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Florida criminal defense attorney

The decisions that matter most are made in the first week, usually by people who do not know they are making them

Jose A. Dapena defends felonies and misdemeanors in Florida, from offices in Miami, Homestead and Tampa. Two things about a criminal case are routinely missed. The first is that deadlines start running immediately — a DUI arrest starts a ten-day clock on your driver license that has nothing to do with the criminal case. The second is that for anyone who is not a United States citizen, the plea is frequently the most consequential decision in their life, and it is made in a courtroom where nobody is required to explain that.

Talk to a criminal defense attorney Miami (305) 662-4323 Tampa (813) 930-5422

Quick answers about a Florida criminal case

What happens in the first 24 hours?
A first appearance before a judge, where bond and conditions of release are addressed. It happens quickly and it sets the terms you live under until the case ends.
What is the ten-day deadline?
After a DUI arrest or a refusal, you have ten days to request a review of the administrative license suspension. Fla. Stat. § 322.2615. Miss it and the suspension stands.
Does a withhold of adjudication mean no conviction?
For most Florida purposes it is not a conviction. For federal immigration purposes it frequently is, which is why the two have to be considered together.
Can a record be erased?
Only in defined circumstances. Florida expunction generally requires the case to have ended without a conviction, and it is once in a lifetime. Fla. Stat. § 943.0585.
How fast does a case move?
Speedy trial periods are 90 days for a misdemeanor and 175 days for a felony from arrest, subject to waivers that are routinely signed without much thought.
Should I talk to the police?
Not without counsel. The account given before anyone is appointed is the account the case is measured against afterward.

01 What the firm handles

Criminal matters DAPENALAW defends in Florida

Felonies and misdemeanors, handled in-house. Where a case also carries immigration consequences, both sides are looked at together rather than in sequence — which is the only order in which that works.

  • The first 24 hoursFirst appearance, bond, and what not to do before it.
  • DUIThe criminal case and the separate ten-day license deadline.
  • Domestic violenceThe no-contact order, and how the criminal case differs from an injunction.
  • Drug chargesPossession, intent to sell, and what the quantity changes.
  • Drug traffickingWhere weight alone brings a mandatory minimum.
  • Assault and batterySimple, aggravated, and what turns one into the other.
  • Theft and robberyWhere the line between them sits, and why it changes everything.
  • Weapons chargesPossession, carrying, and the 10-20-Life enhancements.
  • Sex offensesCharges that carry registration consequences for life.
  • HomicideDegrees, defenses, and the law on justifiable use of force.
  • Federal chargesA different court, a bail rule that starts from detention, and no parole.
  • Juvenile defenseA different court, different language, and different consequences.
  • Sealing and expungementWho actually qualifies, and the once-in-a-lifetime rule.

02 The first week

What is decided before most people have a lawyer

A criminal case does its most irreversible work early, and quietly. People picture a trial. What actually happens is a series of small decisions in the first week that narrow everything afterward.

The first appearance comes within about a day of arrest. A judge addresses bond and sets conditions of release — no contact with a named person, surrender of a passport or a firearm, a curfew, GPS monitoring. Those conditions govern daily life for months, and arguing them later is harder than arguing them then.

The statement. Almost every case has one, given before anyone was appointed, usually by someone trying to be helpful and explain. It cannot be unsaid, and the rest of the case is measured against it.

The administrative deadlines. A DUI arrest starts a ten-day clock on the license that runs whatever is happening in the criminal case. People discover it after it has expired, and by then the only remaining question is hardship reinstatement.

03 Immigration

Why a plea in county court can decide an immigration case

Florida criminal law and federal immigration law read the same disposition differently, and the gap between them is where people lose everything.

A withhold of adjudication — the outcome a defendant is often told is "not a conviction" — is frequently a conviction for immigration purposes. A sentence of exactly one year, even suspended, can convert an offense into an aggravated felony and close off nearly all relief. A plea to a lesser charge can be worse immigration-wise than the original, depending on which statute it sits under.

This office handles immigration as well, and the reason that matters here is sequence and nothing else. These consequences attach when the plea is entered. Before that, the charge, the statute of conviction and the sentence are all things that can be negotiated with the immigration consequence in view. After it, the options narrow to post-conviction relief, which is slower, harder and frequently unavailable.

Anyone who is not a United States citizen should have both sides looked at before anything is signed, including on a case that looks minor. Especially on a case that looks minor — those are the ones where nobody thinks to ask.

