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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    Default Changing a Plea Deal in Florida

    I am looking for information on how to modify a plea that was initially set up in the state of Florida.

    My 7 yr old daughter was assaulted by her 15 yr old half brother a year and a half ago. When we went in to report this, my daughter was video-taped by the children's home society when interviewed about what had happened. In this video-taping shetold about what her half brother had done to her then she said that she saw some videos on her daddy's computer (which her brother had put on the computer) and she also said that (at some time in the way past as she couldn't remember how old she was) she saw her daddy "playing with his bottom" a couple of times. In the end, my husband was arrested, charged with three different counts of sex offenses (two L&L and one on showing pornographic materials to a minor) and nothing was done about my stepson.

    We knew nothing about the legal system and was told that no one in the county in which this happened would take this type of case to court for less than 40,000.00. As we did not have this kind of money the attorney we ended up retaining told us that he would only file a plea bargain and try to get my husband the lightest sentence possible. We had no idea the nightmare this was about to turn into!

    In the end, the "best" plea my husband was told he could get was a no contest with 364 days in the local county jail, and 10 years probation. For the first five years he was to only have supervised visitation with our daughter at a county visitation center and then the last five years he could visit with her with the approval (by his probation officer) of a family member.

    Well, my daughter has been a basket case with this whole "mess" (as she refers to it). She has not seen her father since July of 2005. She has been in therapy for over a year now and is so messed up, it is incredible!! She wants to see her daddy, wants to be with him and wants our family to be together. We have attempted to modify his plea so that she might be able to see him, but nothing has worked. The Probation officers, the State Attorney, nor the judge will allow her to see him at all (no contact whatsoever). According to his probation, she was supposed to be allowed to visit him once a month during his incarceration, and that never happened. The jail refused to allow this.

    During this time, she has repeatedly stated that "Daddy didn't do anything! Daddy is not a bad man! Bleep (the name of her half-brother) did it! Bleep lied! Bleep is the one who should be in jail"... etc... She is devastated about this. She cries herself to sleep each night thinking this is all her fault. She hates government officials and does not trust anyone who has taken her daddy away from her. She does not remember the interview nor saying anything remotely close to what they accused him of doing. My husband is not guilty of these charges against him and we feel like we have been "taken to the cleaners" all because we wanted to get our daughter some help from what her half brother did to her.

    My reason for giving this information is because we have attempted to modify his plea (had we known what we know now, we would have attempted to find the 40,000.00 somehow and taken this to court to prove his innocence!) by allowing her to have frequent supervised visitation with him and the judge told us this last time that he has "no jurisdiction" over the motion to modify and denied it. We are just trying to get our family unit together and live our own lives again. Is there anything we can do to change this? Is there something that I can submit to the courts (in proxy for my daughter) that would help this little girl heal? Any advice you could offer would be greatly appreciated!!

    Thanks for your time.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    38,867

    Default Re: Changing a Plea Deal in Florida

    I can't give you an answer to the legal situation but it would seem your daughter should seek a psychologist that will help her deal with the situation. It seems the current counseling is having little effect.

    You should be involved with the counseling so the psych can assist you in defusing the girls anger and fears. You need to be careful to not aggravate the situation by expressing your anger improperly and uncontrolled about the situation in front of the girl.

    I would suspect that if an accepted psych recommends that visitation be enforced to aid the girls mental health, it would have some weight in the courts.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    4

    Default Re: Changing a Plea Deal in Florida

    Apparently the "psych" (plural, as we had two who were standing behind the action of allowing my daughter visitation with her father) statement was not even viewed/heard when they were brought into court (last Thursday). As a matter of fact, the judge never looked up from his bench and only stated that it was out of his jurisdiction so the motion was denied.

    As far as the counseling not working, well, that is not the case. It is helping her to heal, but all she knows is that she wants her daddy back. She's angry that her half-brother is living a normal life with no reprecussions.

    As for me, I never allow her to see my anger for she has enough of her own to deal with these days. I cry into my pillow some nights for fear that she is going to end up with far greater problems than she would have had the arresting officer not been on a power trip that night.

