Florida is a great state for criminals. [View all]

[JDPriestly]

The conviction rate for the 12th Judicial Circuit has become a point of contention between the candidates for state attorney, with Republican Ed Brodsky and Democrat John Torraco quoting different numbers in debates in the last two weeks.

Torraco, a Sarasota defense attorney who worked in Washington, cites statistics that show the State Attorney’s Office wins 57 percent of the time in felony cases that go to trial, excluding last-minute plea bargains.

Ed Brodsky, left, and John Torraco

In the federal courts, conviction rates are regularly around 95 percent, he says. He holds this up as proof the State Attorney’s Office is not effective under Brodsky, the second-in-command under the current state attorney, Earl Moreland.

“They are horrendous at trial,” Torraco said. “As a trial attorney, I’d love to go to trial every day including Sunday against them, because I know I’d win.”

http://politics.heraldtribune.com/2012/09/29/in-state-attorney-race-conviction-rates-are-questioned/

The conviction rate is also high in U.S. state courts. Coughlan writes, "In recent years, the conviction rate has averaged approximately 84% in Texas, 82% in California, 72% in New York, 67% in North Carolina, and 59% in Florida."[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conviction_rate

In Los Angeles County, the conviction rate is 87.8%.

http://www.grandjuryfoundation.org/lgconvictions_table2.pdf

I remember hearing one frustrated public defender in one courtroom threaten to go work for the post office.

So, criminals should move to Florida. Avoid California at all costs.



If you are interested, here are some numbers on Dallas County, Texas: 99.4% or 87.6% in 2009 depending on whether you count plea bargains.

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/dallas/headlines/20100821-Dallas-County-DA-touts-conviction-rate-9970.ece