04 The record

What can be cleared afterward, and what cannot

Florida does not erase convictions. That is the first thing to understand, because a great deal of advertising implies otherwise.

Expunction under § 943.0585 generally requires that the case ended without a conviction — never charged, dismissed, nolle prossed, acquitted — and that the person has never been adjudicated guilty in Florida of any criminal offense. It is once in a lifetime, and an eligibility certificate from FDLE comes before the court petition.

Sealing under § 943.059 is the route where adjudication was withheld. It also carries exclusions by offense, and it is subject to the same once-in-a-lifetime constraint.

The practical consequence runs backwards into the plea. Whether a case can ever be sealed depends on how it ends, so the question "will I be able to clear this" belongs in the negotiation rather than in a consultation five years later.

05 How this office works

Fees, and who handles the case

Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. That is different from the injury side of this office, where the fee is contingent, and different from family and immigration, which are hourly. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans on criminal matters.

The consultation is with Jose A. Dapena, and so is the courtroom appearance. Bring the charging document, the bond paperwork, any notice from the clerk or the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and anything from a prior case in any state.

If you are not a United States citizen, say so at the start rather than at the end. It changes the analysis of every option on the table.

06 The law

Florida statutes that decide a criminal case

Two of these set deadlines that run whether or not anyone is looking at them, and one of them runs for ten days.

  • Fla. Stat. § 316.193

    Driving under the influence

    The offense itself, the thresholds, and the escalating penalties for prior convictions.

  • Fla. Stat. § 322.2615

    Administrative license suspension

    The ten-day window to request review, and that the suspension starts when the notice is issued.

  • Fla. Stat. § 943.0585

    Court-ordered expunction

    Who qualifies, the no-prior-adjudication rule, and the once-in-a-lifetime limit.

  • Fla. Stat. § 943.059

    Court-ordered sealing

    The route where adjudication was withheld, and its exclusions.

  • Fla. Stat. § 775.087

    Firearm enhancements

    The 10-20-Life minimum terms when a firearm is carried, discharged, or causes injury.

  • Fla. Stat. § 893.135

    Drug trafficking

    Where weight alone triggers a mandatory minimum regardless of role.

  • Fla. Stat. § 776.012

    Use of force in defense of a person

    The justifiable use of force, and the immunity that can follow from it.

Florida criminal defense questions, answered

I was arrested and released. Do I still need a lawyer?

Yes. Release is not resolution — the case is open, there is a court date, and conditions of release apply. People who are released frequently assume the matter is minor because nothing dramatic happened, and that assumption is how deadlines get missed.

If you are not a citizen, release changes nothing about the immigration consequence of how the case ends.

The alleged victim wants to drop it. Does that end the case?

No. The decision to prosecute belongs to the State Attorney, not to the complaining witness. A victim’s wishes are a factor the prosecutor may weigh, and in domestic violence cases prosecutors frequently proceed regardless.

What a victim should not do is contact a defendant subject to a no-contact order. That is a new offense, and it is committed by the person who makes the contact as well as the person who accepts it.

Should I just take the plea they offered?

Not before someone has read the discovery and, if you are not a citizen, the immigration consequence of the specific statute and sentence. A first offer is a starting position, and the terms that matter are frequently not the ones a defendant is focused on.

Whether the case can ever be sealed also depends on how it ends, which is another thing decided at the plea.

What does a flat fee cover?

It is set by the charges and by the scope agreed in writing — what stage of the case it covers and what happens if the matter goes further. The scope is stated before anything is signed so there is no dispute about it later.

Can you handle a case in another county?

Jose A. Dapena is admitted throughout Florida and the firm has offices in South Miami, Homestead and Tampa. Where the case is heard is set by where the offense is alleged to have occurred, not by which office you walk into.

What should I bring?

The charging document, bond paperwork, any notice from the clerk or from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the disposition of any prior case in any state. Certified records, not recollections — what a family member remembers about an old case is frequently wrong in the way that changes the answer.

07 Sources

Official Florida resources

This page is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your case. Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee set by the charges and the scope of the representation; there is no contingency fee and there are no payment plans. Published by Jose A. Dapena, P.A. Last reviewed October 2026.

Talk to a Florida criminal defense attorney

You deal with the attorney who would appear, at every stage. Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, and any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment.

Miami (305) 662-4323 Homestead (786) 900-0184 Tampa (813) 930-5422