I've Been Arrested, What Do I Do Next

August 31, 2026

"Okay, I've been arrested. What the hell do I do next?"


In this inaugural episode of the DMT Law Podcast, veteran criminal defense attorneys Larry McMillan and David Trontz draw from over 25 years of trial experience to walk you step-by-step through what happens after an arrest in Florida.

Whether facing a state probable cause arrest or a federal warrant served at 5:00 AM, knowing your constitutional rights and understanding how the legal process works can make or break your future.

Key topics covered in this podcast episode:
• The critical rule: Why you must keep your mouth shut and invoke your 5th Amendment rights.
• Differences between State court arrests vs. Federal court arrests (Marshals, warrants, and timelines).
• How probable cause is determined and how arrest warrants are obtained by law enforcement.
• Pretrial release, bond hearings, and navigating booking facilities like TGK or Federal Detention.
• Why memory-logging emergency phone numbers matters before booking.
• The power of early attorney intervention before formal charges are filed (No-Actions / Dismissals).
• How to evaluate and choose the right criminal defense team for your case.
• Why Donet, McMillan & Trontz, P.A. offers 3-attorney perspective on every single client case.

About Donet, McMillan & Trontz, P.A.:
Based in Miami, FL, DMT Law brings over 25 years of combined criminal defense and former prosecutor experience to fight for clients facing state and federal charges. We are available 24/7/365, including weekends and holidays.

At Donet, McMillan & Trontz, P.A., we provide strategic, aggressive, and experienced representation to protect your rights from the moment you are detained.

Call (305) 444-0030 for a confidential consultation. Let our Miami criminal defense attorneys help you and protect your future.

Disclaimer: The information in this video is for general educational purposes only and does not constitute formal legal advice or an attorney-client relationship.

---

Full Podcast Transcript:

"I've been arrested. What the hell do I do next?" Next thing they know, they're in the back of the police car and they're riding to TGK or they're riding to the federal detention center. First thing, keep your mouth shut. That arrest occurs either pursuant to an arrest warrant or it's a probable cause arrest. Federal arrests usually happen at 5:00 in the morning when the marshals show up. Then they show up at your house and grab you out of your bed. your underwear and taking you off to the marshals taking you off to jail for your first appearance. A theft case, a marijuana possession, a DUI up to homicides, trafficking. I can't tell you how many clients we have had who get booked into jail and find themselves in there and there's a phone, but they don't have a phone. Who am I going to call? Please put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest.

Suddenly, your world turns upside down. What's going to happen to me? Am I going to jail? What's going to happen to my family? What do I do?

My name is Larry McMillan and I'm an attorney with Dona McMillan and TR. David and I are going to answer some of the common questions that people have about that, about what that process is, what it is like, um, and what you can do to put yourself in a position where you're going to be best able to defend your position. We're three lawyers. Like I said, my name is Larry McMillan. This is David Trance and our partner, David Dona. We've been together for nearly 25 years and practicing exclusively criminal defense. This is our first podcast and we're here to outline what we have learned over the course of our more than 25 years in court defending individuals accused of crimes. David, would you like to introduce yourself?

Yeah, I'm David Trron. Our third partner, David, is not here. He's in trial today in federal court. Uh he'll be on the next podcast. Um I don't know. We've been doing this for 25 years like you say. How many arrests have we talked about or heard about in our 25 years of practice? Can you count that high?

Thousands. Thousands of cases I would say. And we've heard we've got had arrests in uh both the state jurisdiction and the federal jurisdiction. And from the most minor offense, a a theft case, a marijuana possession, a DUI, up to homicides, trafficking, um Ponzi schemes, grand theft, um vehicular homicides, any number of cases we have handled. And we've handled from every stage from the investigative stage all the way through to a jury trial and a verdict and in sometimes an appeal um of cases.

But everything starts with that arrest and that arrest occurs either pursuant to an arrest warrant or it's a probable cause arrest. Um and we will discuss the difference between probable cause arrest, what's the basis for that and an arrest warrant and how is an arrest warrant obtained and what goes into that arrest warrant. Um you want to take one and I'll take the other?

