A Sarasota Man was charged with Robbery and Attempted Felony Murder. Mr Dirmann defended this client in a jury trial. The client was facing up to life in prison if convicted on the Attempted Felony Murder charge. As a result of extensive trial preparation and exhaustive review of lengthy DVD video interviews of statements made by the co-defendant, the co-defendant's brother, as well as disputing testimony of a jail snitch, the jury found the client not guilty of Robbery and the State dismissed the Attempted Felony Murder charge on the eve of the trial. The client was immediately released from jail.

A local man was charged with Attempted Child Kidnapping and, after a nine month investigation, all charges were dismissed.  After a complete moment-to-moment investigation of a story told by a child witness which did not add up, all charges were dismissed against our client.  The investigation disclosed helpful information from a school crossing guard, a parent of a friend, several teachers who were on duty at the time of the alleged incident, a security video tape taken minutes after the alleged incident showing the client wearing a work uniform (contrary to the clothing described by the child), and discovery of a prior unfounded criminal allegation by the child against a karate instructor.  After putting all of the pieces of evidence together, the State prosecutor dismissed all charges against the client.  The client was able to resume his previous employment of 26 years.

A prominent South County contractor was charged with Felony Workers’ Compensation Fraud, alleging that he defrauded the insurance company out of more than 1.5 million dollars of insurance benefits.  Other lawyers represented the client for several years until Mr. Dirmann was hired 60 days before the scheduled trial.  By unparalleled efforts, Mr. Dirmann was able to quickly investigate the case, review boxes of documents and depositions, and research a complicated area of law under Florida Statute 440.105.  By concentrating on certain key handwriting signatures involved in employment documents, with the help of a skilled handwriting expert, Mr. Dirmann was able to convince the prosecutor that the client had not committed Workers’ Compensation Fraud and all criminal charges were dismissed.

A local deputy sheriff was charged with Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, carrying a mandatory minimum three years in prison.  A young deputy sheriff was hosting a BBQ and poker party at his home when several uninvited individuals arrived at his house with drugs.  The State contended the deputy pointed a firearm at a young woman resulting in the charge of Aggravated Assault with a Firearm.  After months of preparation and investigation, including line-by-line review of DVD statements made by a number of witnesses, and a lengthy video tape deposition of the alleged victim, it was clear that her story did not match the story of the majority of eyewitnesses.  One of the State’s own witnesses testified that the alleged victim was seen laughing and joking about the gun incident shortly after the party.  The jury of four women and two men deliberated for 17½ hours and could not reach a verdict.  This hung jury resulted in the prosecutor offering a reduced plea to the misdemeanor charge of Improper Exhibition of a Firearm.  The client accepted this reduced charge and avoided the three-year mandatory minimum sentence. 

A young man was stopped on I-75 for a traffic offense that resulted in an unlawful drug dog search.  After the police officer conducted a lawful traffic stop and issued a traffic citation, the officer then detained the client for a lengthy period of time in order to bring a drug dog to the scene.  The dog alerted and drugs were found in the car.  Mr. Dirmann filed a motion to suppress the search of the client’s vehicle on the grounds that there was no reasonable suspicion or probable cause to detain the client after issuing the traffic citation.  The circuit court granted the motion to suppress all of the evidence derived from the illegal search and the prosecutor dismissed all charges against the client.

A local accountant was involved in a road-rage incident with a man who was tailgating him in a school speed zone in a large truck.  The drivers confronted each other and our client was charged with Aggravated Assault with a Firearm.  This charge carries a three-year mandatory minimum prison term upon conviction.  Mr. Dirmann asked the Sarasota community through published notices in all of the local newspapers for the assistance of any eyewitnesses to this incident.  Fortunately, two eyewitnesses responded--both were willing to testify that they never saw the client point the gun at the truck driver, and one of the witnesses saw the truck driver act in a threatening manner toward the client.  Finding these crucial witnesses was the difference between a three-year mandatory prison sentence and the eventual sentence of probation and withholding of adjudication, so the client was not convicted of a felony. 

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A Sarasota man was driving home on I-75 and stopped for Speeding in excess of 80 miles an hour.  The client advised the highway patrol officers that he had been working at a recording studio and that he was a musician.  The three highway troopers requested the driver to remove his glasses and to perform field sobriety exercises.  The client had a severe eye condition which required his glasses in order that he have reasonably good vision during these field exercises.  Despite not having his glasses on, the client did well on the exercises but was arrested for DUI by the officers.  A jury trial was held and the client was found not guilty of the charges in less than 10 minutes.

A local fishing captain was stopped based upon the word of his ex-girlfriend.  The police believed the word of the client’s ex-girlfriend who claimed that he had too much to drink.  The videotape of the client’s field exercises showed that he did have possession of his normal, mental, and physical faculties.  A jury trial was held and the client was found not guilty of all charges. 

A winter visitor was stopped at a DUI checkpoint on Fruitville Road during the holiday season.  He was able to produce all of his required paper work and submitted to the DUI field tests and a breath test.  The client was arrested for having a blood or breath alcohol level of .08% or higher.  The client’s breath test was a .10%.  The case went to a jury trial, and the client was acquitted based upon his ability to walk, talk, and perform the field sobriety exercises.

A Sarasota man was involved in a serious accident on Christmas eve resulting in three counts of DUI with Serious Bodily Injury.  Under the Florida Sentencing Guidelines if the client had been convicted of these charges after trial, his sentence would have been many years in prison.  Mr. Dirmann found, through discovery depositions and his own investigation, that all three of the injured motorists in the other vehicle had been using illegal drugs immediately before the crash including the other driver and that the other driver was speeding.  This favorable evidence enabled Mr. Dirmann to negotiate a plea to the charges without any jail time and the client was placed on probation. 

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