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The Cost of Being Arrested

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Brook Butler Vero Beach Defense Attorney

Obeying the law is just a good way to live your life. If everyone obeyed all the laws all the time, I guess I wouldn’t have a career, so I am a little at odds here.

Today I want you all to think about something that most law abiding citizens never give a thought to. Beyond the cost of hiring me to defend you, how much does it cost you if you are arrested? The answer is it costs  you a big bunch of money  when you break a law. Or even if you didn’t break a law, it costs money to prove that as well.

If you are  arrested and perhaps assigned probation in lieu of jail time, that probation is actually run by a Non-Profit Company, and you have to pay for their services. It will run you right around $55 per month. If drug testing is ordered, each test will run right around $35-$45 per test. If you volunteer for Community Services, that will also cost YOU money. Yes, you read correctly, you pay to volunteer. If you are ordered to attend counseling, you will pay $10 or more per session.

Should you have the misfortune to be incarcerated, that will cost you money as well. The Sherriff’s department publishes a guide and notes there is a daily charge for meals, there is also a charge for personal grooming items and certain items of clothing. You will not be allowed to use your cell phone, or any phone at the jail without having first established the ability to make collect calls. That can run as high as a few hundred dollars per month.

After all is said and done, being arrested for a misdemeanor crime can run up charges of $7,000 or more including legal fees and court costs. If you can pay those charges, you may have to serve jail time, and you will run up more charges. These are just a sample of the types and amounts of fees you will face. There are more.

The bottom line here is, keep your nose clean, obey the law, and if you would rather not, you had better save up because the cost of  crime is high.

 

Brook Butler

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Criminal Defense by Brook Butler

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criminal defense attorney at law

If you have been arrested for a crime, no matter how seemingly small, it is a serious situation. In all instances it will benefit you to have good representation in a court of law. As they say in the movies, it is a fool who tries to represent themselves. If you have never studied the law, it is impossible to know how to navigate the complex maze of a legal system. At the Law Office of Brook Butler, we will work diligently to present the best defense possible for you or your family member. Being convicted of a crime can haunt you all your life, which is why you need the right representation when you are facing charges. Even if the charges are relatively minor, if you don’t know how to handle the situation, you can end up making the wrong decisions.

Some of the types of cases we handle are:

  • Crimes of violence
  • Illegal possession and distribution of drugs
  • D.U.I
  • Theft
  • Construction Fraud
  • Juvenile crime
  • Burglary, Trespass
  • Family Law
  • Violation of Probation 

At Brook Butler Law my team and I will work to sort out the facts, build a proper defense and interview witnesses in order to present a strong case. It is our mission to help you get a fair deal.

 

Be Careful What You Post On-Line

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Don’t post your criminal or illegal activities on Facebook. I don’t know how many times I tell clients to keep their activities abovehelp for young women and men from the foster care system board and legal, especially when they are under the eyes of local authorities. Some people just can listen. So I am going to say this again, don’t post photos and activities on Facebook that could get you into trouble. Don’t even post things about drinking and partying with friends, because when you go to apply for a job, the wrong people are going to see them.

A drug dealer was so proud of himself, and so arrogant that he posted photos of himself selling drugs from his car which happened to be parked near a Sherriff’s cruiser. He boasted that he could get away with this because he was so clever. He  is a prime example  of what NOT to post on Facebook:

“Martin County Sheriff’s Office

 

· May 9 at 3:49pm ·Edited ·

“WHEN SELFIES BACKFIRE

These are photos of 21-year old Taylor Harrison of Port St. Lucie bragging on his Facebook page about his life as a drug dealer and how easy it is for him to sell drugs in front of our deputies.

The first photo Taylor took himself as he pulled alongside one of our deputies. The second photo is a selfie of Taylor with stacks of drug cash and drugs that he says he sells. Notice next to his car, is a patrol car.

The third shot is a MCSO undercover camera capturing Taylor selling drugs to one of us. He tells us, he is the best around!

The photo to the right is Taylor’s booking photo at Martin County Jail after being arrested for…you guessed it, selling drugs to our undercover narcotics detectives.

 Since Taylor was kind of enough to share photos of us on his Facebook page, we thought we would share these photos of Taylor on our page. Taylor’s bond is $55,500. “

Photo--Selfies-gone-wrong

It is never a good idea to break the law, it is an even worse idea to brag about it, and the most foolish is to post photos.