We can share both like we know there's a big difference between being arrested in state court or in the state system than the federal system. Right. Absolutely. State state arrests usually occur uh on the street while the crime is in progress or soon after the progress. Federal arrests usually happen at 5 in the morning when the marshals show up. And that's because the federal cases are usually investigated over months if not years and they take their time. And once they have their evidence together, well then they show up at your house and grab you out of your bed and your underwear and take you off to the marshals take you off to jail for your first appearance.

In the state system a lot of investigation there is some investigation but not as much and a lot of as the crimes occur arrests are made and people are taken to jail so it's kind of a different scenario correct and that initial arrest in the state system um can be made based upon probable cause well what's probable cause is defined as specific articulable facts that would lead a reasonable person to conclude that you or the subject has committed a crime. And that's essentially the officer or the detective or the agent's opinion of the evidence that he or she has collected either in the form of statements or physical evidence. Um there could be video or audio recordings that they may have reviewed and based upon their review of that information. An officer if they feel in their opinion that there is probable cause to believe that that person has committed a crime they can make that arrest. There is no necessity to seek the authority from a judge to get an arrest warrant you know stamped and signed by a judge. it's just based upon that officer's opinion.

Now, there is also uh the process of obtaining an arrest warrant. An arrest warrant is typically in cases that involve a little bit more sophistication in the investigation and more of a long-term investigation where over the course of it can be weeks, it can be months, it can be years that evidence is gathered together. there's surveillance um and that evidence is ultimately put into an affidavit and it's basically a story where the officers write out what they have seen, what they have observed, what they have collected and based upon their training and experience they feel and they will cite to the specific statute or crime that they feel has been committed. So they put that document together and then they go seek out in the state system a judge, a circuit court judge, and they present that to the judge. The judge will review it and the judge will then make a determination as to whether or not there is sufficient probable cause to believe that that person has committed a crime. And if so, the judge will sign that warrant and will also put a bond amount on there.

And the bond, what is what's the bond?

The bond is when you get arrested, you're going to be booked and processed into a correctional facility where there will then be a decision as to whether or not you're entitled to release pending the determination of that charge. That's called pre-trial release. Um, and the judge can put a bond amount based upon the charges themselves. Um or the judge can put no bond if there are special circumstances that apply in that situation. Um and then and you can David, we can talk about also about what happens after that with the the bond, the first appearance.

Well, even before you go into that, okay, I've been arrested. What the hell do I do next? That's what our clients ask. They're scared. They have no idea. Most of our clients that have ever done anything before, next thing you know, they're in the back of the police car and they're writing to TGK or they're writing to the federal detention center. What the hell do I do? What do you think they should do? What do we what do we tell them to do?

First of all, first thing, keep your mouth shut. Keep your mouth shut. A lot of people think, "No, no, no. This is a misunderstanding." And if I can just explain to these investigators what really happened, they're going to understand and they're going to recognize that I didn't commit a crime and that I should not be arrested. Wrong. Wrong. They have already concluded that there is sufficient evidence either by probable cause finding or with an arrest warrant. They have in their mind that you have committed a crime. And what they're looking is they are looking for additional statements where you're implicating yourself and making incriminating statements or you are making statements which then hinder your defense attorney from later being able to to defend you because you have said things which are inconsistent with potential defenses.

So what you're saying if I get arrested, I can't talk my way out of it. Highly highly unlikely.

And if I say something on the police report, whatever I say is going to end up on on the police report. Absolutely.

And somebody can use that against me later.

And they will introduce that to the judge at the bond hearing. They will in if it gets to a jury trial, they will introduce that to the jury um as additional evidence, mounting evidence to persuade the jury beyond and to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt that you committed a crime. Do yourself a favor. Invoke your fifth amendment right. Don't be rude. Don't be obnoxious. just, you know, I'd like to talk to you, but on the advice of counsel, I I can't talk to you at this time.

Okay. So, your case will be better if you don't talk to the cops. Absolutely. In most circumstances. Correct. Okay.

