Defendant was charged with embezzling money from county-owned utility. Even though former supervisor had been criminally charged for similar activities, law enforcement thought defendant was also involved. Careful analysis of the “in out” records with the questioned transactions, as well as defendant’s sick and vacation time, was productive. The defense was able to show that...Read More
K.L.B. was charged with second degree grand theft. The Information alleged that she defrauded Lawnwood Regional Medical Center & Heart Institute of more than $20,000.00. She promptly retained Jeffrey H. Garland for her defense. The jury trial began on April 4, 2005, before St. Lucie County Circuit Judge Ben L. Bryan. Hospital administrators, testifying for...Read More
RA was arrested on July 12, 2008, for charges of organized fraud less than $20,000.00, third degree grand theft more than $300.00, but less than $20,000.00, and fraudulent use of a credit card. Twelve days later, he retained Jeffrey H. Garland to represent him on these charges. RA was in the business of building replicas...Read More
Almost five years after M.W. and his roofing companies had completed their roofing work following the destructive 2004 hurricane season, he learned that a pair of warrants were pending against him out of Indian River County, Florida. M.W. was residing in a state in the mid-west, about to finalize a substantial business transaction, when a...Read More
J.S.C. was arrested on August 7, 2009, in St. Lucie County for uttering a forged check (three counts), forgery (three counts), criminal use of personal identification (three counts), organized scheme to defraud, and grand theft. On September 14, 2009, the State filed an Information formally charging this Defendant with communication fraud – less than $300.00...Read More
MA was just 18 years old and working at a bowling alley. He was accused of pocketing cash paid for games and shoes. Initially, MA put his head in the sand and ignored the situation. Almost two years later, he was arrested. He could ignore it no longer. Attorney Garland assessed the situation and recommended...Read More
J.E. was arrested on November 18, 2005, for organized fraud and two counts of third degree grand theft. These charges arose in Indian River County, Florida. He subsequently retained Jeffrey H. Garland as his attorney . A preliminary evaluation of the case concluded that the charges arose from a relationship between the defendant and the...Read More
A series of complex and inscrutable laws govern the purchase of gold and jewelry. These reporting requirements are intended to reduce the incentive to traffic in stolen property and to assist victims and law enforcement in identifying and recovering such stolen property. It would be rare, indeed, for someone offering to sell gold or jewelry...Read More
S.S. (not her real initials) was initially represented by the Public Defenders office in connection with charges of third degree grand theft and uttering a forged instrument. The State alleged that S.S. had deposited a counterfeit check on April 30, 2007, into a Seacoast National Bank in Port St. Lucie, Florida, in an amount of...Read More
F.M. (not her real initials) went shopping at the Express store in the Vero Beach Mall on July 8, 2010. She would not, unfortunately, be able to forget this day, and the matter would not be resolved until 364 days later, just 5 days before a jury was to be picked. The day started out...Read More
U.S. Army Reserve Sgt. Renea Thomas was arrested on December 17, 2009, while working as a corrections officer for her civilian employer, the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office. SLCO Sheriff Ken Mascara, at a news conference, accused Sgt. Thomas of stealing money, official misconduct and forgery and uttering a forged instrument. Twenty-one months later, the...Read More
B.A. was arrested for DUI in the early morning hours of October 11, 2009, in the parking area of Fort Pierce’s South Beach Jetty Park. According to the Arrest Affidavit, B.A. was “sleeping” in the driver’s seat. SLCSO Deputy Benjamin Deblieck said that the driver had difficulty awakening, had a strong odor of an alcoholic...Read More
G.J.B. was arrested on July 9, 2005, for the offense of organized fraud under $20,000.00. The charge arose out of his association with a construction company. The company had been formed several months after Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne in order to take advantage of the need for home repairs.Read More
PROLOGUE Every man has a line, a point which, once passed, there must be a reckoning. For some, being pushed across this line is an invitation to fight or to get even. For others, there is a sense of helpless passivity. For Brian O’Hara, when pushed across this line, there was an intense desire to...Read More
A Fort Pierce lawyer found a 17 year-old Supreme Court decision that kept his client out of jail. By Susannah A. Nesmith Palm Beach Post Staff Writer Every year, dozens of people traipse through pastures in wester Martin and St. Lucie Counties picking hallucinogenic mushrooms that grow in cow manure.Read More
Jason Reaves was sentenced to 40 years in prison for charges relating to a home invasion robbery. Kirschner & Garland, P.A. was retained to investigate the circumstances of the prosecution and, as deemed appropriate, file a motion for post-conviction relief (PCR).Read More
On June 12, 2007, agents from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office (SLCSO) and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) executed a search warrant on a convenience store located in a predominantly immigrant/Hispanic part of Fort Pierce. The search focused on financial records involving the “transmitting” of funds and “check cashing”. Boxes of records...Read More
Famed Highwaymen artist Willie Daniels, retained the firm of Kirschner & Garland, P.A., to represent him in connection with a domestic battery charge lodged against him by the Fort Pierce Police Department. The State “picked up” the charges by filing an Information against Daniels on July 8, 2005. After conducting a thorough investigation into the...Read More