Clearwater Criminal Defense Law Blog

The state attorney's office for Manatee County has declined to charge 19-year-old Davell Kendricks with manslaughter for the New Year's Day death of Rashawn Scott.According to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Kendricks and Scott were playing cards with a group of people at a Palmetto rooming house on January 1. Witnesses told investigators that Scott threatened Kendricks with a gun after losing money to him.Scott fired the gun twice, hitting Kendricks once. Kendricks then pulled out his own gun and fatally shot Scott. Kendricks allegedly fled the scene with both guns.Someone in the house...

Sanjeev Grover, a Lutz physician, was sentenced this week to five years in federal prison for distributing the painkiller oxycodone outside the scope of his practice. Grover also was ordered to relinquish his medical license with the state and his Drug Enforcement Administration number. He had previously pleaded guilty.Grover sold prescriptions for oxycodone to a confidential informant and an undercover agent on five occasions between April and June 2011, according to court documents.Grover met a confidential informant twice in a Burger King parking lot in Lutz. On the first occasion, Grover...

Seventeen-year-old Gerald Terrell Jones of Brandon was acquitted of attempted second-degree murder by a Hillsborough County jury earlier this month. Jones previously admitted to shooting his drug dealer in the face after a drug deal went bad. The trial judge had previously ruled that Jones wasn't protected by Florida's "stand your ground" law.At trial, the jury heard testimony from the victim/drug dealer Daniel Drake as well as other witnesses who had smoked substantial amounts of marijuana at the time of the shooting. Both Jones and Drake claimed the other was trying to rob him. Neither...

As reported in the Tampa Bay Times, five Tampa Bay area defense lawyers, including Bjorn Brunvand of this office, are seeking a federal civil rights investigation of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office over allegations that narcotics detectives have trespassed and lied to gather evidence against drug suspects.The lawyers represent clients arrested by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office for growing marijuana inside their homes. After questions were raised recently regarding the truthfulness of some of the Sheriff's former detectives, prosecutors dropped charges in a number of drug...

As reported in the Tampa Bay Times earlier this week, dozens of Pinellas County marijuana cases are being reconsidered and possibly dismissed amid allegations that narcotics deputies trespassed and lied to gather evidence. The Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office announced Tuesday that it is dismissing charges against an accused St. Petersburg marijuana grower and will reconsider dozens of similar cases.The dismissed case was against David Cole, who said he was growing pot in his shed to treat his multiple sclerosis symptoms. The case was dismissed just as his attorneys were set to depose...

As reported in the Tampa Bay Times, Justin Ash of Zepherhills pleaded guilty last week in Pasco County to second-degree murder with a firearm, avoiding life in prison. The plea was part of an agreement negotiated by Ash's defense attorney Bjorn Brunvand and prosecutors. Ash had been charged with murder in the first degree for a 2011 homicide. He faced life in prison without eligibility for parole if he had been convicted at trial on the first degree murder charge.Instead, Ash agreed to a maximum 35-year prison sentence, with a mandatory minimum of 25 years, for the second-degree murder...

Ravinder Reddy Allala of Cumming, Georgia was recently sentenced in a Tampa federal courtroom to 40 months in federal prison for visa fraud and conspiracy. Allala previously pleaded guilty on November 3, 2011 and reappeared this month for sentencing.According to court documents, between 2006 and 2010, Allala operated a company named Laconia Associates, Inc., which conducted business out of Tampa and the surrounding Tampa Bay area. Laconia purported to be an information technology consulting firm and employee leasing company. However, according to prosecutors, Allala directed Laconia...

Authorities in Hillsborough County, Florida charged Miguel Angel Utrera-Espinosa of Wimauma with DUI manslaughter after a fatal car crash February 4th. Utrera-Espinosa's blood-alcohol level was allegedly measured at 0.079 about three hours after the crash.While Florida law presumes impairment when a driver's blood alcohol level reaches or exceeds 0.08, a state toxicologist reportedly determined that, at the time of the crash, Utrera-Espinosa's blood alcohol level would have exceeded 0.08.Utrera-Espinosa was driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer south on West Lake Drive in Wimauma, near Ruth Morris...

Last July, Brittany Wentz of Tampa died from injuries sustained in a car crash at Interstate 275 and Himes Avenue. More than six months later, the driver of the car she was riding in has been arrested and charged with DUI manslaughter.Law enforcement alleges that test results show the driver, Dale Alan Thompson, had a blood-alcohol level of 0.174. In Florida, a person is presumed to be impaired with a blood-alcohol level of 0.08. Thompson was arrested last week in Ohio and also faces two counts of DUI property damage.Wentz was a front seat passenger in the 2006 Chevrolet Cobalt that Thompson...

As reported by the Tampa Bay Times and Channel 8 News, the Pinellas County murder trial of Stephanie Spurgeon began last week. Ms. Spurgeon is being defended by attorneys Bjorn Brunvand and Ron Kurpiers. Ms. Spurgeon is a former Palm Harbor day care owner accused of killing a 1-year-old by shaking the girl to death, despite no one witnessing any abusive action.In late August 2008, 1-year-old Maria Harris was dropped off at Spurgeon's in-home day care in Palm Harbor. She appeared to be asleep when she was picked up by her family at the end of the day but they soon discovered that something...