First-Time Offenders

Challenges Facing a First-Time Offender
Orlando Criminal Defense Attorney

An arrest is a confusing and traumatic experience, especially if you are a first-time offender. If you’ve never faced criminal charges, it is to your advantage to hire a criminal defense attorney early on in the process, to protect your rights and preserve your defenses. Contact the attorneys at Carsten & Ladan, P.A. to discuss how we can maximize your options and explore your potential defense strategies.

As a first-time offender, you may qualify for pretrial diversion (also called deferred prosecution in some areas). There are a number of factors that go into the State’s decision of whether to permit a first-time offender into diversion, including, but not limited to, the nature of your charge, the facts of your case, whether the alleged victim of your case agrees, your county of residency, etc. As you can imagine, this is not an automatic process, nor is it a “right”  for a first-time offender. Contact our office for a free,  fully confidential consultation to discuss your case and diversion eligibility.

Should you qualify for diversion, you stand a good chance to maintain your clean criminal history, as successful completion of diversion will lead to the dismissal of the case. However, do not confuse this dismissal with a deletion of your records! Once the case is dismissed, you must petition the court to have the record deleted, which is known as an expungement. Filing a Petition to Seal or Expunge your case is a long process, which also has certain pre-conditions. For a full discussion about sealing or expunging your record, please contact Carsten & Ladan, P.A.

If you’ve already resolved your case and want to know more about how you can protect your record, contact Carsten & Ladan, P.A. to discuss your options.

Bond Hearings

In many cases, our firm is retained by a friend or family member in order to schedule a bond hearing on behalf of someone that is incarcerated. According to Florida law, all persons accused of a crime in state court are entitled to a bond, except for cases involving a violation of probation or first degree felonies that are punishable by life in prison. Even when charged with a life felony or VOP, a defendant may be able to secure a bond pending the outcome of the case.

There are many variables which may affect whether the court is willing to issue a bond and whether the bond follows the statutory bond schedule. Among some of the factors to which a judge may look are the criminal history of the accused, the nature of the offense charged, the facts alleged in the case, whether the accused has ever failed to appear for court, whether the accused has significant ties to the community and what risk, if any, the accused may have to re-offend if released from custody.

For a full and frank discussion on the likelihood of getting a bond, contact Carsten & Ladan, P.A.

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