A Legacy of Results

Our client was a long time postal employee near retirement accused of committing a battery on his ex-wife after an argument about their toddler child in common. If he was convicted of domestic violence battery he would lose his job and pension. When the police arrived on scene the victim told them that L.W. hit her in the face with a closed fist multiple times and put her in a choke hold to the point where she could not breathe. She told an officer that she bit our client in order to escape. Based on the victim's account and visible swelling and redness on her face, the officer determined that L.W. was the aggressor and arrested him for domestic violence battery. Helene and Steven Raisman took depositions of the alleged victim and her teenage daughter who witnessed the incident and were able to uncover inconsistencies in their accounts of what happened. Additionally, we were able to demonstrate that our client had injuries as well when we obtained photographs taken by a crime scene investigator. On the morning of trial, right before the jury walked into the courtroom, the firm was able to bring about a favorable resolution to a disorderly conduct charge where the client paid a small fine. He kept his job and his pension with the postal service is safe.

A.V. was a firearms instructor who was arrested and charged with battery of his spouse. His firearm license was immediately suspended by the Department of Agriculture. He was also ordered not to possess any firearms, as individuals simply accused of domestic violence are not allowed to own or possess firearms predating the case. Steven Raisman began an immediate investigation which revealed independent witnesses to the incident who directly contradicted the victim's account. Mr. Raisman also uncovered physical evidence from the scene that did not match the victim's story. After bringing all the information to the attention of the prosecutor, the charge was dropped and A.V.'s license was immediately reinstated.

C.G. was arrested for DUI after he was stopped for driving erratically through an alley late at night where several burglaries had occurred. We filed a motion to suppress indicating the officer had no legal right to stop his vehicle. The trial court denied our motion and we filed an appeal to the Circuit Court. The Circuit Court reversed the ruling and sent the case down to be dismissed.

C.M. charged with two different counts involving stealing money from her employer who was 73 years old and suffered from dementia while she took care of her as a home health aide. The victim's family wanted C.M. prosecuted vigorously and sent to prison for abusing the trust they had placed in her to care for their mother. An aggressive investigation was launched into the victim's medical and financial records. After exhaustive investigation and preparation, Steven Raisman was able to get the victim's own doctor to agree, on the witness stand at trial, that she had the capacity to control her own finances. A jury found C.M. not guilty of theft from one of the victim's bank accounts, but guilty of stealing money from another account. On appeal, the second conviction was reversed as the not guilty at trial prevented a finding of theft on the other.

A young man with a documented history of mental health issues was charged with burglary of a home. This charge mandates a prison sentence in the State of Florida. The Firm worked hard with the family to document that R.D. had a long history of mental health issues. Although the victim wanted to see R.D. sent to jail for entering his home and stealing his property, Helene Raisman was able to convince the State that R.D. was suffering from his mental illness at the time of the burglary, needed treatment and did not deserve to be sent to prison. R.D. did not get sent to prison, received the mental health treatment he needed and was not convicted of a felony.

Female client with six young children was charged with DUI Manslaughter and DUI property damage. Raisman & Raisman was the third law firm she hired to represent her. All previous attorneys told M.A. she had no chance of winning due to the overwhelming evidence against her and that she should plead guilty and accept the 10 years in Florida State Prison sentence she was offered by the State. Our Firm went right to work on the case and started from the beginning by examining the accident scene, spending hundreds of hours pouring over police reports, witness statements and hiring experts to challenge every theory of the State's case. After the Firm filed over 20 pre-trial motions challenging the testimonial, physical and scientific evidence against M.A., the case proceeded to trial. After a two week trial, M.D. was found NOT GUILTY of ALL CHARGES!

J.I. was a young college student and athlete charged with armed trafficking in marijuana after police executed a search warrant and found over 2,000 pounds of marijuana and firearm. He was facing i life sentence. After extensive investigation into the police investigation, the Firm filed a motion to suppress contesting the validity of the search warrant. We also had the marijuana re-weighed and it did not meet the threshold required by the statute for an enhanced penalty. Our exhaustive work also revealed irregularities and problems in the testing procedures used by the crime laboratory in evaluating the evidence, some of which was destroyed. We also filed a motion to dismiss contesting the amount of marijuana used to prosecute J.I. After a two day evidentiary hearing, the Judge granted our motions to suppress and dismiss and the State immediately appealed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal. In this complete victory for our client, after the case was briefed by Raisman & Raisman, the Fourth District agreed with us that the motions were properly granted and rejected the State's appeal. The client's case was dismissed, his arrest history expunged and he is now the CEO of a successful internet technology firm.

One of the Firm's landmark cases. Helene and Steven Raisman led the defense to victory - not guilty verdicts across the board on charges of attempted murder, resisting an officer with violence and trespass. After a two week long trial, the jury acquitted on attempted murder of a law enforcement officer and resisting an officer with violence charges in less than half a day. The trespass charge was dismissed on appeal. Raisman & Raisman was able to show that this was not attempted murder at all. K.R. was celebrating his birthday with his family at a night club. After being asked to leave by law enforcement, an argument ensued and K.R. and his family were escorted from the premises. When the officers believed that they were not leaving quickly enough, a fight ensued which led to accusations that K.R. strangled the officer, pulled his firearm from his holster and fired the weapon at him. The officer identified K.R. at trial as the person who choked him, pulled his weapon and attempted to kill him. The jury found K.R. not guilty, and after they announced their verdict, the jury hugged the lawyers and client.