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Fort Lauderdale Criminal Defense Lawyer

Simply put, my goal in every case is to get the charges dismissed. Whether that be before the government files official charges, while the case is pending in court, or with a not guilty verdict, my goal is to allow you to walk away from this unpredictable time in your life holding your head high knowing your attorney fought hard to regain your freedom. How do I get these results? After practicing law for over 16 years as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, I have the knowledge, experience, and skill to use every tool the law allows to get the best possible result for my clients. If a trial is necessary, I have tried to verdict dozens of jury trials with outstanding results. There are thousands of attorneys out there that will promise you the world just to get hired. As a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer, I take a different approach, explaining the truth about your charges and what can, and cannot, but done to achieve the best outcome. I believe in earning your trust from that first consultation, and that means being honest and upfront with you about everything, including the likelihood of success, and costs to your defense. This is your life and freedom on the line, so I believe you deserve to know the truth and exactly how this is going to play out.

After practicing law for over 16 years I focus my practice primarily on the following categories of charges: DUI, Domestic Violence, Drug Offenses including Trafficking, Theft, Robbery, Burglary, Homicide, Sex Offenses, Weapons and Firearms Offenses, Restraining Orders and Probation Violations. These are the most common categories of charges, but of course there are others not mentioned here that I defend on a daily basis. If you are charged with any crime, or are being investigated, immediately consult a Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney like myself to learn how I can best help you.

DUI

Driving Under the Influence charges are costly not only to your bank account, but also to your reputation, insurance rates, and driving privileges. If you are convicted of a DUI, there are mandatory minimum penalties you must face, such as 6 months probation, 6 months driver license suspension, fines, court costs, etc. This is why choosing the right attorney matters. A very important and useful tool that not many criminal defense attorneys in the Florida or Fort Lauderdale areas utilize in DUI cases is the filing of a motion to suppress. This is a motion claiming the stopping of your vehicle was unconstitutional, as many law enforcement officers will stop a vehicle claiming they ran a red light, or blew through a stop sign, when in fact the driver did no such thing. With my experience I have ways of showing the driver did not violate the traffic laws, and therefore have been successful in arguing to the court that the stop was unconstitutional. Once the court agrees with me, all of the evidence of DUI, like the roadside exercises and breathalyzer results, are suppressed (thrown out), and cannot be used to prosecute you. This often leads to the government dismissing all charges.

Domestic Violence

As a former domestic violence prosecutor, I know firsthand that many arrests for domestic violence start with one person calling the police to simply get the other person to stop arguing. Unbeknownst to the caller, most police departments have policies that require them to arrest someone when they respond to a domestic violence call. So despite the caller just wanting help to calm that person down, someone needs to be arrested, and the government then looks to charge him or her. That’s where I step in. Over the years I have helped the prosecutor to understand the true intention of the caller and that there was no crime committed, causing the charges to be dismissed or simply not filed whatsoever. One tool that can be useful is having the alleged victim sign a waiver of prosecution, which is an affidavit showing what really happened and further proving that the prosecutor will not be helped by the alleged victim on the stand. This is powerful as most domestic violation allegations happen behind closed doors without other witnesses, so the prosecutor needs the alleged victim’s cooperation to prove the case before a jury. If the alleged victim does not want to help prosecute the Defendant, then often times the government cannot prove the crime charged and must dismiss the case.

Drug Offenses

Drug offenses are unique in Florida as they can bring about mandatory prison sentences if convicted, and can affect your driver license privileges for years after the case is over. Even possessing a tiny amount of dust in a cocaine baggie will bring about 3rd degree Possession of Cocaine charges which carry a maximum of 5 years in prison. Whether the charge is simple Possession of Cannabis or Trafficking in Heroin, the case will first depend on how the substance was possessed. There are 2 ways to be charged with possessing a drug, either directly or constructively. Directly possessing something means it’s in your hands or pocket. Constructively possessing something means it’s in your immediate surrounding area, you know its there, and you have control over it. Regardless of where its found, I will always look to challenge how the officer stopped you, as there may be a motion to suppress stating you were stopped unconstitutionally, meaning the drugs should be thrown out of court. If the substance was found near you so you are charged with constructive possession, then I hold the government’s feet to the fire and force them to prove that you knew where it was, and that you had exclusive control over it. If the government cannot prove both elements, then I will get your case dismissed.

