About Sherri Romano

Sherri A. Romano has dedicated her education and legal career to defending the criminally accused for over 19 years. In addition, she represents college students in university disciplinary hearings and is the author of the College Arrest 101 Blog.

College Arrest Blog 101 | Mugshot Websites

Just when you college students thought that you cleaned up your online image by scrubbing your Facebook page of any inappropriate photos, etc., the Internet rears its ugly head again with Mugshot websites.  Any college student who has been arrested in the past year or so will soon learn that their face, i.e. their mugshot (the photo taken at their arrest) along with the accompanying arrest charges are all over the Internet on these new Mugshot websites. In Miami, Florida, where I practice criminal defense, this state is for some reason a hotbed for Mugshot websites.  If you were arrested [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:35:18+00:00November 8th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Legal Risks of College Students Abusing Prescription Drugs

Times certainly have changed. I was surprised to learn that these days college students are buying and selling drugs - not to get high but to study more and get better grades.  There is an epidemic in college campuses across the country where students are illegally purchasing "study drugs" like Adderall and Ritalin which are normally prescribed for ADA or ADHD in order to achieve better grades.  It may begin as simply as a student with a legitimate prescription giving a pill or two to a friend during exam period. You can watch more on the issue here in a [...]

By |2018-04-11T14:20:12+00:00October 29th, 2012|Legal Discussion, News Article Commentary|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Parents’ Handbook to Navigate Your College Student’s Arrest | #4 Closing the Case

At some point after your college student's arrest and court litigation the case will finally be ready to close.  In every state there are a multitude of different ways a criminal case can be disposed of.  But generally a criminal case must either go to trial or settle - unless your lawyer is able to get the charges thrown out entirely.  The vast majority of cases will be settled.  In the case of a college student who is a first time offender with an alcohol or drug violation the case very likely will be eligible for a pretrial diversion or [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:37:59+00:00October 5th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Parent’s Handbook to Navigate Your College Student’s Arrest | #3 Important Details of the Case

Being a parent with a college student who has an open criminal case can be challenging - even more difficult when you are thousands of miles or many states away.  But, it can be easily managed and navigated as long as you know what is important to monitor and concentrate on. Probably one of the simplest and most important things to monitor is court dates.  First, your college student should be getting written (usually mailed) notification from the court regarding upcoming court dates.  Also, your attorney's office will know each and every court date and can provide them to you [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:38:38+00:00September 30th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Parents’ Handbook to Navigate Your College Student’s Arrest | #2 Hiring An Attorney

As soon as a parent hears that their college student child has been arrested one of their first thoughts is about hiring an attorney.  Many questions will surround this decision.   Do I even need to hire an attorney for my child?  How much will an attorney costs? How do I find an attorney for my college student? First, I always recommend that any college student who is arrested have his or her own attorney - no matter how minor the charge.  The reason for this is two-fold.  A college student is simply not sophisticated or familiar enough with court [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:39:16+00:00September 22nd, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Parents’ Handbook to Navigate Your College Student’s Arrest | #1 Bail

The next series of 4 posts will serve a guide to parents who have received the second most dreaded phone call from a child who is away at college - the phone call from the jail!  The only phone call for a parent which is worse is a call from the hospital. Most likely a parent will receive this call late at night and be many miles away from where there college student has been arrested.  The first order of business is bailing the student out of jail.  Now a days this can be done over the phone, the computer [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:40:02+00:00September 20th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Back to School

Students have returned to Colleges and Universities all over the country for another academic year. This means a return to campus, friends and partying.  Law enforcement is also out in force around campus knowing that students are returning.  New Freshman and even returning students should be particularly aware during this time of typical police investigations of underage drinking of college students, including policing and ID checking in bars close to campus, patrolling football tailgating, and DUI checkpoints on roads surrounding campus. Underage drinking or possessing alcohol as a minor is a crime - normally just a misdemeanor, but still a [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:42:05+00:00September 16th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | College Students and Drug Arrest

We posted here that statistics show that the majority of college student arrests relate to alcohol and drugs. Probably by far the most arrests for drugs by college students is for marijuana or pot possession. This is not surprising information to students or their parents.  However, most student and parents have no idea what is involved in a drug arrest and criminal court case. First, depending on the charge the student who is caught possessing a drug may or may not be physically arrested and brought to jail which would require bonding out of jail, etc.  In some states for [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:42:51+00:00July 13th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | Pretrial Diversion Programs Are Perfect for College Students

The legal term "Pretrial Diversion" is something every college student (or parent of a college student) who has been arrested for the first time should be made aware of.  Pretrial Diversion has been around in the United States court system since the 1970's and approximately 45 states currently have legislation enabling these programs.  Click here for a detailed report about the Pretrial Diversion practices across the country. What is Pretrial Diversion?  Pretrial Diversion Programs are voluntary programs in which certain types of criminal defendants can participate.  Their case is then removed out of the court litigation track and into a [...]

By |2014-08-05T01:43:36+00:00July 10th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

College Arrest 101 Blog | College Students and DUI Arrest

When statistics show that over 3 million students ages 18-24 have driven drunk, it is not surprising that many college students across the country are arrested every year for DUI.  In many states there is a zero tolerance policy for underage drinking and driving. This means that even if your state law has a breath alcohol limit of .10 or .08 this does not apply to those under 21.  In Miami, Florida, for example, a student who is under the age of 21 and stopped for DUI it does not matter what the alcohol level is - any amount of [...]

By |2018-04-11T14:22:13+00:00July 4th, 2012|Legal Discussion|0 Comments
Read More

We Defend Criminal Arrest and Investigation Cases in State and Federal Court and College Disciplinary Cases through out South Florida including:
Miami Dade
Broward
Monroe

Office Location:

28 West Flagler Street
Suite 550
Miami, FL 33130
Tel: 305-441-9858
Fax: 786-471-7998

 

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.

Go to Top