The Umansky Law Firm recently represented a client who was charged with Tampering with Evidence and Possession of Marijuana under 20 grams. Essentially, the client was driving, was intercepted by a police officer that was pulled him over, and after he was pulled over, it was alleged that he threw contraband out of the window which later ended up being marijuana. The cop arrested him and the State ultimately charged him with the two criminal charges. In Florida, tampering with Evidence charges are considered a 3 rd degree felony, and he was facing five years in prison, five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine. Attorney Kaigle read over the facts and discussed the issues with the client, where our attorney believed it was a very weak case of tampering. What made this case weak was the fact that in order to prove tampering, the State needed to prove that the client took evidence and either altered, destroyed it, or otherwise tried to make it unavailable for police to do the investigation and subsequently unavailable for trial. In this particular situation, he merely threw it out of window. Police had no difficulty in finding it, they didn’t have to look for it, and it wasn’t destroyed or altered.
On the day of court, our attorney went in and talked with prosecutor about the case. The prosecutor maintained that he wanted the client to do at least six months in jail. This was not acceptable, and Attorney Kaigle reiterated the fact that the prosecutor was not able to prove the tampering charges and the appropriate action would be to dismiss the case. Ultimately, the prosecutor agreed. The case was dismissed, and the client was able to resolve his case by only pleading out the possession of marijuana charge, which is a first-degree misdemeanor. The first-degree misdemeanor charge carries the maximum penalty of one year in the county jail, a $1,000 fine, and one year probation. This was eventually further reduced to just a simple fine.
Founder of the Umansky Law Firm, Bill Umansky, was named a Top Criminal Lawyer by Orlando Home and Leisure Magazine. He has been quoted or appeared in numerous media outlets and affiliates, including NBC BCS, ABC, FOX, Newsweek, People, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. We are motivated to do everything we can to give our Central Florida clients a second chance. Contact Bill today by calling (407)-228-3838 for your free case evaluation.
The Umansky Law Firm Criminal Defense & Injury Attorneys