Miami Criminal Defense Lawyer

Your First 72 Hours After a Miami-Dade Arrest

The first three days decide bond, who you can contact, and whether an early statement can be used later. If you are in custody, or police have asked to “talk,” do these things before the next court session.

• Write down the arresting agency, the charge printed on your paperwork, any bond amount, and the next court date before the details fade.
• Do not discuss the facts on a jail phone or with other people in custody. Those calls can be recorded and played later.
• If a preset bond is listed, have someone ready to post it, and read every condition before you leave the jail.
• If a no-contact order is issued, do not call, text, or message the protected person, even if that person contacts you first.
• Do not agree to a detective interview, a written statement, or a search of your phone until you have spoken with a lawyer.
• Save photos, messages, receipts, and the names of witnesses. Do not delete them.
• If the arrest was for DUI, write down the date. You generally have 10 days to request a DHSMV formal review of an administrative license suspension.
• If you are still in custody, ask a family member to call with your full name, date of birth, the facility, and any booking number so a lawyer can find you on the first-appearance calendar.

A step-by-step account of booking and first appearance is in our Florida arrest guide. If the immediate issue is release, start with our Miami bond hearing page.

Where Your Miami-Dade Case Is Heard

If you are still in custody, Florida law requires a first appearance within 24 hours of arrest. In Miami-Dade that hearing is at the Richard E. Gerstein Justice Building, 1351 N.W. 12th Street, Miami, Florida 33125, in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. The circuit currently lists adult misdemeanor, felony, and domestic-violence first appearances in Courtroom 1-5, at 9:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Juvenile first appearances are listed in Courtroom 4-1 at the same times. People who remain in jail often appear by video from the detention center. The hearing is open to the public, so family can attend in the courtroom. Weekend and holiday calendars are sometimes shorter than the weekday schedule, so confirm the session for the day of the arrest before you go.

Misdemeanors stay in County Court. Felonies are handled in Circuit Court. Both criminal divisions sit at the Gerstein building. For case records, the Clerk of the Court lists circuit criminal matters at Suite 9000 and county criminal matters at Suite 8100. You can look up a hearing in the Clerk’s Criminal Justice Online System and sign up for e-Notify text or email reminders.

The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office decides whether to file formal charges. Most felonies go forward by an information. A capital charge must be brought by grand jury indictment. After first appearance, the case moves to arraignment, the exchange of discovery, and pretrial hearings. Some charges have a preset bond you can post before first appearance. If no amount is listed, the judge sets bond and conditions at the hearing. Those conditions often include no contact, travel limits, or reporting. Missing a later court date can bring a warrant and the loss of bond.

For the layout of County Court and Circuit Court, see Miami-Dade criminal courts. For how judges set release, see how bond hearings work in Miami.

Common Miami-Dade Charges

The charge on the booking paperwork controls the court, the bond, and the deadlines. These are the matters we are asked about most often, and where to read the details for that charge.

DUI

A Miami-Dade DUI is usually a misdemeanor in County Court, with a separate DHSMV license case. Refusing a test, a high breath result, or a crash can raise the exposure, and you generally have 10 days to request a formal review of an administrative suspension. See our Miami DUI lawyer page.

Drug possession and trafficking

Possession and trafficking are different cases. Trafficking depends on the drug and the weight, and it can carry a mandatory prison term in state court. Larger quantities, or conduct that crosses state lines, may be filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of Florida instead of the State Attorney. See our Miami drug crimes lawyer page.

Domestic violence

The State Attorney prosecutes these cases. The other person does not decide whether the charge goes forward. A no-contact order is a common bond condition and covers calls, texts, and social media, including contact the other person starts. See our Miami domestic violence lawyer page.

Assault and battery

Simple battery is often a misdemeanor. Allegations of a weapon, great bodily harm, or a law-enforcement victim can make the case a felony in Circuit Court, with a higher bond and different exposure. See our Miami assault lawyer page.