So, you you got your handcuffs and your handcuff behind your back. They're going to search you depending on where you are. They may also and where you are apprehended. They may also be searching your automobile or your house. Or it may be that you are in a place where they are unable to search a automobile or a house or certain things without a search warrant. And often times the police will try to get around that by saying, "Hey, you know, do yourself a favor. you know, if you cooperate with us and work with us, we're going to let the prosecutor know about that how you helped us out. You know, would you agree to sign this consent form, the consent to search your car, the consent to go into your house and search?

How many times has that helped our clients in 25 years?

I can count it on uh one hand, maybe. Or maybe even less, maybe less than that. All right. So, uh, but they can search. If you're arrested, they have the right to search. Search it into arrest. And now you're in the back of the car. You're cuffed, scared to death, obviously. What happens next?

Well, you're getting transported. And in this day and age, keep your mouth shut. Don't talk to yourself. Don't say anything because a lot of departments now have installed recording, video, and audio in the back of that police car. plus body warn camera. The bodywn camera on all of the police officers, all of this information is recorded. Um, so the best advice is once you're arrested, if that happens, are they going to let you go? Probably not. So, you take the ride quietly and politely knowing that you'll have your day in court and you have to find a lawyer.

Correct.

Okay. So, now they take me and they take me to the Sally Port at TGK or the Marshall's office at the uh federal detention center. What happens next?

You're going to be booked in process end and you will ultimately be able to make a phone call. Here's something really important that people don't think about in this day and age because everybody has a phone, right? And all their contacts are in there. How many people know by memory the phone number of a loved one? I can't tell you how many clients we have had who get booked into jail and find themselves in there and there's a phone but they don't have a phone who am I going to call and sometimes you only have the opportunity to call collect and it's unlikely that if you are able to think of a number or whatever that you're calling that somebody's going to pick up that phone if they don't know that it's you. Um, so you want to have a plan. You want to have memorized a number that you know somebody's going to pick up that phone and somebody's going to get in touch with potentially a bondsman and a lawyer.

Well, here's a thought because the police, if you respect the police, generally they respect you. They're going to have to book your phone in, but they will let you write down a phone number or maybe perhaps corrections. So, you'll have that once you enter the facility and they'll only have it written on a piece of paper. You can call a family member, whoever to help you out and get the process started.

Correct. Correct. And you definitely and getting the process started. Ex. You're exactly right. And and that's where a skilled, experienced uh criminal defense attorney can really do their best, their finest work, because then they can start, if they're retained on the case to represent you, start their investigation and collection of evidence that supports mitigating circumstances or circumstances that completely exonerate the individual, that they didn't commit a crime, that the alg allegations that the police have do not merit or meet the elements of a specific crime. Um, critically important.

And the attorney can also assist you at the bond hearing and getting the bond reduced. Um, to where you pay less money for that bond, um, to where maybe you don't have the conditions of house arrest with a monitor um, when you get out of custody. So that's critically important.

And then once you are out of custody, meeting with that lawyer and sitting down and going over the allegations of that case and explaining everything to that lawyer and most importantly, we've heard it all, the good, the bad, the ugly. Don't minimize. Don't neglect to point out things to your lawyer because you know what you're doing? you're hamstringing your lawyer. Your lawyer needs to know all of the details that happened because if they don't, they can't adequately and effectively defend the case. if you leave certain things out and they go and how many times has that happened to you, David, where you know a client has left out a key aspect of the case and you're meeting with a a detective or a prosecutor and you're explaining the case and they the prosecutor will respond with maybe you're not aware of this. Let me just tell and you know you get completely your argument is gutted uh because of something you weren't aware of and you're not prepared to respond to and we can understand that our clients are embarrassed. Everybody who gets arrested is embarrassed and some of the accusations are even more embarrassing than the arrest. So let's minimize it. I can explain it. I'll feel better about myself. But when you meet the lawyer, you got to understand everything that you tell him stays in the four corners of that office. So the more information we have, the better we can represent people. That's for sure.

