A felony charge puts your freedom, your record, and sometimes your right to own a firearm on the line. The strongest defenses are built early, before the State's version of events hardens into the only story anyone hears. Call before you talk to anyone else.
Call 904-383-7448A felony in Florida is any crime punishable by more than a year in state prison. Under section 775.082, Florida Statutes, a third-degree felony carries up to five years, a second-degree felony up to fifteen, and a first-degree felony up to thirty. Life and capital felonies carry more. Fines come from section 775.083, and prior records can trigger enhancements under section 775.084.
If you have been arrested or you know a felony investigation is pointed at you, the first move is simple. Say nothing to police and call 904-383-7448. Graham W. Syfert has defended the accused across Northeast Florida since 2007, and he answers his own phone.
Every felony in Florida is filed at a degree, and the degree sets the ceiling on the punishment. A third-degree felony is the lowest, with a maximum of five years in state prison. A second-degree felony reaches fifteen years, a first-degree felony reaches thirty, and life and capital felonies climb from there. Those numbers come from section 775.082, Florida Statutes, and the matching fines come from section 775.083. The degree is the frame around everything that follows, so the first question in any felony case is whether the State charged the right one.
The ceiling is only half the picture. The floor matters just as much, and in Florida the floor is set by a scoresheet.
Florida sentences felonies under the Criminal Punishment Code, and the engine of that code is a scoresheet. Points are added for the primary offense, for any additional offenses charged at the same time, for the defendant's prior record, for victim injury, and for certain enhancements. The total points produce a lowest permissible sentence, the floor below which a judge ordinarily cannot go unless there is a lawful reason to depart. This is why a felony defense is partly a paper fight. A single misclassified prior, an injury score that does not fit the facts, or a points category applied where it should not be, can move the floor by years. Reading the scoresheet line by line is not a formality. It is where a great deal of the real work happens.
On top of the scoresheet, the State can ask for an enhanced sentence under section 775.084 when a defendant has qualifying prior felonies. The labels include habitual felony offender, habitual violent felony offender, and violent career criminal, and they can raise the maximum sharply or add a mandatory minimum. A defense often begins by testing whether the prior convictions truly qualify under the statute, because the State does not always get that right.
Graham Syfert regularly handles the felony and violent-crime charges that come out of Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties. Battery is defined in section 784.03, and it becomes aggravated battery, a felony, under section 784.045 when a deadly weapon is used or great bodily harm results. Assault is defined in section 784.011, and aggravated assault falls under section 784.021. Domestic violence is defined in section 741.28, with the special procedures of section 741.29. Burglary lives in section 810.02, robbery in section 812.13, and theft and grand theft in section 812.014. Weapons offenses turn on section 790.01 and, for a convicted felon, section 790.23. The most serious work, homicide, falls under section 782.04 for murder and section 782.07 for manslaughter.
The State builds a felony case out of pieces: a police report, witness statements, physical evidence, lab results, recorded calls, and the words a defendant gives up before talking to a lawyer. Each piece arrives with assumptions attached, and each assumption can be tested. A confession may have followed an unlawful interrogation. A search may have outrun the warrant or lacked one entirely. An eyewitness identification may have come from a lineup built to suggest the answer. A lab result may rest on a chain of custody with a hole in it.
Taking a case apart means reading the whole file, not the summary. It means deposing the officers and the witnesses under oath, comparing what they say now to what they wrote then, and looking for the gap between the two. It means filing motions to suppress evidence that was gathered in violation of the Fourth, Fifth, or Sixth Amendment, because evidence that is excluded cannot be used at trial and often cannot be used to pressure a plea. When the science is the centerpiece, it means challenging the science. Mr. Syfert has taught other attorneys how to cross-examine the people who produce forensic evidence, and that work carries straight into felony defense. If your case turns on a lab or a machine, see challenging scientific evidence.
Not every resolution ends in a conviction. Florida law allows a court, in many felony cases, to withhold adjudication. When a judge withholds, you are placed on probation or another sanction but the court does not formally adjudicate you guilty. That distinction can matter a great deal. A withhold can preserve civil rights that a conviction would strip away, and in some situations it keeps the door open to sealing the record later. A withhold is not available in every case, and it is not automatic. It is one of several outcomes, alongside dismissal, reduction to a misdemeanor, diversion, and acquittal, that a defense works toward depending on the facts. No lawyer can promise any of them. What a lawyer can do is know which ones are realistic in your case and fight for the best one.
It depends on the degree. Under section 775.082, Florida Statutes, a third-degree felony carries up to five years, a second-degree felony up to fifteen, and a first-degree felony up to thirty. Life and capital felonies carry more. Fines come from section 775.083, and some offenses carry mandatory minimums a judge cannot go below.
It is the Criminal Punishment Code worksheet that calculates the lowest permissible sentence for a felony. Points are assigned for the offense, additional charges, prior record, and victim injury. The total sets the floor of the sentence, which is why every point is worth contesting.
Sometimes. Depending on the charge and the record, outcomes can include dismissal, reduction to a misdemeanor, a withhold of adjudication, probation, or diversion. A withhold means the court does not formally convict you. What is achievable depends on the facts of your case.
Under section 775.084, the State can seek a longer term for defendants with qualifying prior felonies, under labels like habitual felony offender or violent career criminal. A defense often starts by checking whether the priors actually qualify.
The call is free and confidential. Whether it is a traffic citation or a felony, the sooner a defense begins, the more can be done. Graham W. Syfert answers his own phone.
Call 904-383-7448Graham W. Syfert, Esq., P.A. · Jacksonville, Florida
Serving Duval, Clay, Nassau, and St. Johns Counties