Pretrial Diversion (misdemeanor) and Pretrial Intervention (felony) programs are governed by Florida Statute section 948.08.
These programs, participation in which can only be offered by the State Attorney's Office, will result in the dismissal of your charges upon completion of the program's requirements. Normally, the program requires fees, classes, community services hours, or other conditions.
Program length for a misdemeanor is 3-6 months. For a felony, 6 months to 1 year.
The statute requires that the State Attorney's Office have "the consent of the victim" prior to a participant's admission into the program. That means that the alleged victim of the crime that you are charged with must agree to your participation.
Without the alleged victim's consent, you cannot participate in the program.
As a Miami criminal attorney and Broward criminal attorney, I have seen otherwise eligible clients be denied admission into PTD or PTI programs because the alleged victim said no.
You may want to discuss alternative resolutions of your case with your criminal defense attorney in the event PTD or PTI is not a possibility.
If you are not a U.S. citizen and are facing immigration consequences should you plead guilty or no contest to a criminal offense, you may need to negotiate a plea to a crime that will not result in your deportation or set your case for trial.
​Contact Attorney Eric Matheny for criminal cases in Miami-Dade County and Broward County.