Florida trial by jury, Several charges...Do they know about one another?

Question

Im asking about a friend from bakc home in Florida. He has been going through the courts for 2 yrs now and should be picking a jury soon. He has 6 charges against - all the same basicly. I belive they are sperating them into a few different ones. Example the 3 cases to hold 2 charges. During trial will the other cases be aloud to be known? Will the jury know about the other charges or are they kept private till the next "case"?

Answer 1

Virtually never are they allowed to bring up any charges pending in other cases at trial. It is considered prejudicial. The prosecution would have to file a request to allow evidence from those other cases and would have to show why it believes it is important. That is a high standard of proof to show and they rarely win. If the Defendant brought up the other cases while defending the case at hand, however, he would be considered to have opened the door to any and all evidence available about those other cases.

Answer 2

You make no mention of the type of cases but...and maybe I'm off base here...but lets just say you're talking about drug cases. Each individual case is one charge. Therefore, if he has six cases...he has six charges.

In preparation for court, attorneys will make deals and appeals between prosecution and defense to come to a mutually agreed plea bargain.

The "other" cases are not brought out in the court unless they are a part of the specific case being addressed.

Answer 3

If it makes you feel any better, a Florida judge allowed a criminal to take custody of a baby because she "didn't know" he'd been arrested for assault among other things. I think they should make it their business to know, lives depend on it.

Answer 4

Who cares. He needs to learn a lesson. Give it up