Florida Arrests

Law enforcement in the state of Florida has the responsibility of fighting crime, upholding the law, and keeping citizens safe from criminal activity. That includes arresting anyone suspected of a crime. For that reason, local police have the right to request an arrest warrant in relation to any crime that has not been resolved. The process of obtaining a warrant for arrest is for police to gather evidence (either through witness and/or victim statements) and collect tangible evidence found at the scene of a crime including anonymous tips and any relative information. All evidence must be presented to a judge in court to support probable cause. A judge will consider all evidence carefully and deem if there is enough proof for an arrest warrant to be issued. If so, an arrest warrant will be issued in the name or description of the person who most likely committed the crime. The officer(s) will typically sign an affidavit stating probable cause exists to arrest someone, to conduct a search, or to seize property.

What is Probable Cause?

The definition of probable cause as referred to in criminal law requires law enforcement to have adequate reason to arrest someone for a crime, conduct a search for evidence, or seize property relating to criminal activity. Facts and evidence must lead one to believe that the suspect has most likely committed the crime in question and leave no room for doubt. For probable cause to exist it's essential that it be based on factual evidence and specific details rather than suspicion or unsubstantial evidence. Officers must be fairly certain that evidence points to the reasonable belief that the person to be arrested has committed the crime, the place to be searched was the scene of a crime or contains evidence of a crime; and/or that property to be seized is contraband, stolen, or constitutes evidence of a crime

Probable cause can apply to the search of property in addition to the search of a person. Probable cause to search can only exist when facts and circumstances provide the basis to believe that a crime was committed at the place to be searched, or evidence of a crime exists at a specific location that was used as part of a crime. When police obtain a search warrant, these types of warrants must specify the location or address of the search, as well as items and/or person(s) to be seized.

There are instances where police are allowed to search without a warrant. The most common ones are if a person gives consent to police to search their property or premises, law enforcement can legally conduct a search without a warrant. Also, a search without a warrant can be undertaken in emergency situations which threaten public safety or the loss of evidence. Police also do not need a warrant to search or seize contraband “in plain site” when the officer is on duty.

A search warrant to seize property strictly lists the items to be seized which police are entitled to take as evidence. Anything else in plain sight can not be touched unless it’s considered evidence of an additional crime. Evidence that is part of another crime can be seized as well at the time. Police have to strictly follow the guidelines of the search warrant or evidence taken illegally cannot be used in court against you.

How to Understand Florida’s Criminal Punishment Code

In order to understand Florida’s criminal justice system, you must understand the Criminal Punishment Code (CPC) that the state utilizes. Basically, it’s a scoring system that determines the minimum allowable sentence for a felony crime. It works like this. The state assigns a number between 1 and 10 to every criminal case. That number is determined by the severity of the crime. The more serious the crime, the higher the number will be assigned. If you have more than one crime, the point values will be added up for a total. More than 44, it’s an automatic prison sentence. Less than 44, there is an option for probation or community service

To help organize the system, crimes are categorized as a primary offense, additional offenses, and prior records. The primary offense is the crime with the highest offense level, usually the most severe crime. Only one crime can be designated as the primary offense. If two crimes have the same offense level, one is chosen as the primary and the other crime is considered the additional offense. Any past criminal history is placed under prior records. The offenses are then entered on the CPC score sheet. The amount of points you end up with is the total sum of all offenses the state has on file which will be used to determine sentencing, fines, probation, community service, etc.