A new program offering low-cost legal services will open Tuesday.
The Low Bono Center, which will be located on the first floor of the Leon County Courthouse, will provide inexpensive legal guidance in a variety of cases, including family law, small claims and residential.
The cost of the attorney consultation is $1 per minute for any amount of time between 15 minutes and an hour. A customer can receive a maximum of one consultation per day.
The Tallahassee Bar Association, which worked with the Leon County Circuit Court to create the Low Bono Center, will provide experienced attorneys to help clients understand their cases.
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The Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA) is celebrating a precedent-setting victory after an appeals court ruled this week that the identities of officers who have been involved in fatal police shootings can be protected under Marsy’s Law if they were threatened with deadly force.
Florida’s First District Court of Appeals (DCA) ruled Tuesday that Marsy’s Law does not exclude police officers as victims, and therefore officers whose lives are threatened when they are involved in police shootings should also have their identities shielded.
Court rules law to protect victims applies to officers who want to shield identity after fatal police shootings
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MIAMI – The First District Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that a law meant to protect crime victims applies to police officers who want to shield their identity from the public after the use of deadly force.
The ruling stems from two police shootings in Tallahassee that killed Wilbon C. Woodard on May 19 and Tony McDade on May 27. Officers reported Woodard, 69, was armed with a hunting-style knife and McDade, 38, with a gun.
The appellate court reversed a Leon County trial court order that found Marsy’s Law, which grants rights to victims, does not apply to the identities of officers who are involved in fatal on-duty shootings.
By Lexi Lonas - 04/07/21 04:47 PM EDT
The 1st District Court of Appeals in Florida ruled Tuesday that officers can protect their identity after the use of fatal force.
The appellate court ruled that a law meant to protect the identity of a victim from the public applies to an officer when they are threatened with deadly force.
“A police officer meets the definition of a crime victim . when a crime suspect threatens the officer with deadly force, placing the officer in fear for his life,” the court ruled.
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The ruling overturns a decision made by the Leon County Trial Court that said an officer does not have the same right to privacy as other crime victims since the officer’s name is “vital for the public’s ability to evaluate” the officer and the investigation, Florida outlet Local 10 reported.