Criminal defense · Tampa
Tampa criminal defense lawyer
The Thirteenth Circuit sits in two places, and after a DUI arrest a ten-day clock runs in neither of them
Jose A. Dapena defends felonies and misdemeanors in Hillsborough County from the Tampa office on North Habana Avenue. DUI, domestic violence, drugs, theft, weapons, sex offenses, homicide and juvenile matters. Criminal cases are handled on a flat fee set by the charges and the scope, and the consultation is with the attorney who would appear.
- Tampa office
- 4231 N Habana Avenue
Tampa, FL 33607 - Phone
- (813) 930-5422
- Hours
- Monday to Friday
08:00–18:00 - Who handles it
- Jose A. Dapena
Florida Bar 152358
A Hillsborough criminal case does its most irreversible work in the first week — at first appearance, where bond and conditions of release are set, and in whatever was said before anyone was appointed. Both happen before most people have called a lawyer.
There is also a deadline running that has nothing to do with the criminal court. After a DUI arrest there are ten days to request review of the administrative license suspension, and the suspension begins the day the notice is issued. The law behind the charges is on the Florida criminal defense page.
01 Handled from this office
Criminal defense matters handled from Tampa
Each one has its own page, with the Florida statutes and what actually decides the case.
- The first 24 hoursNothing that happens today is as reversible as it feels
- DUITwo cases start at once, and the one with the ten-day deadline is not the criminal one
- Sealing and expungementFlorida does not erase convictions, whatever the advertising says
- Domestic violenceThe person who called cannot call it off, and the no-contact order starts before anyone has a lawyer
- Drug traffickingTrafficking is a weight, not an activity, and nobody has to have sold anything
- Drug chargesFor most substances there is no small amount — quantity changes the charge, not whether there is one
- Assault and batteryFour different offenses, and a touch can be one of them
- Theft and robberyTheft is measured in dollars. Robbery is measured in whether anyone was pushed.
- Weapons chargesThe enhancement is usually worse than the charge it attaches to
- Sex offensesThe sentence ends. The registration requirement is the part that does not.
- HomicideWhat separates these charges is a state of mind, and the felony murder rule does not require one
- Juvenile defenseA juvenile case does not necessarily stay in juvenile court, and that decision is not a judge’s
- Probation violationsThe original sentence comes back, and the hearing is nothing like the trial you did not have
- Driving with a suspended licenseIt is a crime rather than a ticket, and the State has to prove you knew
- FraudThe documents are the case, and there are always more of them than anyone expects
- Federal chargesA different courthouse, a different prosecutor, and a bail rule that starts from detention
02 Where a Hillsborough criminal case is heard
George E. Edgecomb Courthouse
800 E Twiggs Street, Tampa, FL 33602
The Thirteenth Judicial Circuit handles Hillsborough criminal cases, and most are set at the Edgecomb Courthouse on East Twiggs Street downtown. The circuit also operates the Criminal Courthouse Annex at 401 N Jefferson Street, and it sits at the Plant City Courthouse, 301 N Michigan Avenue.
That second location matters for the eastern half of the county. For someone in Plant City, Dover or Seffner, the difference between a hearing downtown and one twenty minutes away is a day of work rather than an hour, and it is worth asking which applies early rather than discovering it on a notice.
First appearance comes within about a day of arrest. A judge addresses bond and sets the conditions of release — no contact with a named person, surrender of a passport or firearm, a curfew, GPS monitoring. Those conditions govern daily life for months, and they are easier to argue at that hearing than to change afterward.
And the license clock. Ten days from the notice to request review, running independently of everything happening in the criminal case. Nobody in the courtroom will mention it, and letting it pass ends the chance to contest the suspension rather than the suspension itself.
03 How it starts
- The consultationAt the Tampa office on North Habana Avenue, just off Dale Mabry and a short drive from the Edgecomb Courthouse. By phone where someone is in custody and the first appearance is imminent. It is with Jose A. Dapena.
- What to bringThe charging document, the bond paperwork, the property receipt, any citation, any notice from the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, and the certified disposition of any prior case in any state.
- Say it at the startIf you are not a United States citizen, say so in the first minutes. It changes which outcomes are acceptable, and that has to be known before any negotiation begins rather than after an offer is taken.
- What it costsA flat fee set by the charges and the scope, agreed in writing. There are no payment plans on criminal matters, and any consultation charge is disclosed when the appointment is made.
What people ask in Tampa
Will my hearing be downtown or in Plant City?
It depends on how the case is assigned within the Thirteenth Circuit. Most Hillsborough criminal matters are set at the Edgecomb Courthouse downtown; the circuit also sits at the Plant City Courthouse on North Michigan Avenue, and there is a Criminal Courthouse Annex on North Jefferson. Ask early, because it changes travel, parking and how much of a working day a hearing costs.
I was arrested for DUI. What is urgent?
The ten days to request review of your license suspension. It runs from the issuance of the notice, it includes weekends, and nothing in the criminal courtroom will remind you about it. Missing it does not end the license problem — it ends the chance to contest it.
They released me. Do I still need a lawyer?
Yes. Release is not resolution. The case is open, there is a court date, and the conditions of release apply. People released without incident routinely assume the matter is small, and that is how deadlines pass and no-contact orders get broken.
I am not a citizen. Does that matter here?
It changes what a good outcome is. A withhold of adjudication, which Florida treats as not a conviction, is frequently a conviction for immigration purposes, and the statute of conviction can matter more than the sentence. This office handles immigration as well, so both are read before a plea rather than after.
Can you handle a case in Pinellas or Pasco?
Jose A. Dapena is admitted throughout Florida. Where a case is heard is set by where the offense is alleged to have occurred, not by which office you walk into, and the Tampa office is the base for cases on this side of the state.
What does a defense cost?
A flat fee set by the charges and the scope, with no payment plans — different from the contingency fee on the injury side of this office and the hourly rate on family and immigration. The scope is written down before anything is signed.
Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans.
Talk to Jose A. Dapena about a Tampa criminal case
The Tampa office is on North Habana Avenue. If a first appearance is tomorrow, or a DUI arrest was this week, call rather than wait.
Criminal matters are handled on a flat fee, set by the charges and the scope of the representation. Any consultation charge is disclosed before the appointment. There are no payment plans.