GEICO Insurance Fortune<\/strong> Whistleblower Action<\/strong> Male Porn Star Murder Case<\/strong> Stand Your Ground<\/strong> Don Aronow Murder<\/strong> Miami Subs \u2013 Sun Cruz Casino Murder<\/strong> Death Penalty Reversed<\/strong> Healthcare & Insurance Fraud<\/strong> \u2013 Dohn regularly defends clients accused of fraud, including disciplinary matters relating thereto. See, State v. Mark Marks, P.A., 698 So. 2d 533\u00a0(Fla. 1997)<\/strong> (insurance fraud statute declared partially unconstitutional); State v. Mark Marks P.A., 758 So.2d 1131 (Fla. 4 th DCA 2000)<\/strong> (criminal charges dismissed because of prosecutor misconduct); Mark Marks P.A. v. State, 833 So.2d 249 (Fla. 4 th DCA 2002)<\/strong> (recantation defense in perjury cases expanded).<\/p>\n Vehicular Homicide<\/strong> Murder Trials – Not Guilty or Acquittal<\/strong> Pretrial Bond in First-Degree Murder Cases<\/strong> Reverse Williams Rule<\/strong>
\nDohn represented the only living heir to the GEICO insurance fortune. She was a child born out of wedlock to the grandson of the founder of GEICO. If there were no blood heirs, Nova Southeastern Law School inherited all the money. Dohn, a criminal lawyer, represented her, because established probate lawyers did not want to battle a law school, GEICO, and the Riggs National Bank in Washington, D.C. After a 10-year legal battle, she received her multi-million-dollar inheritance.<\/p>\n
\nDohn represented a medical provider in a \u201cwhistleblower action\u201d brought by a former employee. The pretrial dismissal of the \u201cwhistleblower action\u201d was affirmed on appeal. United States ex rel. Sanchez v. Lymphatx, Inc., 596 F.3d 1300, 1303 (11th Cir. 2010).<\/strong><\/p>\nCriminal Cases<\/h2>\n
\nJohn Snavely, a male porn star, was charged with the murder of a prominent Washington D.C. businessman. The businessman led a double life. To his Washington D.C. Republican clients, he was heterosexual with a live-in girlfriend. When in Fort Lauderdale, he lived a gay lifestyle with his young protegee. They lived on the beach in an opulent townhouse and drove his-and-his sports cars. On the night of his murder, he picked up Snavely for private dances. Snavely admitted being at the townhouse where the murder occurred. His fingerprint was on a soda can. Snavely hired a Miami lawyer who for over a year did no substantial legal work on his case. Eventually, Dohn took over the case. The case was dismissed because the evidence showed an unidentified male\u2019s DNA was on the murder weapon and a marijuana cigarette found near the body. Extensive articles about the case appeared in the newspapers \u2013 New Times, Sun Sentinel, and Washington Post.
\nhttps:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/true-crime\/wp\/2017\/02\/17\/judge-throws-out-murder-case-in-slaying-of-va-man-who-led-secret-double-life-in-fla\/?utm_term=.105ebb4df75a<\/a><\/p>\n
\nNour Jarkas, a Syrian Muslim, was charged with the first-degree murder of his estranged wife\u2019s Irish Catholic boyfriend. It was not a good time to be a Muslim charged with murdering a white Protestant. Jarkas pled self-defense. Dohn\u2019s stand your ground motion to dismiss was granted. It was the first, first-degree murder case in Broward County dismissed under the \u201cstand your ground\u201d statute.
\nhttps:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/news\/fl-xpm-2011-12-12-fl-jarkas-stand-your-ground-20111212-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDohn defended Robert Young, the \u201chitman,\u201d who killed the famed speedboat builder Don Aronow. Aronow developed Donzi boats, Cigarette boats, and USA Racing boats for U.S. Customs. Aronow built speedboats for President Bush and the King of Jordan. The case is chronicled in the books Blue Thunder and Speed Kills. Based on motions filed by Dohn, the State abandoned its death penalty prosecution of Young. Dohn negotiated a plea whereby Young pled guilty to the second-degree murders of Aronow and an unrelated drug dealer for two 17-year concurrent, coterminous sentences. The \u201chitman\u201d was released from prison. See State v. Young, 654 So.2d 962 (Fla. 3d DCA 1995)<\/strong> (key witness\u2019 testimony excluded).
\nhttps:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/latest-news\/article1932705.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAnthony \u201cBig Tony\u201d Moscatiello, Anthony \u201cLittle Tony\u201d Ferrari, and James \u201cPudgy\u201d Fiorello were charged with the ambush murder of Gus Boulis, the founder of Miami Subs and the Sun Cruz Casino Lines. The murder of Boulis made national headlines,. It caused the downfall of one of Washington, D.C.\u2019s, most influential lobbyists. It inspired a Kevin Spacey\u00a0movie \u2013 Casino Jack. Dohn represented James \u201cPudgy\u201d Fiorello, who the police believed was the triggerman that shot Boulis. After six years of extensive pretrial discovery, Dohn convinced the prosecution that Fiorello was not the \u201chitman.\u201d He was released from jail and testified for the prosecution.
\nhttps:\/\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/local\/broward\/fl-boulis-pudgy-sentenced-20150717-story.html<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDohn wrote and argued the following appeals before the Florida Supreme Court. Hegwood v. State, 575 So.2d 170 (Fla. 1991)<\/strong> (triple death sentence reversed); Burch v. State, 522 So.2d 810 (Fla. 1988)<\/strong> (death sentence reversed); Holsworth v. State, 522 So.2d 348 (Fla. 1988)<\/strong>(death sentence reversed).<\/p>\n
\nOn-duty Miami-Dade police officer\u2019s vehicular homicide conviction reversed. Gensler v. State, 868 So.2d 557 (Fla. 3d DCA 2004)<\/strong><\/p>\n
\nBarry Oberholtzer (indicted for murdering his estranged wife; Dohn established her new boyfriend was the likely killer); Jeffrey Hock (indicted for murdering a foster child; Dohn\u2019s cross-examination of his wife established she killed the child); Marcel Cardenas (indicted for a drug deal gone bad murder; Dohn established a reasonable doubt the State\u2019s key witness committed the murder); Francisco Acosta (indicted for with robbery\/murder; Dohn established a friend of Acosta committed the robbery\/murder); David Diehlman (indicted for murdering his daughter\u2019s boyfriend who stole $100,000 from Dielhman during the trial prosecution, the prosecution agreed to a judgment of acquittal).<\/p>\n
\nPretrial bond is unusual in Capital Murder Cases in Broward County. The following clients, charged with First-Degree Murder, were granted pretrial bond: James Haag, David Dielhman, James Fiorello, John Pacchiana, Richard DelGaudio, and Barry Oberholtzer.<\/p>\n
\nRivera v. State, 561 So.2d 536 (Fla.1990)<\/strong>, established the legal principle that a similar method of committing a crime committed by an unknown perpetrator can be used to establish an alibi or the S.O.D.D.I. defense or some other dude did it.<\/p>\n