Obviously, not all repeat felony offenders go to ROC Court. Typically,
violent second degree felonies and higher may go to ROC Court. In Miami-Dade
County, the State Attorney's Career Criminal Unit oversees these divisions,
staffing the courtrooms with Career Criminal Unit ASAs.
The most common charge in ROC Court is
armed robbery. It is common to also see
carjacking,
home-invasion robbery,
attempted second-degree murder, and kidnapping.
All other offenses, including serious homicides, are prosecuted in regular
divisions.
ROC Court means business. It means that plea offers will typically be guided
by the harsh
mandatory minimum sentences.
If you find yourself in ROC Court, you may be looking at
no bond due to the charge.
Also, if in ROC Court, it is very important to retain a criminal defense
attorney who has trial experience. Most ROC Court cases end up going to
trial due to the fact that plea offers are simply too high to accept.
It is possible for first-time offenders to end up in ROC Court as the co-defendants
of experienced felons. If two people commit a robbery and one is a six-time
felon and the other has never been arrested, if the six-time felon's
case ends up in ROC Court, the first-time offender's will as well.
ROC Court is intended to specialize in repeat offenders, so the prosecutors
and judges are tough. The prosecutors are all experienced veterans and
the judges have no problems handing down 30 year, 40 year, even life sentences.
They do it all the time.
If your case, or the case of a loved one, is in ROC Court in Miami-Dade
or Broward,
call me to discuss your options.