6 Spring Break Mistakes: Leaving Florida With Criminal Charges?

Spring break in Florida is supposed to be about sunshine, beaches, and bad decisions that you can laugh at later. Every year, thousands of spring breakers leave for Florida, but come back with a kind of souvenir you don't want: a criminal charge. And you know the worst part? Most of these arrests come from easily avoidable situations.

Every spring break we see the same things happen over and over again. Our jails and court systems are flooded from spring break crimes. And these aren't hardened criminals. They're students. They're professionals. They're tourists. Sometimes they're even family people. They come to Florida, let loose, have a good time, don't think that they're breaking the law, and then the next thing you know, they're being arrested.

So, in this blog, we're going to talk about the top six crimes that we see a lot during spring break and what to do if it happens to you.

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The Top 6 Spring Break Crimes

While there are a number of criminal charges we see on Spring Break in Florida every year, six of them happen most often. Here are the top 6 spring break crimes we see.

1. Possession of Alcohol by a Minor

Let's be honest, most every state is a 21 and over state. Florida is a 21 and over state. But you don't have to be drinking alcohol to be charged with possession of alcohol by a minor. It has to be in your possession, your dominion and control. So if you're holding it, it's in your backpack, it's in your car. If you got a red solo cup with suspected alcohol, you could be charged with it.

Here's the trap that people think. They think that they need to breath test you to find out if you are actually drinking alcohol. That's not the case, they don't have to. People also think that this is just a ticket because most of the time these arrests are given by a promise to appear and it's a civil infraction, but it's not. It's actually a criminal offense and this could affect you later on in life. Could affect your school disciplinary commission. It could affect your scholarships that you have, any kind of internships, potential grad school or in future in life, professional license. These kinds of things can follow you home for many years to come.

2. Fake ID Charges

This is what's crazy about Florida with fake IDs. It can be done in a couple different ways where it could both be a misdemeanor or a felony. And the reason why it would be a felony is because a lot of times it's fraudulent. If you've created an ID, if you have altered an ID, that is something that you could be charged as a felon. So, possessing fake IDs, using somebody else's, letting someone else use yours. These are all the types of charges that we see under the kind of our fake ID subsection here.

One of the things that we do when we challenge them is we looked at how the ID was discovered. Was it a lawful stop? Was there consent for the law enforcement officer to see it? Was the search legal? Cuz those details mattered and that's where we can challenge a lot of these types of cases.

3. Disorderly Conduct

This one is a statute that is commonly used when the officers have no idea what to charge you with. So essentially what disorderly conduct is, is when there is a group of people, there's an altercation and the officer is just getting frustrated with somebody. If they're being belligerent, if they're being loud, they're being obnoxious, and it causes a scene, you could be arrested for disorderly conduct.

And it does push the boundaries of is this a First Amendment issue? Were you in a place that you're legally allowed to be? It's one of those things that it's kind of a catch-all for law enforcement. It's more problem for the defendant because it's more of a hassle than what it is, what the future could actually hold for it. Meaning, you know, will you or will you not get convicted?

4. Trespassing

Trespassing occurs typically what we see is at bars, restaurants, and hotels. This is how it usually happens: There's an argument, someone is told to leave, and then they continue an argument. They take too long. Management comes back and says, "You need to leave now." But someone's still making their point. And by the time law enforcement gets there, management says, "We've asked them to leave. They refused to leave, and they're still there, and now you've got a charge."

Trespass comes down to: was proper notice given? Was the warning lawful? And did someone actually refuse to leave? You can see how a simple misunderstanding can turn into a criminal record fast.

5. DUI

When people go on vacation, they want to let loose. They want to have a little fun. But the problem is when there's a car involved, that becomes very serious business. We see this when people rent cars, scooters, even golf carts. So, it is something that's very important.

Now, I have spent a lot of time talking about DUI cases through my criminal practice. If you want to know more information, I've actually written a guide about what you should do about your DUI case before you do anything. Also, it's important to note that Florida has now recently enacted a rule under Trenton's law that if you refuse to give a breath sample, that could be an additional charge. So, Florida has a heavy DUI consequence if you are arrested for it. And there's several things that you have to do, but we can talk more about that in another video.

6. Battery

What's battery? Think of a fight. Now, of course, these things happen at bars. They can happen at restaurants or a party. What's needed for a battery is a harmful or offensive touching against the will of another. Even if someone doesn't want to end up pressing charges, not only can the police arrest you, but a prosecutor can prosecute. While the victim has some say in what happens, the state controls what happens with the case.

Conclusion

So, if you find yourself or a loved one has been arrested on spring break in Florida, there's several things that we can do. It is something that is very important not to ignore the charge because these will have lasting effects. And more importantly, if they go are arrested and they go before a first appearance judge, not just to plead guilty to get it over with because those are the types of things that you see in the future will come back and haunt them.

Contact Our Palm Beach County Criminal Defense Attorney

If you or a loved one were arrested in Florida over Spring Break, don't panic. Contact our Palm Beach County criminal attorney, Matthew Konecky, and get the help you need to make sure your criminal charges don't impact your future.