Florida criminal defense · Where to start
How to defend a Florida case, step by step.
A workflow-organized index of every BenchRecon preparation tool, from charge triage to the plea. Each stage of the case lists the free tools that get you moving and the paid, source-cited exhibits when you need the filing-ready version. Built for solo and small-firm defenders who do not have a colleague down the hall.
First look and charge triage
What is my client actually charged with, and what does it carry?
Start by pinning the charge to its statute and its penalty exposure. The Florida reference hub indexes the criminal statutes, and the plain-language penalty guides walk each common charge to its degree and its maximum.
Free tools
- Florida attorney reference hub
The Florida index: criminal statutes, the Evidence Code, Rules of Criminal Procedure, and standard jury instructions, each source-linked to the official Florida text.
- Florida criminal statutes
The indexed Florida criminal statutes, each linked to its official primary source, so you can pin a charge to its statutory text.
- Charge penalty guides
Plain explainers that quote each charge's degree and maximum verbatim from the statute (DUI, drug possession, theft, battery, burglary, and more). General information, not legal advice.
- Scoresheet calculator
Enter the offense factors and get the total sentence points and lowest permissible sentence, computed from the verbatim Fla. Stat. point values. An educational estimate.
Filing-ready depth
- Charge Authority Pack
The source-cited authority packet for a charge, when you need the filing-ready version rather than the reference.
Investigate the officer and the stop
Who is the testifying officer, and what is in their record?
The State's case usually rests on one or two officers. Run them against public complaint and certification-discipline records, then build the cross-examination around what you find.
Free tools
- Officer public-record lookup
Search a testifying officer by name and jurisdiction against public complaint and certification-discipline records. Every row is source-linked with an identity-confidence note. Live search is free.
- How to cross-examine the arresting officer
The documented framework for cross-examining a police witness: prior inconsistent statement, bias, the credibility record, foundation gaps, and the commit-then-confront method. Cited to primary sources. A preparation tool for licensed counsel.
Filing-ready depth
- Officer Records exhibit
The filing-ready officer-records exhibit: the same public-record search rendered as a source-cited exhibit you can attach or hand to a client.
- Brady/Giglio Source Appendix
The source appendix documenting the officer credibility record for a Brady/Giglio demand.
Demand discovery
What am I supposed to demand from the State?
Get the discovery demand right at intake. The free checklist walks the full reciprocal discovery plus the Brady and Giglio material to demand separately; the paid pack turns it into filing-ready demand letters.
Free tools
- Florida discovery-demand checklist
The full Rule 3.220 reciprocal discovery to demand from the State, the Brady and Giglio material to demand separately, the charge-specific evidence, and the preservation demands to send at intake. Every rule cited to its primary source.
Filing-ready depth
- Discovery-Demand Pack
The filing-ready discovery-demand exhibits (Brady, Giglio, Rule 16, and Henthorn demands) when you need the drafted version, not the checklist.
Attack the evidence
How do I challenge the lab report, the breath test, the forensics?
Audit the State's forensic and breath evidence for a reliability challenge. The free frameworks walk the admissibility standards and the audit categories; the paid foundation pack renders the Daubert challenge as a filing-ready exhibit.
Free tools
- How to challenge forensic evidence
The documented framework for auditing a forensic or lab report: the Daubert and Frye admissibility standards, the verbatim Rule 702 requirements, chain of custody, lab accreditation, methodology validation, and error rates. Cited to primary sources.
- Florida DUI defense-audit checklist
For a breath or DUI case: the elements the State must prove, the constitutional touchpoints, the breath-test foundation, and the procedural and discovery clock. Every statute, rule, and regulation cited to its primary source.
- Expert-witness opinion search
Search a forensic or expert witness by name against published court opinions, alongside Daubert, Frye, and Kumho references. Verbatim passages, source-linked. A lead tool, not an outcome finding.
Filing-ready depth
- Forensic Foundation Pack
The filing-ready Daubert challenge exhibits by discipline (firearm toolmark, fingerprint, breathalyzer, and more) when you need the drafted foundation attack.
File motions
I have never actually drafted a suppression motion.
The suppression motion is the defense workhorse. The free guide walks the vehicle, the grounds categories, the motion structure, and the hearing; the paid pack gives you the drafted motion templates.
Free tools
- How to write and argue a motion to suppress
The documented structure of the motion: the vehicle under Fla. R. Crim. P. 3.190 quoted verbatim, the grounds categories as general Fourth and Fifth Amendment doctrine, the motion structure, and the burden-shifting hearing. The rule cited to its official source.
Filing-ready depth
- Suppression Motion Pack
The filing-ready suppression motion templates by ground (Terry stop, pretextual traffic stop, consent search, warrant challenges, and more) when you need the drafted motion.
Evaluate the plea and the sentence
Is this plea offer in range, and what will the sentence look like?
Before you advise on an offer, read the recorded going rate and the sentencing data. The free tools give you the distribution and the estimate; the paid comparables exhibit turns that into a source-cited sentencing brief.
Free tools
- Is this plea in range? (going-rate reference)
Pick a charge category and optionally a county to read the recorded Florida sentencing-outcome distribution from FDLE clerk-of-court data. A descriptive reference for counsel's own judgment, not a prediction or recommendation about any offer.
- Florida sentencing data study
Aggregate Florida sentencing outcomes by county and charge from FDLE clerk-of-court data. Aggregate-only, source-backed, free to read.
Filing-ready depth
- Florida Sentencing Comparables
The Florida comparables exhibit: recorded county-and-charge sentencing outcomes rendered as a source-cited brief for counsel's own judgment.
- Sentencing Snapshot (federal)
For a federal case: the federal sentencing comparables brief, court-validated sentencing data rendered as a source-cited exhibit for a sentencing memo.
Two more indexes
Browse everything a different way.
This page is organized by the stages of a case. The free-tools hub lists every free tool flat, and the full catalog lists every product and preview. Use whichever way of finding things fits how you are working.