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Tampa Criminal Defense
Florida's Premier Criminal Defense Firm

Recent Posts in Plea Agreement Category

June 22, 2010

Tampa Legal News– Man Pleads Guilty To Criminal Charges Of Second Degree Murder After Shooting

criminal charges

A Tampa man facing criminal charges involving a murder and possible drug dealings has plead guilty to second degree murder and received a three year prison sentence. Alexis Rivera Nunez shot and killed Yoandy Cancio who he claims approached him holding a submachine gun according to TBO.com. Prosecutors contended that Nunez shot an unarmed man over stolen drugs.

The shooting took place in 2009 and prosecutors agreed to the plea deal this week. The judge in the case accepted the agreement and sentenced Nunez to three years in prison followed by a probation term of 15 years. Nunez could have been facing a prison sentence ranging from 25 years to life.

Prosecutors felt they needed to come to a plea agreement because their main witness was shot and killed. Julio De La Torre was sitting in his car in Seffner when he was shot and killed. A 23-year-old man named Isaiah Ridley has been charged with that killing. Remaining witnesses in the case had conflicting statements further hampering the case against Nunez.

Nunez’s criminal defense attorney was prepared to argue that the shooting was in self defense had he not accepted the second degree murder charges. Some of the witnesses in the case claim that Nunez believed Cancio stole drugs from him and that Nunez threatened to kill him. While police first reported that both men had guns one witness stated Cancio was unarmed and had his back to Nunez walking away when he was shot in the abdomen after turning back towards Nunez. Nunez’s attorney claimed that Cancio had a Tec-9 semi-automatic pistol with a 32-round clip at the time of the shooting.

According to the story on TBO.com the family of the victim was not in agreement with the three-year prison sentence. None of them showed up in court to her the guilty plea.

May 5, 2010

Florida DUI Penalties – Judge Pondering Jail Sentence For New Year’s Crash In Lake County Stirs Debate

Orlando Criminal Lawyer

A teenage girl who violated her probation by driving a year after a judge imposed a DUI sentence that forbade her from doing so is at the center of a controversy surrounding what DUI penalties she should face for an accident that took the life of two people on New Years. The teenager has not been charged with the accident at this point and so far there has been no test results released showing she was intoxicated at the time of the crash. The Orlando Sentinel is reporting however that the driver, Toni Nieves, did admit to a social worker had alcohol that night.

The maximum sentence for her probation violation is 8 months and 29 days but at a pretrial hearing the Lake County judge in the case suggested a possible six-month jail sentence for the teenager. That sentence drew outrage from the Assistant State Attorney in the case and the families of the two dead occupants of the other car involved in the crash. Judge Donna Miller said a sentence that is three months less than the maximum, which Nieves has agreed to, is not a slap on the wrist and it will save the taxpayers countless dollars from prosecuting and calling witness to add the extra three months on to her sentence.

Investigators have not charged Nieves in the crash that took the lives of 22-year-old Brian Walker of Orlando and 18-year-old Bradley Summersil of Apopka. They have not revealed their findings in the investigation that is looking into whether Nieves or Summersil was drunk at the time of the accident and who was at fault for the fatal crash. The car Summersil was driving was struck from behind by the car Nieves was driving.

Neither the family of Summersil nor the prosecutor would agree to the six-month sentence, which led to an exchange between the judge and the parents that was described as heated. The judge brought up her own child who became a quadriplegic following an accident 13 years ago.

March 10, 2010

Domestic Battery Charges Reduced To Criminal Mischief For Former Gator Football Player

Woody Pierre-Louis, who was
arrested on charges of
domestic battery, had his
battery charges reduced
to criminal mischief in Gainesville Wednesday. The former Gator
football player was originally arrested on January 17 and faced
numerous charges including burglary,
domestic battery by strangulation and
kidnapping.

The
reduced charges cover damage Pierre-Louis caused to a door and cell phone. He was given one year
probation for the
criminal mischief
charges. Reading the story originally published by Florida Today it
seems the Gainesville state attorney may have overcharged the former
Gator or his Florida criminal defense attorney did an excellent job in representing him or maybe both. 

January 14, 2010

Punishment For Battery On A Police Officer, Wear A Sign Apologizing

A 24-year-old Alabama woman charged with battery on a law enforcement officer in Orlando entered into an unusual plea agreement. The woman accepted a deal to lesser charges of simple battery and resisting an officer without violence. In return she would wear a sign that said “I battered a police officer. I was wrong. I apologize”. Alexandra Espinosa-Amaya wore the sign for four hours outside the police station.

Espinosa-Amaya is a student at Jacksonville State University and she was at an Orlando bar when she got involved in an altercation with bouncers and then a police officer. The young woman pushed her palm into the face of the cop according to a story on Bradenton.com. On top of wearing the sign, Espinosa-Amaya was ordered t attend anger management, write an apology letter, perform community service and spend two years on probation.


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