Patrol arrested 537 motorists for driving under the influence during a 19-day holiday crackdown.

The Dec. 16 to Jan. 3 stretch of heightened enforcement throughout Florida also included 16,213 speeding tickets and 4,531 tickets to drivers for not wearing their seat belts.

During the “Drunk Driving, Over the Limit, Under Arrest” campaign, the highway patrol increased troopers’ patrols and added reservists and auxiliary troops.

A good percentage of this group of 537 will be convicted of DUI, be forced to pay hefty fines and have their licenses taken away. However, with the help of the Sarasota DUI attorneys here at Musca law many of them would be able be freed of a drunk driving conviction.

If you have been charged with FL DUI you may contact us to schedule a free confidential consultation. Our team of Sarasota  County attorneys has over 100 years combined experience

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As the time of the year when motorists have a reputation for being more likely to drive drunk passes, a pair of Northeast Florida lawmakers are considering a bill that would make it easier for police to make a DUI arrest without a warrant.

The proposal, offered in the House by Rep. Mike Weinstein, R-Jacksonville, and in the Senate by Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, would allow officers to make an arrest for drunken driving without the warrant if they have “probable cause” to think a motorist was behind the wheel while intoxicated – whether they saw the person there or not.

With a few exceptions, police have to see a person commit a misdemeanor like most DUIs to make an arrest, even if they have witnesses.

An officer would not be able to arrest a person, for instance, if he or she was stopped at the guard station at a gated community and got out of the car after the guard called police, Weinstein said.

“The police can’t arrest the person for drunk en driving because he didn’t see the person behind the wheel,” said Weinstein, executive director of the state attorney’s office in Jacksonville.

The measure would also allow for warrantless arrests in the case of boating under the influence.

Similar proposals in the legislative session this past spring did not fare well. A House proposal never got a hearing, while its Senate counterpart passed one committee but later stalled. Some critics contend the law would allow police to make arrests based on flimsy evidence.

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