No doubt. No doubt about that. Um and collecting names of corroborating witnesses or any video or audio, text messages, uh voicemails. All of those things are incredibly important for your lawyer to review and see um so that they can get a complete perspective of what the allegations are and potentially what the evidence is because they've got to rely the lawyer has to rely upon you initially um to provide that information because the government, the police, the detectives, the agents, they don't have an obligation to share all of the police reports or the evidence or statements that they have to support their allegations. So, it's critically important that you work in tandem with your attorney and collecting everything that you can and you educate that attorney so in their knowledge and expertise, they can then probe in different areas and collect as much as they can to be able to respond to that uh state attorney or that assistant United States attorney.

Well, that's true because if you're arrested and you post bond, and I want to go back into bonds a little bit, uh, they have 60 days to make a decision in state court what they're going to do with the case. Feds have the arrest, but they have time, too. But it take, my point is it takes weeks to get the discovery. So, all you're operating really on in state court is an arrest affidavit. State has everything. They have the videos, they got the reports, the lab reports. We don't really know anything. So really relying on the clients to share as much information as they have so we can be on equal footing and have a better understanding of the case because we have to wait to see what the evidence is from either the A USA or the assistant state attorney handling the case.

Right. Right. And ultimately your objective is this. either by a probable cause arrest or by an arrest warrant, law enforcement has concluded that you or someone you love has committed a crime and that is now being presented to the assistant United States attorney or to an assistant state attorney in the state system. that prosecutor may or may not be familiar with the case prior to being presented with the evidence, the packet, the reports from that investigator at that time. Um, and if they are not, they are tasked with reviewing all of those reports, all of the evidence, meeting with witnesses, taking sworn statements to determine, okay, the police felt that there was probable cause to make an arrest or there was an arrest warrant that a judge signed to make an arrest. Now, the state attorney or the US attorney is going to look at it and say it's a little bit of a higher standard. Um, and typically what is relied upon is there a reasonable expectation of a conviction? Is there sufficient evidence more than just probable cause? Um, so they're going to look through that and if you have an experienced advocate, they know that and they know that they need to get to that prosecutor as soon as possible, hopefully before the police or law enforcement does. so they can start laying the groundwork for your defense and educating that prosecutor about the deficiencies in the case. Why the police haven't met all of the necessary elements of that crime and why is that important, David?

Well, so it's fair to say that the state has the advantage in the beginning of the information.

Yeah. Correct. Okay.

So a client will come in or a person who is arrested comes to see us uh in state court for example they get arrested in 60 days there's an arraignment the state's obligation is to investigate the case a lot of lawyers they just wait to see what happens at our firm at DMT we gather as much as we can uh involve ourself insert oursel uh maybe get a little pushy and reach out to the prosecutors and present at our side of the case, mostly based on what the client tells us and whatever else we can gather through subpoenas of videos or whatever we else we can get and try to convince the state. Don't file the charge. We have enough here to show you that you can't prove this case at trial. Obviously, if we can do that and they don't file the charge, they no action it or no file it, case goes away. Once they file it, it's certainly harder to get them to pull back the charges because then you're putting their judgment in question. Do you agree with that?

I I agree wholeheartedly. Right. So, you know, and because we've been practicing for each of us in excess of 25 years, some of us a little over 30 years. Um that that comes with a lot of experiences um and knowledge that we have garnered and that we use to effectively defend our clients. We were all former prosecutors for a number of years. So, we know what the process is in filing a case and what the standards are. We know the players, we know the prosecutors, and we know the supervisors. And we know how to get in touch with them, how to schedule a meeting with them, and how to present sufficient evidence to, like David said, either persuade them to no file or what they call here locally, no action, meaning they are not taking any action on the charges filed by the police, which effectively means charges dismissed, dropped. Um because that that prosecutor again is tasked with assessing that information and that evidence and deciding did a crime occur here and if so what crime occurred. you know, do they increase the charges, decrease the charges, file as charged, or do they drop the case completely? And that's contingent upon your attorney being an effective advocate and getting to them early and presenting them compelling evidence.

