Murder
Murder cases are the most complex cases that require only the most experienced representation. Nichols Law handles more murder cases, including death penalty cases, than any other charge. Our attorneys are death penalty qualified in Florida. Our defenses involve assembling teams of experts to cover a wide variety of issues, including the following:
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Private Investigator: The State Attorney’s Office has the entire police force and their own internal investigators to dig up facts for their side of the case.. We level that playing field with our own investigators to locate evidence that is helpful to our case.
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Mental Health Experts: Murder cases always involve mental health issues. That includes anything from a client suffering from a mental health disability, to a diagnosis to support a claim of self-defense, to an expert opinion as to why another witness acted in a certain way. Our teams include such specialties as forensic psychologists, neurologists, and psycho-pharmacologists.
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Geneticists: Cutting edge genetics can determine whether a client was born with a genetic make-up to be predisposed to act a certain way. Remember that our genetic pattern is carved in stone the second we are conceived. That pattern is much like the software that is installed in your cell phone. If your phone did not come with a GPS locator, then you can’t navigate as well as people with that ability. Your genetic make-up is not your fault…it’s how you were born…and we are have different abilities and deficiencies. Blaming someone for their genetic make-up is unfair. These can be powerful arguments in a murder trial.
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Mitigation Specialist: Our mitigation specialists gather records of every aspect of our client’s life, both good and bad, so that we can determine which items to use to our advantage and which things we need to avoid. This helps us build the best defense possible.
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Technology Experts: The State now uses cutting edge technology from the FBI as evidence in their cases. For example, a cell phone can reveal every place that phone has ever been, every call that has ever been made, every post that was ever made or viewed. Cars can now show a minute by minute breakdown of how many people were in a car, which directions it turned, when the brakes were applied, etc. Internet posts can be recovered regardless of whether they were deleted. Cases often now turn on who has the best technical experts. We use only top notch technical experts for our team.
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Trauma Specialists: Death Penalty cases always involve an explanation of a person’s background. We are all the product of our pasts. A trauma expert can help explain how a client’s traumatic past contributed to their struggles in life. We are all better than the worst thing we have ever done. The State wants to paint a client as a monster. Juries need to hear what makes our client a human just like them.
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Mapping Specialist: Mapping experts present a jury with a breakdown of what types of difficulties are present in various areas. Someone growing up in a poor violent area where gang activity is the norm should not be expected to be the same as someone who had every advantage available. We strive to paint an entire life picture for a jury.
