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LAW OFFICES OF
GERALD B. LEFCOURT, P.C.

Ms. Lanna Belohlavek
June 5, 2006
Page 5

and Playgrounds Ban, Fox News, May 31, 2006, at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197701,00.html.

Indeed, as you recognized during our meeting, many people who were advised by competent counsel to plead guilty to offenses when registration was not required have now been horrified to find themselves subjected to registration laws enacted or expanded after their guilty pleas, without any recourse. See, Smith v. Doe, supra, 538 U.S. 84. Finally, although there is some risk that even a plea to a misdemeanor charge could trigger registration in some jurisdictions, our research suggests that this risk is considerably lower for a misdemeanor plea than for a felony plea.

II. Aggravated Assault is Generally Considered A Violent Felony And Does Not Apply to the Facts of This Case

Assault is generally considered an act of force. It “create[s] in the victims a well founded fear of imminent violence.” Velasquez v. State, 654 So. 2d 1227, 1228 (Fla.2d DCA 1995). The general public is certainly not aware of Florida’s unique nuanced definition. Indeed, as you will agree, in common usage, aggravated assault, on its face sounds inherently violent. Thus, at the very least, most people will consider an aggravated assault charge, even of the “intent to commit a felony” variety, to be a violent crime. In this regard, undifferentiated aggravated assault is one of only four crimes listed in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report “violent crime” category.³

More importantly, as noted, this crime clearly does not reflect what allegedly occurred since there has been no suggestion that a threat of serous bodily harm was made or a deadly weapon used. In addition, most pleas are “downward” – the defendant agrees to waive his right to trial in return for the prosecution’s offer of a downward departure in charging or sentencing. Further, in the typical case a plea involves crimes that bear a close resemblance to the underlying events. The facts herein, obviously do not support a charge of aggravated assault, thus a plea to same would be inappropriate.

³ The UCR divides its statistics into three major categories: violent crimes, property crimes, and hate crimes. “Violent crime is composed of four offenses: murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault.” “Violent Crime,” Crime in the United States, 2004, at http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/offenses_reported/violent_crime/index.html.

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