Weapons and Firearms Offenses

When charged with a crime while possessing a weapon or firearm, your charges will be elevated to a higher degree and potentially carry mandatory minimum sentences if convicted. Even arming yourself during the alleged activity will bring the charge from, for example, a 3rd degree burglary of a vehicle (called a conveyance in the law), to a 1st degree, punishable by life Armed Burglary charge. Should the weapon be a firearm, then the 10-20-Life statute kicks in and can bring about mandatory prison sentences if convicted. Because of these potentially hefty penalties, the hiring of the right attorney is paramount and may mean the difference between sleeping in your own bed or sharing a prison cell with someone for the rest of your life. When defending such charges, there are many avenues of defense I will examine, including whether you were in actual possession of the weapon or firearm versus simply having it near you; whether the firearm was loaded or not; and whether you were the main actor or simply someone used by others to facilitate the crime. As well, like other charges, I will examine how the officers obtained the evidence, and if they collected the weapon or firearm in an unconstitutional manner, then I file a motion seeking to suppress the evidence and force the government to drop or severely reduce the charges.

Homicide

Homicide charges of course carry potential life sentences if not death, and convicted of a life felony in Florida means just that, you will spend the rest of your life in prison as “life is life is life” in this state. In other words, when convicted of a life felony, you cannot be released, ever, baring a successful appeal or post-conviction motion. There are many different types of homicide charges, such as premeditated, felony murder, or death resulting from another specific crime. Regardless, you need me to properly navigate the many details and specifics of such a charge. There are often motions I can file to keep confessions or certain evidence out of court based on unconstitutional actions by the officers in obtaining such evidence. Many times the suspect’s Miranda rights were not ready properly, or in time, prior to questioning, which would lead me to filing a motion to suppress the confession. If the officers did not have probable cause or obtain a warrant properly before collecting evidence from a suspect’s home or vehicle then a motion to suppress can be filed arguing just that, and forcing the court to throw out such ill-gotten evidence. When this occurs, it can severely dampen the government’s ability to prove the murder charge, causing the case to be dismissed.

Consult an Experienced Criminal Attorney in Fort Lauderdale or Broward County

When faced with any allegations or investigations, you need an honest, experienced, knowledgeable Fort Lauderdale criminal defense lawyer like myself, Mark Lowry. While the rules do not allow me to guarantee results, what I can promise is that I will be upfront, honest, and do my absolute best to either get your charges dismissed, or otherwise attain the best possible result for you. Call or contact me today for a free, no cost consultation to see how I can help you get through this difficult time in your life with the best possible result. I offer payment plans and serve all areas of south Florida and beyond in both state and federal court, so rest assured that calling me will bring experience and results to your matter today. I look forward to speaking with you and am confident after speaking, you will feel more at ease with your case.

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Florida State & Federal Crimes

Mr. Lowry's primary focus of his practice is Fort Lauderdale criminal defense, in both state and federal courts. Ranging from crimes starting with DUI and other misdemeanors through all felonies in state court, to conspiracy and homicide in federal court, Mr. Lowry has the experience as both a former prosecutor and experienced Fort Lauderdale criminal defense attorney to properly litigate your criminal matter. Should the case need a jury trial, Mr. Lowry has over 65 jury trials in his career, and is therefore more than adequately experienced to professionally litigate any case. His level of comfort in front of a jury is highly regarded by his peers and judges alike. If the client is incarcerated, Mr. Lowry will visit him or her often, knowing that the client has many questions and needs personal attention from their attorney. To request that Mr. Lowry visit a new client, please fill out the online submission on every page of this website and Mr. Lowry will be emailed immediately.

