A sewage leak inside a South Florida police department left evidence — soaked. The question now: could it sink pending criminal cases? 7’s Brian Entin investigates in our special report called “Flood of Trouble.” Evidence laid out all over the floor of the Hollywood Police Department. It was drying out after getting soaked in sewage….
Broward County prosecutors have ruled that a former detention center officer was justified when he slugged a 14-year-old boy in the face — breaking the teen’s nose in two places — because the juvenile was aggressive with staff and causing a disturbance in the county’s long-troubled lockup. Former lockup officer Darell Bryant will not face…
Rafael Olmeda Contact Reporter Sun Sentinel https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-judge-bullying-inmate-dies-20180420-story.html Broward judge is under fire after she repeatedly snapped at a frail inmate who later died at her Lauderhill home. Broward Chief Administrative Judge Jack Tuter said Saturday that he is telling Circuit Court Judge Merrilee Ehrlich not to return to the courthouse because of how she treated…
For the first time in a decade, Florida juvenile detention and probation officers will see a bump in their salaries — an increase in the state budget that is part of a series of juvenile justice reforms passed by the Legislature this month. The 10 percent across-the-board pay raise for lockup and probation officers was…
ot smokers aren’t the only law breakers able to get a second chance in South Florida. Underage adults buying alcohol, those stealing property worth less than $300 and people nabbed for trespassing, loitering or disorderly conduct are also now eligible to get a break in Broward County. A new adult civil citation program is expected…
Rafael Olmeda Contact Reporter Sun Sentinel https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-sb-public-defender-contests-fees-20180125-story.html Broward County is getting shortchanged on the fees that are supposed to be collected from criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire private lawyers, according to Public Defender Howard Finkelstein. He wants Clerk of Courts Brenda Forman to explain why. In a series of letters between their offices,…
Chaos broke out at the Broward Juvenile Detention Center when some of the inmates managed to take over the facility. 7’s Brian Entin has exclusive video of the riot in tonight’s 7 Investigates. This is where juveniles who get in trouble get locked up. And from the outside, it looks safe, secure and quiet. But…
Crime labs are overwhelmed and under-regulated – leading to the compromise of countless drug cases nationwide In separate incidents, just five months apart, two Massachusetts crime-lab chemists were arrested for tampering with evidence seized in drug arrests. At Boston’s Hinton State Laboratory, the state’s largest lab, Annie Dookhan falsified results by “dry-labbing”– submitting positive results…
The tickets for failing to cross in a crosswalk don’t just carry fines; they can damage credit rating and lead to the suspensions of driver’s licenses. A Florida Times-Union/ProPublica examination shows lots of them never should have been issued. by Topher Sanders, ProPublica, and Benjamin Conarck, The Florida Times-Union [Jacksonville]Dec. 20, 2017, 8 a.m. EST WALKING WHILE BLACK…
A group of Florida lawmakers, local officials and the NAACP made a surprise visit to the Broward Regional Juvenile Center, which some described as “horrific,” “subpar” and “unacceptable.” The officials were all in agreement: a new facility is needed. The detention center was the center of scrutiny following the revelation of violent conditions, such as…