So, we have to take a proactive approach as opposed to a reactive approach.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And as you know just in experiences that there are a lot of attorneys that just they don't do that. I mean you're you're you're hired to represent somebody on a lifealtering situation that's going to mark them for life that they've been arrested uh for a crime.

That's why it's important I think to find the right attorney. Yeah.

And that's why you need to consultations. There's nothing wrong to consult with one of them more than more than one lawyer obviously.

Right. And uh you know you make you got to find out who you're comfortable with, look at their experience, look at their track record and make an informed decision because they have very good employers in Miami and they got some lemons and you don't want your future to you know to rest on the experience or the attitude or the work ethic of a lemon. So nothing wrong with meeting four, five, six lawyers. Got to be comfortable and you got to find the right one.

Right. And you know what what I think, you know, when you say you got to be comfortable, you as the client or the family member who's the client has got to be able to relate to that attorney because you're going to be working in tandem with that attorney and their staff in order to collect the evidence, present that evidence. And if there's conflicts and theories or communication and you're just not feeling the vibe, then maybe that's not the right attorney for you. Um, so you've got to look at multiple things like David said. You know, what type of experience do uh these attorneys have? How effective are they? What what's their plan? What's their strategy uh moving forward on this case? And and do I feel comfortable with them? Um and if so, then you need to move forward um with them and let them do what they do best, which is defend um individuals and retainer fees.

You know, there's a wide range of what somebody will charge you for an offense in Miami. Some are overpriced, some are underpriced. You got to fit within your budget, but you got to find the right person. And we're very flexible with our clients. You know, they have the ability to pay. that's fine, but I can't afford all of it. We have we work out plans with people um and to because what we do is we like to help people and we like to keep them in our office. So, you know, if you don't have the funds that are necessary to start, we can certainly work with them. Uh right, we accomplish their goals.

We there's a payment portal on our website. Um we can negotiate a fee structure and a payment structure. Um, a lot of people want to know, one of the first questions is, well, what's what's it going to cost? How much is it going to cost the I'm charged with, you know, this? Well, in order to really get an idea of what the cost is because the cost of the expense is going to be directly related to the time and the effort that's involved in the matter. Um, so a good attorney is going to sit down with you and is going to go over all of the details so that they fully understand what the situation is. They know about your history, if you have a history or if you don't have a history. Um so that they can then assess different scenarios depending upon what the evidence is. Um how many witnesses, um how long the investigation was, um whether you know you're talking about minimum mandatory penalties if it's like you know a trafficking and some sort of controlled substance or if it's a leaving the scene of an accident involving a death um or a homicide. There are certain crimes that are minimum mandatories. So even if you have no prior history whatsoever, you're looking at time, serious time.

Um, so a very good, experienced quality attorney is going to look at the entire picture, meaning the allegation of the crime in meeting with you and in meeting with you and assessing that situation and then quoting you a fee um for that. And then a good attorney will draft a retainer agreement which is going to define the terms and conditions so that there's no misunderstanding. It's being fair to you, fair to them, and this is what we're going to do for these dollars. Um once that's executed and there is a payment towards that um retainer, the attorney instantly gets to work on the case.

And different offenses. You know, the prices range because obviously there's uh a range of severity offenses, difference between a DUI and a homicide, difference between a state case and a federal case. So, the fees are vary, I guess, from case to case, but we try to be very reasonable with our clients. We are not uh we're there to help. That's what we like to do, you know. And another important question in that initial meeting with the client about when they're asking, well, how much is this or whatever, one of the questions is, okay, well, you're charged with this and what's going and you explain initially the process about meeting with the state attorney trying to reduce or drop the charges. Um, and you run through different scenarios. Let's say we're not able to do that and let's say they file as charged. Um, how do you see client this case getting resolved? Because some people will say, "Oh, absolutely. I did nothing wrong. I It needs to be completely dismissed." Or some people will be like, "I I know I, you know, I screwed up. Um, get me the best you can. I just don't want to go to jail. I don't want to go to prison." Those things are important in determining how much time and effort because somebody who wants the case completely uh dealt with and dismissed is requiring quite a bit of effort in that case which may also implicate going to a jury trial. um the taking of depositions, hiring of experts, hiring investigators in order to improve the defense um that you're going to ultimately present and all of that stuff comes with a cost. Um so there's there's a lot of things that can be talked about in that uh initial meeting um which are very important and all geared towards ultimately helping you or your loved one get themselves out of this unfortunate situation. Um and we we're very skilled at that. And um you know what we have said from day one of opening this firm is that we're unique.

