Aug 17 2008

The psychotherapist-patient privilege in marriage counseling.

Tag: Divorce LawAndrew @ 12:44 am

Florida law recognizes several privileges including: attorney-client privilege, psychotherapist-patient privilege, husband and wife privilege, priest-penitent privilege, and accountant-client privilege.

The purpose of these privileges is to protect confidential communications between the parties and to encourage people seeking treatment or advice to speak freely on all matters.

Florida law provides that an individual has a privilege and right to refuse to disclose, and to prevent any other person from disclosing confidential communication or records made for the purpose of diagnosis or treatment of the indiividual’s mental or emotional condition.

When a husband/father and wife/mother attend joint counseling sessions to improve their relationship and ultimately, to save their marriage they are encouraged to reveal matters of the most private nature, by opening their souls to the therapist, in order to assure that they will receive a proper diagnosis and treatment.  Therefore, it is clear that the parties have an expectation that any communications they made to the counselor would remain confidential, regardless of whether the therapy was an individual or joint session.

You must be aware that there is no psychotherapist-patient privilege under the following situations:

  • If the court orders counseling sessions, there is no psychotherapist-patient privilege and what you told the therapist will be told to the judge and the attorneys;
  • If you disclose to another person significant portions of the communications made to the psychotherapist or counselor, the privilege is no longer .  Therefore, be careful not to tell anyone what was discussed in therapy as this person may turn out to be a witness against you and may harm you at trial.

Remember the saying, “loose lips can sink the ship.” The ship you are riding in is your divorce case and you do not want to harm your case by discussing with your friends, acquaintances or anyone else what you told your psychotherapist or counselor.

Andrew Boros, Esq
Florida Attorney at Law

Contact Andrew Boros. Esq. if you have any questions

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Aug 12 2008

You Have The Right Not To Talk To The Police

Tag: Criminal LawAndrew @ 11:57 pm

Police are very good at getting people to talk. That’s what they are trained to do.

You have a constitutional right to refuse to give an interview or to talk to the police.  The exercise of this constitutional right can not be used against you.  Even if the police promise that they won’t arrest you and are very nice to you, you have the right to remain silent and consult with an attorney.  Very rarely is it in your best interest to submit to a police interview.  Despite what most police officers say, they are not merely trying to get your side of the story.  They are looking for evidence to file charges against you.  Often the only real evidence that the police will get against you is your own statement.  DO NOT GIVE IT TO THEM.  If the police contact you, you need to contact Andrew H. Boros, attorney at law before you speak to them.  This isn’t always easy, as most of us want to cooperate.  The most important thing that you can do is to not to speak to the police.  CONSULT ME FIRST. I will contact the police on your behalf. Nothing I say can be used against you in court. All statements you make to me are completely confidential.

If you believe that the police are investigating you contact me immediately to get professional advice.  There may be things that I can do for you to prevent you from being arrested and prevent charges from being filed.  By me doing an investigation right away may prove that you are being falsely accused.  Letting me act on your behalf with law enforcement is very important.  It can often prevent you from being arrested or if you are to be arrested, not to be arrested at your home or workplace.  Talk to me as I know the system.

Nothing I say to the police can be used against you in court. All discussions we have are completely confidential and protected by the “attorney-client privilege”.

Andrew Boros, Esq
Florida Attorney at Law


Aug 08 2008

Murder – Manslaughter

Tag: Criminal LawAndrew @ 12:00 am

The prosecution of murder and manslaughter cases often depends on accurate, verifiable eyewitness identification of the perpetrator. My experience as a criminal defense trial attorney has taught me that eyewitness testimony is more often shown to be unreliable than reliable. Traditionally, the police, the public and the courts highly regard the word of eyewitnesses. It takes an experienced criminal defense trial attorney like me through cross-examination of the eyewitness that the identification that was made of my client was inaccurate or wrong.

Prime evidence that the police and the prosecuting attorney depend upon is the physical evidence that was collected at the crime scene and the analysis of such. Being the lead crime scene investigator for the Miami-Dade County Police Department before entering law school has provided me with an in-depth knowledge of how the police conduct crime scene investigations and how prosecutors prepare their cases for trial using this evidence. It takes an experienced criminal defense trial attorney, through cross-examination of the crime scene investigators and the individuals that analyzed the evidence that the evidence was properly collected and analyzed. If it can be shown that it was not, their testimony creates reasonable doubt about the case which the jury must consider.

Andrew Boros, Esq
Florida Attorney at Law


Aug 04 2008

Assault and Battery

Tag: Criminal LawAndrew @ 12:04 am

Assault and Battery are actually two separate crimes and can be prosecuted as either a misdemeanor or a felony. Assault is intentionally and unlawfully threatening by either words or act to do violence to a person and having the ability to carry out the threat.  Battery is intentionally touching or striking a person against their will with the intent to cause harm.

Not all cases of assault and battery are clear, so it is important to contact me to represent you and make sure that your legal rights are respected and you are aware of all of your options. As an experienced criminal trial attorney, I can provide you with the necessary aggressive defense at trial to the charges of assault and battery.

Andrew H. Boros, Esq.
Attorney at Law
2333 Brickell Avenue, Suite A-1
Miami, Florida 33129
Phone: (305) 854-8689


Aug 01 2008

Sexual Assault

Tag: Criminal LawAndrew @ 12:06 am

The State of Florida has undertaken a revision of their rape and assault laws and have created a broad set of sexually related crimes.  These crimes are often referred to collectively as sexual assault or sexual abuse.  The chief characteristic of these crimes is that they prohibit doing any type of sexual act against another person’s will.

The most serious types of sexual assaults are those committed against children, or those that involve the use of violence.  Other types of sexual offenses include indecent exposure in public, lewd and lascivious behavior, sexual battery, sexual battery on a child 12 years of age or older, or under, voyeurism and sexual conduct with a person that is incapacitated.

As an experienced criminal trial attorney, I can provide you with the necessary aggressive defense at trial to the various charges of sexual assault.

Andrew H. Boros, Esq.
Attorney at Law
2333 Brickell Avenue, Suite A-1
Miami, Florida 33129
Phone: (305) 854-8689