    I guess the legal system is far enough gone that I am not going to be finding any help with this situation any time soon. So much for our freedoms....

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    38,867

    Default Re: Changing a Plea Deal in Florida

    [QUOTE]
    Quote Quoting Faerie-dust
    View Post
    According to his probation, she was supposed to be allowed to visit him once a month during his incarceration, and that never happened. The jail refused to allow this.
    In many states, minors are not allowed to enter a jail or prison. Don;t know if that is applicable but if it is, they aren't going to chnage because the court stated the father could see his child

    She does not remember the interview nor saying anything remotely close to what they accused him of doing.
    Apparently it is on video. Whether she remembers it or not doesn;t change the facts.

    My husband is not guilty of these charges against him and we feel like we have been "taken to the cleaners"
    If he is not guilty of those chargesm then he is guilty of prejury. Whenever a deal is acepted the judge will require the defendant to elocute the facts of the crime they are pleading guilty to. If he did this and is not guilty of the crimes, he perjured himself.

    the judge told us this last time that he has "no jurisdiction" over the motion to modify and denied it.
    Then you need to find a judge that does have jurisdiction.

    As far as the counseling not working, well, that is not the case. It is helping her to heal, but all she knows is that she wants her daddy back. She's angry that her half-brother is living a normal life with no reprecussions.
    That is an awfully direct statement for a 7 or 8 year old. The girl would have no more knowledge than given by an adult (you?)

    Part of you post sounds like you really do desire to get the family back together but a much greater portion merely blames "the system" for prosecuting a crime. A crime that your husband plead guilty to and now regret doing so.

    It sounds like you need to gather some of the money you saved from not having an attorney to now pay an attorney to fight for your cause.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
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    4

    Default Re: Changing a Plea Deal in Florida

    <<<In many states, minors are not allowed to enter a jail or prison. Don;t know if that is applicable but if it is, they aren't going to chnage because the court stated the father could see his child>>>

    Well, I just found it interesting that those inmates that were well aquainted with the under-sheriff or the major over the jail were able to have contact visits with their children, weekly (and yes, many of them were in for the same reasons as my husband). It's all a matter of who you know and how well you know them.


    <<<If he is not guilty of those chargesm then he is guilty of prejury. Whenever a deal is acepted the judge will require the defendant to elocute the facts of the crime they are pleading guilty to. If he did this and is not guilty of the crimes, he perjured himself.>>>

    No, unfortunately, he is guilty of believing in an attorney who tells him that he can help us, and then put his faith in god. When we found out how the attorney (and his wife, who actually ran the show but was not "certified" to be an attorney) went about deciding my husband's fate it was too late.

    His first attorney charged us 10,000.00 for the plea bargain. He never told my husband anything about what the choices of a plea would be. We were screwed by the system, yes.... Our only guilt was ignorance. We had no idea what being honest would do to our family.

    <<<Then you need to find a judge that does have jurisdiction>>> and where do we find one of these??? We have since moved from the original county of problem; can we file a motion to modify or something similar with the courts in the new county?

    <<<That is an awfully direct statement for a 7 or 8 year old. The girl would have no more knowledge than given by an adult (you?)>>> I'm afraid you lost me here... Are you referring to her knowledge of her half-brother? If so, I will admit to telling her where and what he is doing. When she asks, we tell her. We have never lied to her or not told her things. We have always been up front and honest with her in all things.

    <<<...you need to gather some of the money you saved from not having an attorney to now pay an attorney to fight for your cause.>>> We have retained two attornies over the past year for this.... and paid over 30,000.00 now. The first attorney has disappeared since the intial plea that he (and his wife) set up, and the second one can't seem to get a "day in court" for us. Another thing we didn't know; you don't hire an attorney that works in the same county where the charges were made.

    <<<a much greater portion merely blames "the system" >>> Yes, you are correct, I do blame the system. It has become a system of who you know and what you can pay rather than a system that has a person being tried fairly and honestly. In this day and age we are guilty until proven innocent. And if you don't know the right people or have a great deal of money, you will never get your day in court.

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