Leslie A. Sweet

     Welcome to representation by Leslie A. Sweet. Let me begin to explain the steps that your case will proceed through. There are two types of arrests: one by warrant or capias or an arrest where the police officers arrests you on the spot. In the first, the arrest by warrant, you may be unexpectantly picked up or be aware of the warrant. If you are aware of the warrant, we can assist you in some instances in recalling the warrant, in other situations, a walk through or educate you on the process. Once you are arrested, you are either on bond, on pretrial release or may be a combination of one of these. You must understand that bond is a privilege that can be taken away. In Florida, if you are arrested for any other crime, even criminal traffic, you may not be able to get your bond back unless you have substantial mitigation that I can come to court to try to get you back on the street. In addition, it will cost to attempt to regain your bond and we may not always be successful.

     The first court appearance that will be scheduled by the Clerk for you is arraignment. The sole purpose of arraignment is to determine whether you have an attorney and for the State of Florida to formally charge you. You may be charged with additional or less charges that you were arrested for. The decision of what to charge you with is up to the Office of the State Attorney. After arraignment, the State will email or mail your discovery to my office. When we receive it, we will email a copy to your email address that we have on file. This is why is very important that you keep us updated on your correct phone numbers, emails and addresses so we are able to contact you as necessary. If you miss court because we cannot reach you, you will have a capias or warrant for your arrest. Once I receive your discovery, I prepare your case for trial. I have to prepare you case for trial whether or not you feel that the State can prove the charges against you or not. My fee is based upon what I perceive is a reasonable amount to get your case ready for trial.

    Further, in between arraignment and pretrial, we are working on your case. This includes investigating your facts, talking to witnesses, taking depositions (that you have paid for), reviewing crime scenes, etc. Please also note that any motions such as motions to suppress, motions to dismiss etc are required to be filed and heard by the Court prior to pretrial. If I have suggested a pretrial motion please ensure that I have the correct names. address and phone numbers of witnesses and that we have arranged subpoenas for the witnesses appearances.  I generally do not subpoena our witnesses as this adds to your expense and usually Defense witnesses are willing to come to court on your behalf.    

     Many times, clients will say, Ms Sweet, my case was dropped. Well, your case was dropped because my office advanced your cause effectively to the State so that (1) no information was filed or if an information was filed we were able to convince the State that they would not be able to prove the charge against you beyond a reasonable doubt.

Handling your case is a joint effort with you as the client and me as your lawyer. You have the following responsibilities as a client:

1. Tell and provide all of the information that you have to me as your attorney. Do not hold back.

2. As soon as you can, give me all of the names of witnesses with their full names, addresses and phone numbers. I have to provide this information timely to the State. If this information is not provided, then the witnesses will not be able to testify in your case.

3. Keep me updated on any address or phone number changes.

4. Be timely on all payments. The most efficient way to pay is through Zelle.  My phone number 321-438-1132 will deposit directly into my account.  If you need to use a credit or debit card, you may be through Square through an invoice on line sent to your email.  If none of these methods are convenient for you, there are other ways available. Also, checks or money orders may be mailed to P.O. Box 35, Gotha, Florida   34734.

5. About court dates, our office will waive your appearance at arraignment and pretrial. You do not have to be present. But understand, you MUST attend a trial call. You also must attend case managment that is now done in most courtrooms for third degree felonies.  You must also attend trial case management.  In Orange, only the first day of the trial period shows up on the Clerk’s website. In Orange, the judicial assistant will set the trial sometimes during the 2 or 3 week trial period or the judge will give me the actual date at pretrial. In some instances, the judicial assistant will call as late as 3:00 pm the day before for trial. If we have a non working phone number for you and do not appear, you will have a capias issued for your arrest. I may have a conflict in my calendar, but you need to appear until excused by the judge. If I have a conflict and I have obtained an excuse for you, I will let you know. I am a trial attorney. I am frequently in trial and sometimes the times overlap.

