Category: Blog

          In spite of all the progress that has been made during the last several decades in the area of race relations in the United States, a recent study suggests that many white Americans still hold negative views about blacks.            The Associated Press, in conjunction with Yahoo News and the Political Science Department at […]

          In many cases in which an individual is charged with committing the crime of aggravated battery, the weapon that is used is a knife or a gun.  However, it is also possible to commit aggravated battery using a car.           In the case of Rosa v. State of Florida, the Third District Court of Appeal […]

          In many cases in which an individual is charged with committing the crime of aggravated battery, the weapon that is used is a knife or a gun.  However, it is also possible to commit aggravated battery using a car.           In the case of Rosa v. State of Florida, the Third District Court of Appeal […]

In the case of C.A.C. v. State of Florida, the Second District Court of Appeal was asked to decide whether a fork is a deadly weapon in a case in which the accused individual was charged with committing the crime of aggravated battery. The accused, who was ten years old, stabbed another child two or three […]

            If you have been charged with aggravated battery in West Palm Beach, Palm Beach, Belle Glade, Boynton Beach, Delray Beach, Jupiter, Lake Park, Lake Worth, Lantana, North Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, Palm Springs, Riviera Beach, Royal Palm Beach, or Wellington, call me, attorney Ron Chapman, at 561-832-4348 to […]

In 2007, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled as unconstitutional a Georgia law that prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of child care facilities, schools, churches, or other areas where children congregate. The case, Mann v. Georgia Department of Corrections, arose when Anthony Mann, a registered sex offender in Georgia, filed a lawsuit […]

          In the courts of Florida, heat of passion is recognized as a defense to the crimes of first and second-degree murder.             Heat of passion is a mental state provoked by fear, rage, anger or terror that, combined with adequate provocation, is a defense to the crimes of first and second degree murder. […]

On July 12, 2008, I wrote an article on this website entitled "How to Get a Criminal Charge Dropped" in which I discussed Florida's pretrial intervention programs [PTI] that are authorized by Florida statutes sections 948.08 and 948.16.  In that article, I stated that "[s]uccessfully completing a PTI program is one way of getting a criminal charge […]

On September 20, 2008, I posted an article on this site which contains a videotaped recording of a police officer repeatedly using a taser on a man who was sitting on the ground by the side of the road in Washington County, Florida.  Fortunately, that man lived.  Yesterday, however, a man was tasered by the police […]

In a recent federal case called Buckley v. Haddock, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals was asked to decide whether a deputy sheriff's repeated use of a taser gun while trying to arrest a motorist by the side of the road in Washington County, Florida constituted excessive use of force in violation of the Fourth Amendment […]