Miami, FL Attorneys, Lawyers and Law Firms

Nicholas Christopher Ferro was denied a third trial for the death of Marques Butler in 2009.

Ferro's first trial had ended in a hung jury. In his second trial, he was convicted of murder in the second degree last September.

However, he had asked for a third trial with Miami attorney Carlos Gonzalez pointing out several things, the main of which is that the charges should not have been murder in the second degree because of the scant amount of time that Ferro and Butler have known each other before the incident happened.

According to Ferro's defense, a murder in the second degree charge would require that the perpetrator and victim are familiar with each other thus the need for a time requirement on how long they have known each other basing on the murder laws of Florida.

However, the judge said the amount of time is not required.

With Ferro's demand for a third trial denied, a life imprisonment sentence looms for him.

Theft charges against Subhanna Beyah were dropped after her victim, New York Giants' Shaun Rogers, refused to cooperate with the authorities.

Jonathan Meltz, Beyah's lawyer in Miami, could not be contacted to comment on the issue.

Miami prosecutors believed that Beyah did to Rogers what she did to two other men, wherein she drugged them before stealing their valuables.

According to the police, Rogers had met Beyah at the nightclub of the hotel where he was staying.

Together with another couple, they had gone up to his room where he went to sleep while the others were partying. Before he went to sleep, he put his jewelry inside a safe in the room. When he woke up, Beyah was already gone and so was his jewelry worth almost $500,000.

Rogers had told the prosecution that he was not willing to cooperate during the one time he spoke with them.

Despite the failure of the theft charges to prosper, the prosecution instead will go ahead with charging Beyah for violating her probation wherein she is looking at a 20-year prison sentence if convicted.

Claudio Osorio will be spending 12 years and six months in jail for admitting to having swindled millions from those who invested in his company, the now defunct Innovida Holdings Inc.

Among those who was victimized by Osorio were NBA stars, a lawyer, a businessman from Tanzania and investors from the United Arab Emirates.

Aside from the prison term, Osorio is also ordered to refund more than $20 million to investors.

Humberto Dominguez, a defense lawyer in Miami representing Osorio, said he was expecting a less than 10 year prison term for his client for claiming responsibility for his actions, among others.

Aside from the investors, Osorio's indictment also included misusing millions of grant from the government which was supposed to be used in building homes in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Steven Steiner, who used to be the executive officer of an insurance brokerage, Fort Lauderdale, received a 15-year prison sentence for his part in an intricate plot to launder money.

Early this year, Steiner was found guilty of the money-laundering conspiracy to maintain his expensive way of life.

Miami defense attorney Joaquin Mendez pleaded for a lesser five-year sentence for Steiner. He said his client may not be perfect but he asked for the consideration of the good that Steiner has done as well as his susceptibilities.

This was strongly countered by the prosecutors who insisted that a more than 20-year sentence was appropriate for the crime that Steiner committed.

Judge Kathleen Williams eventually decided on giving an unremorseful Steiner 15 years.

Aisling Brady McCarthy, a nanny from Ireland, will have to await her murder trial in jail after she was denied bail.

McCarthy is accused of the death of Remah Sabir, a one-year-old girl who had suffered a head trauma while under her care. She was brought in to the hospital and died two days later.

However, McCarthy may get a reprieve after the judge got frustrated with the prosecutors' delay in handing over medical proof which could prove critical for her defense.

David Meier, a criminal attorney in Boston defending for McCarthy, said that the evidence they were asking for is necessary to the case.

McCarthy's defense said they are not ready to go to trial in April because of the delay.

A jury has exonerated Amanda Davis, a retired anchor of FOX 5, from charges of driving under the influence and reckless driving.

Instead, she was held liable for not being able to maintain driving on one lane which resulted to an accident in 2012.

For her sentence, Davis will be serving the community for 20 hours.

She will also be made to pay $200 as fine.

Defending for Davis was Atlanta DUI lawyer William "Bubba" Head.

The jury returned a guilty verdict against Rudy Kurniawan, a star wine collector, for faking vintage wines, which he apparently just manufactured from his home.

Kurniawan was convicted for fraud and is looking at a massive 40-year sentence.

Kurniawan was once known as among the top five collectors of wine in the world.

Prosecutors accused Kurniawan of earning millions from selling and auctioning fake vintage wines.

Found in the home that Kurniawan shared with his mother were unlabeled bottles and labels of Burgundy and Bordeaux wines.

Suspicions against Kurniawan started during an auction in 2008 wherein he offered to sell Domaine Ponsot wines.

But it wasn't until a 2012 wine auction in London that Kurniawan was arrested.

Los Angeles criminal lawyer Jerome Mooney, defending for Kurniawan, said his client was not trying to defraud people. Instead, all he wanted was to belong.

Ken Anderson, the former District Attorney of Williamson County, was meted with a 10-day jail term after the judge accepted his no-contest plea for the charge of contempt of court.

The charge steamed from the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton who was found guilty for the murder of his wife in 1986 and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

However, in 2011, Morton's conviction was overturned using DNA as proof that he did not kill his wife.

In the light of that development, Anderson, who had prosecuted Morton's case, was scrutinized and was determined to have erred when he withheld evidence which would have been beneficial for Morton's defense.

Aside from the short jail stay, Anderson will also have to give up his license as a lawyer and as part of the plea bargain, he will also be disbarred for five years.

Austin attorney Eric Nichols, however, pointed out that there will be no conviction for Anderson on any criminal charge.

Morton, for his part, said he is more than happy with the result because all he wanted was for Anderson not to practice law anymore to prevent what happened to him from happening to anyone else again.

Anderson was also fined and made to do community service.

Richard Thomas may only be 16 years old but he will be facing the charges filed against him as an adult.

Thomas is facing several charges including "hate crime" after he set another teenager, Luke "Sasha" Fleischman, 18, on fire.

Both were riding on a bus when the incident happened with Fleischman wearing a skirt.

Fleischman's parents said their son does not identify himself either as a male or female.

According to police, Thomas had told them he set Fleischman on fire because he is homophobic.

San Francisco defense attorney Michael Cardoza said his client, Thomas, if convicted would be facing a longer sentence because of the hate crime charge.