If you are in jail, my intent is for no client to be incarcerated. If you are incarcerated, I will do my best to get you released. I generally communicate with jail clients through a family member. I will not discuss the facts of your case but general information is efficiently conveyed in this manner. The cost of jail visits are not included in your representation as I price your case assuming that you will be released. It is my practice to come to the jail to discuss movement on your case. When I have information for you, I will write, send an attorney or come to see you. Your family and friends are there to be a comfort to you. I am also a comfort but a jail visit is not for comfort,  it is for representation. Much has to be done on a case. Each intricate detail is not discussed until we get to a place where there has been movement on the case.

I cannot accept phone calls from the jail. The jail lines are being recorded. If you write to me, I will promptly respond to any questions or concerns that you have.

Fees are reasonable and based upon the complexity of your case. An attorney has lots of costs on a case that the client may never see. Your case is priced based on the individual needs of your case. Some considerations are:

1. Whether or not you have a prior record.

2. Are you on probation. Are you on probation for a similar offense.

3. Are you employed. Do you have strong ties to the community?

4. Is this a crime with a victim? What do you know about the person or persons?

5. Do you have an alibi? If you plan on using an alibi defense, we have to notify the State of your intention to use an alibi at least 10 days before trial. We have to tell what the alibi is and who the witnesses with full names and addresses that will testify as to the alibi. If proper procedure is not followed, the only person that can talk about the alibi is you.

6. Do you have a defense? Do you have witnesses or documents to support your defense. As always, names addresses and phone numbers of any witnesses.

7. Have you been released from prison within the last five years?

8. Are you charged with an offense that involved a firearm. There are strict sentences that cannot be changed for offenses involving firearms.

9. Are you charged with a firearm and you are a convicted felon. You will have to defense against the charge and the firearm.

10 Are you charged with a sexual offense. A sexual offense conviction can change your entire life in ways that you cannot even imagine. It will change where you live, work, where you can travel. If you are sentenced to prison, you may never get out.

Many times clients tell me and others that they do not know what is going on with their case. You were arrested and the State is trying to incarcerate you. That is what is going on with your case. I am the person standing in front of the State and stopping them.

Once you case is ready to proceed to trial, I ask the following of you. Please come dressed for trial. You should look like an attorney sitting next to me. Also invite family and friends.  You need support.

I have represented more than twelve thousand individuals. I have performed more than 250 trials, I stopped counting in 2008.  From representing so many individuals charged with offenses, I have learned that the "attitude" of the client is the most influential part of the representation, more than 90 percent. Clients best serve themselves by believing in themselves. Juries can smell attitude. I am a lawyer. My client and I are a team. Let us work together to get an awesome result in this case.

COMMENTS ON VIOLATION OF PROBATION

     If you are on probation and you get arrested for a new charge, the Department of Corrections will violate your probation. I encourage people not to bond out on the new charge since they will be picked up shortly on the violation of probation. It is better to handle the bond situation all together. If you are in Osceola county, there will generally set a no bond on you for the violation of probation even before your probation officer does.

     In Orange, most of the violation of probation judges will consider a motion for bond without a hearing.  You will need to contact me about that as soon as possible. I will review your situation to determine if you have a basis for the judge to grant you a bond.  If you have such a basis, I will file a bond motion for you.  The judges will notify my office when they have ruled on the motion.

     Please note that if you were on probation for an offense that qualifies as Anti-Murder, you will not be able to get a bond while your violation of probation is pending.  Also the scoring on the scoresheet is brutal and will result in a Department of Corrections sentence.  The key is not to violate probation.  Take probaiton seriously.  Do as you are instructed by your probation officer.  If you are having difficulty with your officer, contact me.  I may be able to mitigate the situation and avoid a violation.

COMMENTS ON FIRST DEGREE FELONY CHARGES AND BONDS

     If you are charged with a first degree felony in Florida you do not have a right to a bond.  If you are seeking a bond on a first degree felony or above (PBL-punishable by life or Capital offense), you have to have a special type of bond hearing.  If you are in this situation be cautious and contact me confidentially to discuss your individual situation.