Fernandez Law Group

APPEALS COURT SAYS FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL CANNOT PREVENT OPIOID SUITS FROM HOSPITAL DISTRICTS OR SCHOOL BOARDS ? Recently, a three-judge panel of Florida’s 1st District Court of Appeals ruled that Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody could not prevent opioid-epidemic lawsuits filed by hospital districts and school boards after she reached settlements with the pharmaceutical industry.? ? The panel overturned a 2023 decision by Leon County Circuit Judge John Cooper, and found in favor of several local hospitals and school boards that had sued drug distributors, manufacturers or pharmacies to recover costs related to treating patients and educating children affected by the opioid epidemic.? ? Moody’s office entered into seven settlements with a variety of companies — with each of the settlements including a “release” of claims filed by local governments.? ? In a 2022 lawsuit against the hospital districts and school boards, Moody’s office argued the settlements would provide money for opioid treatment, prevention and recovery services and that money would go to communities throughout the state. But the hospital districts and school board argued that Moody did not have the authority to release their claims. https://lnkd.in/eXwBpNBj #legalnews #legalupdates #legal #lawyer #lawyers #attorney #attorneys #tampalawyer #tampalawyers

FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL WARNS CRIMINALS OF HARSHER PENALTIES IN THE WAKE OF HURRICANE MILTON ? Following Hurricane Milton’s devastation,?Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody warned criminals that harsher penalties will apply during the state of emergency.? ? On Sunday, October 13th,?Moody emphasized that Florida will not tolerate looting or lawlessness?and?provided law enforcement with guidance?on enforcing?enhanced penalties for crimes like?burglary,?theft, and unlicensed contracting during emergencies.? ? Attorney General Ashley Moody?said, “Florida is a law-and-order state, and even though we have been damaged by Milton, we will not allow looting to take root here. I am offering guidance to Florida sheriffs and police chiefs about enhanced penalties for crimes committed during a state of emergency.”? ? Moody also highlighted that?those committing dangerous crimes may not receive nonmonetary pretrial release until they appear before a judge.? ? Additionally,?Moody cautioned residents to be vigilant against price gouging and disaster-related scams, urging them to report such incidents through the?No Scam app?or by contacting the Attorney General’s Office. https://lnkd.in/eP6G2b4P #legalnews #legalupdate #lawyer #lawyers #attorney #attorneys #tampa #tampabay #tampalawyers #florida

DISTRACTED DRIVING IS A SERIOUS CONTRIBUTOR OF NEGLIGENCE IN CAR ACCIDENTS Studies show an outside person, object or event as the greatest distraction. A newly released study involved long-haul trucks for 18 months by outfitting the cabs with video cameras. They found when the drivers texted,?their collision risk was 23 times greater?than when not texting. The study also measured the time drivers took their eyes from the road to send or receive texts.?In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices?– enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field. *Research shows that over half of U.S. drivers report using a cell phone in the past 30 days. *One in seven admit to texting while driving. *Forty-six percent of 16 and 17 year old drivers say they text while driving. *Forty-eight percent of 18 to 24 year old drivers text and drive. *Sixty-seven percent of 25-34 year old drivers talk on their cell phones while driving. *Sixty-five percent of people with a college education talk on their cell phones while driving. *The higher the level of education, the higher use of the cell phone. When you take those statistics into account, it comes as no surprise that the majority of all auto accidents involving personal injury of one or more people are the direct result of the negligence of another person. https://lnkd.in/gYJxMm_u #distracteddriving #accident #accidents #payattention #injury #driving #negligence #tampa #tampabay

NEW FLORIDA LAW AFFECTING HOMELESSNESS BEGINS OCTOBER 1ST.?HERE'S WHAT WILL CHANGE: ? A new public sleeping ban takes effect October 1, 2024 in Florida under House Bill 1365, which was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis in March.? ? “Florida has chosen to reject comfortable inaction and tackle this problem head on,” House bill sponsor Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island, said in June after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of an Oregon city’s ordinance cracking down on public camping. ? Part of the measure gives legal standing to residents and business owners to file civil lawsuits against local governments that allow sleeping or camping on public property.?The law mandates that counties and cities must enforce a ban on public camping, or face lawsuits beginning January 1st, 2025. ? Supporters claim it upholds “law and order” while critics argue it criminalizes homelessness. ? The law will allow people to sleep in cars if they are properly registered and legally parked.? ? The new Florida law bars local governments from allowing people to sleep at places such as public buildings and in public rights of way. Local governments would be allowed to designate areas for homeless people to sleep. ? If local governments choose to create temporary encampments, those will be subject to approval by the Department of Children and Families, and they cannot be near residential areas.? ? The law also excludes “fiscally constrained counties” from some of the safety standards. ? In recent months, communities have scrambled to try to comply with the law.? ? Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis said he hoped Gov. Ron DeSantis would delay enforcement. ? “We’re doing our best to try to address it. We’ve staffed our police department, our civilian homeless outreach program, we’ve doubled it this past year, because we feel it’s a priority,” Trantalis said during a Sept. 1 meeting. “But the mandate from the state is an onerous burden.” ? Miami-Dade County has considered “tiny houses,” managed by a homeless agency, the Homeless Trust, as emergency accommodations to limit the impact of the changes on jails. ? Jacksonville rolled out a $13.6 million plan to address the law that included a point person in the mayor’s office to address homeless issues, expanded outreach teams and an increase in beds at shelters. ? “It's not just about keeping people off the streets. It's about making sure they can become viable members of our society,” Mayor Donna Deegan said in July. https://lnkd.in/e58jG6Xc #legalnews #legalupdate #newsletter #law #florida #lawyer #lawyers #attorney #attorneys #tampa #tampabay

WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU ARE UNDER INVESTIGATION? https://lnkd.in/eNg4ygVQ #criminaldefense #criminaldefenselawyer #criminaldefenseattorney #tampalawyer #lawyer #attorney #tampa #clearwater #stpete #sarasota

WHO IS LIABLE IN A MULTI-VEHICLE WRECK? To establish fault in Tampa multi-vehicle collisions, a plaintiff has to prove the other drivers were negligent in fulfilling their duty to exercise reasonable care when operating a motor vehicle and that injury or damages occurred as a result of that negligence. Drivers can often be found negligent when they drive too fast for conditions, follow too closely or don’t leave enough distance between them and the car in front of them.?Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol and distracted driving are also indicative of liability.?These types of behaviors can lead to a chain reaction of several cars crashing into each other and creating a pileup.?In some cases, drivers cross the center line and cause a?head-on collision. Or they might get involved in a?rear-end accident.?Running a red light often causes a?side-impact crash.?Any of these can turn into a multi-vehicle accident where gathering evidence and proving liability can get complicated. Florida is one of 13 states that follows comparative negligence, which assigns a percentage of fault to each party.?The damages are then apportioned out accordingly.?In a multi-vehicle crash, one party can be held 20% at fault, and two other parties could each be held 40% at fault. https://lnkd.in/eSzFFqSr #caraccident #carcrash #injurylawyer #injurylawyers #accidentlawyers #caraccidentlawyers #autoaccidentlawyer #personalinjury

Driving on a Suspended License The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles can suspend your license for various reasons, such as accumulating too many points, being arrested or convicted for DUI, drug-related offenses, not maintaining insurance, refusing DUI chemical tests, failing to pay child support, or not appearing in court. According to Florida Statutes section 322.34, you can be charged with driving on a suspended license if your driving privileges have been canceled, revoked, or suspended, and you were caught driving on a state highway during the suspension. Driving on a suspended license is considered a moving violation. ? https://lnkd.in/eknkGySS #driving #suspendedlicense #DWLS #defenselawyer #defenseattorney #criminaldefenselawyer #criminaldefenselawyers #criminaldefenseattorneys #criminaldefenseattorney

?? Justifications for the Government Seizing Property?? The state of Florida has enacted the Florida Contraband Forfeiture Act. Civil forfeiture cases brought to state court are overseen by a circuit court judge in the civil division. Unlike criminal cases, which follow The Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, civil forfeiture actions are governed by the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. The most commonly forfeited assets include: **Contraband: Any illegal property, such as smuggled weapons, animals, narcotics, or stolen goods, which are all considered unlawful. **Profits from Illegal Activities: Any property associated with illegal actions. This can become complex, as law enforcement might claim that if someone is accused of drug dealing, any income from narcotics sales, even individual purchases, is derived from illegal activities. **Instruments or Tools Used in the Commission of a Crime: Any property used to facilitate, commit, or finance a crime. For example, if a drug dealer owns a house where drugs are stored, produced, or used for transportation, law enforcement can seize it. Even if the defendant is acquitted, the property can still be taken if it is linked to illegal activities. #legalnews #legalhelp #lawyer #lawyers #attorney #attorneys #criminaldefense #criminaldefenselawyers #criminaldefenseattorney https://lnkd.in/eXwBpNBj

Resisting an Officer with Violence Florida Statutes section 843.01 makes it unlawful to deliberately oppose, hinder, or defy a law enforcement officer by engaging in violent behavior or threatening violence. Engaging in such conduct constitutes a third-degree felony offense. To secure a conviction for this offense, the prosecution must convincingly demonstrate that the defendant knowingly and intentionally resisted, obstructed, or opposed a law enforcement officer who was lawfully performing their duties or carrying out a legal process. Additionally, the defendant must have either threatened or used violence, while being aware that the individual they were interacting with was an officer or someone legally empowered to execute legal procedures. Failure to establish any of these criteria beyond a reasonable doubt will result in the prosecution's inability to secure a conviction, as "beyond a reasonable doubt" sets a very high standard of proof. https://lnkd.in/eD4iNfKQ #criminaldefense #criminaldefenselawyer #criminaldefenseattorney #criminaldefenselawyers #defenseattorney #tampalawyer #attorneysatlaw

RECENT BAIL REFORM LAWS MAY BE CAUSING OVERCROWDING IN JAILS ? Due to being extremely overcrowded in recent months, the Pinellas County jail deputies have run out of regular beds and instead, have been providing hundreds of mattresses held a few inches from the ground by plastic frames.? ? A state bail reform law was blamed for the crowding by Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, who has observed?the jail population steadily climbing since January?after the bill?went into effect.? ? The?Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office?also said its jail population has increased since January and Pasco County acknowledged its jail was over capacity.? ? Touted by lawmakers as a way to make bail procedure uniform across the state, House Bill 1627 was also designed to limit?violent criminals from being released before seeing a judge.? ? Passed in 2023, the law required?the Florida Supreme Court to?create statewide?uniform bond recommendations.? ? Under the law, judges can increase the amount of bail beyond what the Supreme Court recommends. But to reduce it, a jurisdiction would have to petition for the court’s approval. https://lnkd.in/eamGcX3U #criminaldefense #criminaldefenselawyer #criminaldefenseattorney #tampalawyer #tampalawyers #lawyer #lawyers #attorney #attorneys