South Florida Criminal Defense Lawyer Blog
First: deal with it NOW! Call your Florida criminal defense lawyer and do the following:
1) Read your “Final Disposition” issued by the Judge at your sentencing hearing: note all ‘special conditions’ that were imposed.
2) Read the Florida criminal statute which lists the standard conditions of probation.
3) Have your Florida criminal defense lawyer obtain a copy of your violation of probation warrant and see exactly what violations are alleged in the warrant.
4) Have your criminal lawyer deal with the probation officer and the prosecutor to work towards a resolution.
Not all violations are major enough to send you to jail. But being an absconder (away for a long time) is almost always enough to get you a jail term. Your first court appearance is where you either admit or deny the alleged violations. If you deny the prosecutor has ten days to prepare for a violation of probation Evidentiary Hearing. At that hearing the prosecutor has to prove the violations with witnesses or evidence. Sadly, Florida criminal law permits hearsay to be admitted at violation of probation evidentiary hearings. Call your Florida criminal defense lawyer for an opinion on the violation. Some violations of probation are technical or minor and will not expose you to a jail sentence.