I live in the Fort Lauderdale Area of South Florida. My boyfriend is 19 years old. He has some past traffic crimes like driving w/o a license but that's about it. However, he has been in jail now for 4 months awaiting for trial for armed burglary && grand theft of a firearm more then $300 under $5,000. However, I read the police report and there is no physical evidence at all at the scene of the crime. No fingerprints no eye witnesses that place him there or nothing. The only thing they have on him is these 2 brothers claiming they saw him with the guns. One says he saw him carrying it in a brief case the others says he always has it by his belt. There stories don't match up. And the police found no guns or weapons on him whatsoever. I was wondering what his chances are... I feel like there not to good considering he's been in there 4 months now.. oh and he had a jury trial date scheduled for May 19th and then now there's one scheduled for the 28th of July. How long is the jury trial going to last for and does he have a good chance at being innocent?

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Originally Posted by babikatxo

My boyfriend is 19 years old. He has some past traffic crimes like driving w/o a license but thats about it. However, he has been in jail now for 4 months awaiting for trial for armed burglary && grand theft of a firearm more then $300 under $5,000. However, i read the police report and there is no physical evidence at all at the scene of the crime. No fingerprints no eye witnesses that place him there or nothing. The only thing they have on him is these 2 brothers claiming they saw him with the guns. One says he saw him carrying it in a brief case the others says he always has it by his belt. There stories dont match up. And the police found no guns or weapons on him whatsoever. I was wondering what his chances are...i feel like there not to good considering hes been in there 4 months now..oh and he had a jury trial date scheduled for May 19th and then now theres one scheduled for the 28th of July. How long is the jury trial going to last for and does he have a good chance at being innocent?

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Well, obviously the Police/Court think there's enough evidence to charge and hold him for the crime.

No way of knowing how long a trial will take.

No way of knowing what the verdict will be without knowing what evidence there is - the Police Report doesn't list all the evidence and you don't know what the DA has found.

What does his Attorney say?

Criminal trials tend to be postponed due to the Court's calendar being backed up with other cases that need to be tried. The case may possibly be bumped from the July 28th trial calendar as well so don't be shocked. The trial can last as long as necessary. There is no set time frame on this. Like Judy said, you have no idea what other evidence or testimony the DA's office is going on. Has he talked with his attorney about this?

Hello babi:

If he's going to trial, the longer it takes the better. The fact that it IS taking a long time does NOT mean that their case is stronger. Judy is right. There's no way to determine the outcome of anything at this point. Anything is liable to happen.

YOU say that's the only evidence, but the prosecutor doesn't disclose his case. You only THINK that's the evidence he has... Big difference.

In my view, if he IS innocent, then his chances of going free are 50/50. If he's guilty, then he's got an 90/10 shot at getting convicted. The state, after all, DOES win most of its trials.

excon

First the reason he is sitting in jail is because no one was able to pay his bail, since he would have had a bail set within the first week of being arrested normally.

And I have seen trials put off for months and months, I have seen some people held for almost a year and then the case just dismissed for lack of evidence.

Was the stolen iftem recovered ? If so did he have it?
Also armed burgarly, means he had a weapon going in, not the weapon stolen, so it sounds like they are saying there was some weapon involved to start with.

And of course remember if he gets a jury trial, he is gong to be tried by people who could not get out of jury duty, people who most likely don't want to be there to start with, Not always your best idea of who I would want to decide my future. After that, what evidence will his attorney produce to prove he did not do it. Prove he was somewhere else when it happened ? And what other evidence, but most likely the trial will take a few hours, and the jury may decide in a few minutes to a few days depending if they agree or not.

In addition to what was said above, a person who is charged with a crime should be served with a copy of the "statement of charges" or something with a similar name. This document should give some indication of the evidence against the person and is used as a basis to prepare a defense. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that a "competent judicial offical" must make a decision that there is probable cuase that a crime was committed and that a certain person committed it. Obviously, there was enough evidence for this to happen.

In my state (MD) a person can be held up to 180 days after being charged before they go to trial.