Brook Butler

Criminal Defense Attorney

Vero Beach, Fl

help for young women and men from the foster care system

Equal Opportunity

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research,empower yourself, do the researchPeople need to stand up for themselves. As a woman, I haven’t worried all that much about salary discrimination. I know my worth as a criminal defense attorney, and I know what the going rates are. I don’t charge less just because I am a female.

When I looked online today for interesting blog subjects I came across this article on the Forbes website:

“Understanding the Big Picture

According to the latest U.S. Census figures, the typical American woman working at least 35 hours a week, year-round, earned 77.1% of what the typical American man did. What’s more alarming is that the number hasn’t changed much since 2001, and since then has ranged from 75.2% to 77.8%.

That amounts to a yearly wage gap of $11,607 between full-time working men and women. And for women of color, the wage gap is larger. African American women are paid, on average, 64 cents, and Latinas are paid just 54 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men (here’s the state-by-state breakdown). What’s worse is that once women are paid poorly, usually because they don’t negotiate a better salary, the cycle of being paid less continues over a lifetime.”

For me, this post isn’t simply about salary equality, its’ also about taking control, doing the research, and finding the right mentors to back you up. Yes, it is important for women who have the same job description to be paid the same as men, but if you read the entire article, this particular women was just so excited to be offered the position that she didn’t ask any of the right questions, nor did she do her due diligence and research the cost of living in the area where she accepted the new position.

When people run into trouble with the law, the same kind of situation often occurs. They are intimidated, they don’t ask the right questions, and they don’t take the time to find an attorney that really knows criminal law.

So if you run into one of these situations, make sure you have someone there who will ask the right questions and shine light on the facts that need to be seen. Call me, Brook L. Butler and I will make sure you are well represented.

 

Brook Butler, Esq.

Aggressive defense for DUI, DUI Manslaughter, Domestic Violence, Theft Crimes, Sex Offenses, Drug Offenses, Drug Trafficing, Construction fraud, burglary, trespass, juvenile, delinquency, bond reduction, violation of probation, federal, state, in Vero Beach, 19th Judicial Circuit, Florida

 

Criminal defense attorney, vero beach attorney, attorney at law in vero beach, get out of jail, brook butler

 

Interesting Blog on the WSJ

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Food for thought, prescription drug databases have been fodder for prosecution attorneys,but maybe not for long:

“In February, a U.S. court in Oregon ruled for the first time that federal agents need a warrant to search that state’s prescription-drug database. Last year, Rhode Island raised the barrier of entry to its database, and legislators in Florida and Pennsylvania are considering new limits on law-enforcement access to the records in those states

“The public and lawmakers are really starting to understand what kinds of threats to privacy come when we start centralizing great quantities of our sensitive personal information in giant electronic databases,” said Nathan Wessler, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which represented a group of patients and a physician who challenged the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Oregon case.

Law-enforcement officials say requiring a warrant to get the prescription records would undermine their efforts to curb the illegal flow of prescription pills, which feed what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has classified as an epidemic of drug abuse.

Currently, all but two states operate electronic databases of prescriptions for drugs, such as oxycodone, that have a high potential for abuse. Many of them also contain prescription records of less-potent drugs, according to the National Alliance for Model State Drug Laws, a congressionally funded group that generates draft statutes on drug policy.

In 17 states, authorities must get court approval before searching such databases, the drug-law group said. Other states grant access to investigators with few strings attached, with the exception of Vermont, where the system is closed to law-enforcement authorities.

While police generally need a warrant to secure medical records from a doctor’s office or hospital, courts are split over whether patients have an expectation of privacy in their prescription records. The U.S. Supreme Court has yet to weigh in.”

What do you will happen?

Brook Butler, Esq.

Aggressive defense for DUI, DUI Manslaughter, Domestic Violence, Theft Crimes, Sex Offenses, Drug Offenses, Drug Trafficing, Construction fraud, burglary, trespass, juvenile, delinquency, bond reduction, violation of probation, federal, state, in Vero Beach, 19th Judicial Circuit, Florida

Vero Beach criminal attorney, defense attorney, who to call when you get into trouble?

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2014/05/07/courts-lawmakers-curb-police-access-to-prescription-drug-databases/

VeroBeachLibertyAttorney

BROOK L. BUTLER, ESQ.

ATTORNEY AT LAW

1801 24th Street
Vero Beach, FL ‎32960

Office: (772) 563-9909

Fax: (772) 365-2385