Successes of Our Client

Client O.B. was being investigated by federal prosecutors for Conspiracy to commit Mortgage Fraud, and was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury against her potential co-defendants. Mr. Lowry successfully persuaded prosecutors to cancel her GJ testimony due to her, through the advice of Mr. Lowry, taking the 5th Amendment and refusing to...
Client M.G. was charged with aggravated DUI with a blood alcohol level (BAL) above .20. At trial Mr. Lowry successfully showed the jury that the breath sample was taken over an hour after the Client’s arrest. As the DUI statute states it is illegal to have a BAL above .08 at the time of driving, the state had not met their burden, prompting the...
Client C.G. was on probation for Grand Theft in the 1st Degree and violated, facing 30 years Florida state prison. Mr. Lowry successfully argued to the Court that by incarcerating his Client for this violation, the Court would be victimizing his young children whom depended on the Client’s income. The Client was placed back on probation with new...

Our Firm Video

Attorney Mark S. Lowry is a former prosecutor with over a decade of legal experience, who is available 24 hours a day and will aggressively fight for your defense. Watch this video for a brief introduction to Mark Lowry at Lowry Legal, and call (954) 908-6222 for immediate assistance.

Fort Lauderdale Criminal & General Appeals

Should your case not end as anticipated, Mr. Lowry is an experienced Fort Lauderdale appellate practitioner and can discuss with you the different options in moving forward. Examples of appeals are judicial error, where the judge makes an improper ruling, prosecutorial error, where the prosecutor...
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Post-Conviction

If after exhausting all possible appeals you were unsuccessful in reversing your conviction, Mr. Lowry can explore what’s called post-conviction remedies that could potentially overturn your sentence. Examples of these remedies are ineffective assistance of counsel (3.850), where your trial attorney may have made errors, either during the pretrial or trial stage that greatly affected the outcome of your case, or discovering new evidence (3.800), where new evidence is found after the case is resolved that could have changed the outcome of the case. Even if you did not use Mr. Lowry for the appeal(s), he can sit down with you free of charge to discuss this final option to reverse a conviction. If no appeal was filed or after an appeal is unsuccessful, the clock on this type of litigation starts ticking, so do not delay in contacting Mr. Lowry for a free consultation.

Legal Advice

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The Many Forms of Fraud

The term “fraud” is a very broad one, when it comes to criminal law. Florida’s criminal code contains a wide variety of separate fraud offenses. Many of these offenses are not the types of crimes that typically come to mind when one thinks of the word “fraud.” Among Florida’s fraud offenses are the following:…

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Failure to Pay Child Support as a Criminal Offense

Florida has several statutes that criminalize abuse of children. These statutes include bans on physical violence directed at children – which is what most people think of when they hear the term “child abuse.” However, some of Florida’s child abuse statutes outlaw behaviors that most people wouldn’t generally think of as child abuse –...

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Criminal Penalties on Black Market Cigarettes

As the price of cigarettes in the United States climbs higher and higher, so does the interest in black market cigarettes. According to a recent estimate, 17.9% of the cigarettes smoked in Florida are smuggled – placing Florida as number 16 on the list of states where black market cigarettes are the most common...

Client Reviews

My husband and I hired Mark almost two years ago. He was referred by another attorney, that is a friend. Boy oh boy, did we get lucky! This guy goes above and beyond to make his clients feel comfortable. He has treated us like “gold”. If he is not in court, this guy always answered his phone. Even...

Wendy

Attorney Mark Lowry is an exceptional criminal defense lawyer. This is the 2nd time I have Hired Mr. Lowry and he has come through again with his expert knowledge of law and his presentation of facts and legal issues in front of the judge and prosecutors. He is very organized and professional in...

Mike

I hired Mark because I was pulled over without a license, no insurance and and expired registration. I did not have any of these due to a past DUI, funds and procrastinating. I was especially nervous about this situation because the arresting officer stated in the police report that I tried to evade...

Joe

Contact Us For a Free Consultation - Available 24/7

If you or a loved one is in need of an experienced criminal defense attorney in the Fort Lauderdale area, the office of Mark S. Lowry, Esq. is here to help. Call or contact the office today for a free and confidential consultation of your case. Mr. Lowry promises to zealously advocate on your behalf and preserve your rights in the legal system.

Fill out the contact form or call us at (954) 908-6222 to schedule your free consultation.

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