Theft, burglary, and robbery

Petit theft and grand theft turn largely on value and prior record. Burglary and robbery add allegations about how the property was taken, and those allegations change both the court and the likely bond. See our Miami theft crimes lawyer page.

Credit card and access-device fraud

Using or possessing another person’s card, account number, or device can be charged in state court or, when the conduct is broader, as a federal access-device case. The paperwork will tell you which system you are in. See our Miami credit card fraud lawyer page.

Child abuse or neglect

Abuse and neglect cases are usually filed as felonies, and the criminal case can run alongside a Department of Children and Families investigation. Statements made to an investigator can be used in both. See our Miami child abuse lawyer page.

Probation violations

A violation is not a new criminal charge. It is a hearing on an existing sentence, and a new arrest can trigger both. Bond is not always available, and the hearing can move faster than a new case. See our Miami probation violation lawyer page.

What We Do on a Miami-Dade Case

The work follows your court dates. These are the services we provide, tied to the stage you are actually in.

First appearance and bond

We appear at bond court, present your ties to the community, and ask for an amount and conditions you can live with, including work, housing, and contact with your children when the facts support it. That representation is described on our Miami bond hearing lawyer page.

A defense built around the charge

A DUI file includes the criminal case and the license deadline. A drug file turns on the search, the quantity, and whether the prosecutor is the State Attorney or the U.S. Attorney. A domestic-violence file often turns on the no-contact order and whether the State Attorney will proceed without the other person’s cooperation. Theft, assault, and fraud files start with the elements the prosecution has to prove. Read the charge pages for DUI, drug crimes, domestic violence, assault, and theft.

Discovery, motions, and the State Attorney

We obtain the reports, body-worn camera, and witness statements, then decide what belongs in a motion and what belongs in a negotiation with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. A bad stop, a missing element, or an unreliable identification gets raised before anyone talks about a plea.

Trial in the court that has your case

Misdemeanors are tried in County Court. Felonies are tried in the Eleventh Judicial Circuit. We prepare the hearing or the trial even when a resolution is possible, because that preparation is what makes a dismissal or a better offer realistic.

Sentencing, probation, and a record you can address later

If the case ends in a plea or a conviction, we address the sentence and the consequences that follow it, including a professional license. A probation violation is a separate hearing. When a dismissal or another qualifying outcome makes you eligible, we handle sealing and expungement. See our pages on probation violations, professional license defense, and expungement.

If Federal Agents or a Federal Court Are Involved

Some arrests that start with Miami-Dade police are later investigated by federal agents, especially when the allegations involve more than one person, travel or shipments across state lines, or financial records. Federal court uses different detention rules, different discovery, and the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Do not sit for an interview, or answer a target letter, before you have counsel.

If you received a subpoena, a target letter, or notice of a grand jury, speak with a Miami federal criminal defense lawyer. Allegations built on an enterprise theory are covered on our RICO defense page.

A Published Result From This Practice

Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. We publish only matters that can be described without identifying the client.

In United States v. F.M., in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the client was arrested at the Port of Miami after an altercation with a Customs officer and initially faced a felony. After the defense presented mitigating mental-health evidence, the court reduced the case to a misdemeanor and imposed home confinement and probation instead of jail. Read United States v. F.M..

The full summary is linked above. The case results page is where published outcomes are collected. If you want to know whether we have handled a charge like yours, ask in the consultation.

What to Do Before Your Next Court Date

Confirm the date in the Clerk’s Criminal Justice Online System or through e-Notify, and plan to arrive early at the Gerstein Justice Building with your paperwork. Bring the arrest form or charging document, any bond sheet, and a short list of questions. If you are still in custody, a family member can call our office with your name, date of birth, and the facility.

If a federal agent, a target letter, or a subpoena is what brought you here, do not agree to an interview first. Start with our federal defense page, or call and we will tell you which issue has to be handled before the next setting. Consultations are free and confidential. Reach us by phone or through the contact form.