We're different. Typically criminal defense you're dealing with a solo practitioner. Um, but at Dona McMillan and TR at DMT Law, you're getting three lawyers, three very experienced lawyers because we work together as a team um on our cases. We discuss our cases with one another and that's a bizarre thing that we have everybody knows. We may not do work on other people's cases in the office, but we each know each other's cases and always ask what's going on with this case, what's going on with that case. And we all pretty much know I said I know 90% of what's going on in your cases and what's going on with uh the other David's cases just for the conversations and our office is small and that's all we talk about all day and so it's uh kind of interesting how you hear about it when the client first comes in and uh like today uh Larry resolved the case and I'm very favor of the client and I remember the first day the guy contacted us and it closed today eight months later but I followed along with it. I'm in the office next door.

I hear sometimes the conversations between the client and Larry and it's uh you know interesting but you follow everything on it's interesting stuff so it's easy to follow along and it's helpful because sometimes you know either you or I or Dona will say wait a minute no I I have that prosecutor and I've got a great relationship with that prosecutor in fact I just had a case similar or whatever this or that I can be the I can be the frontman and on the defense of that case because of that relationship and and through these conversations and working together. We utilize that to the the benefit of our clients. It it may be the relationship with the prosecutor. It may be with the judge that No, no, no. I I know that judge. Um that's really the good part, too, because I figure we're doing this. We opened up in 2003 and I've probably handled I don't know 5,000 cases. But really I have the experience of 15,000 cases. You've done five. Don's done five. I've done five. So I've learned three times as much as I would have learned if I'd have been sitting in my own office by myself.

Right. So it's uh pretty amazing situation.

It is. And really, what would you say is the most important thing when somebody hears that? Please turn around and put your hands behind your back. You're under arrest. Top three things that person should be doing or thinking about.

Well, running silent, obviously talked about that already, right? Um, how am I going to get out of jail? And who's going to help me once I get out of jail? Correct. Correct. All of those things are critically important um to benefit the client or the uh the accused and put them in the best possible position to defend that.

And what I find interesting is after so many cases, so many years, clients, what's going to happen is they tell them if I had a crystal ball, I probably wouldn't be sitting here because I don't know. I don't know if I don't know if I'll be alive tomorrow. But I do know based on our experience of all of our experiences give you a pretty good idea what's going to happen and certainly direction we should take in the case. So but to say what's going to happen exactly sometimes maybe I know 95%. But I got a pretty good idea how it's going to play out. I assume you feel the same way.

I I do. I do 100%. Um so re-emphasizing those three points. Don't speak to the police. Um figure out getting yourself out of custody and retaining an effective um experienced, knowledgeable um advocate, defense attorney that you're comfortable with. That you are comfortable with. We give a free consultation. Come in. We'll do it. We can at your convenience. We can do it on Zoom. Come in in person. I think it's best to come in and to sit across from the person that you are basically determining whether or not you want to retain that person to help you keep your life on course um and to be your advocate. And I I think it's important to meet that person face to face and look them dead in the eye and see how you feel about that person and talk to them.

And we're willing to do it before hours because people have work schedules. We do it after hours. And I know I've been in the office on a Saturday and Sunday in the last 20 years meeting with people. So, we try to help, try to be flexible, and try to be reasonable, comforting, and explain everything as it's happening because the worst thing to be in the world is in the dark and not know what's going on, right? All our contact information is on our website. We're available all times, um, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of the year. even Christmas, right? Even holidays. Um, so if you or your loved one um is ever hearing those words in a compromising situation um and is under arrest, call us and the initial consultations for free. So, how can you go wrong?

You can't can't go wrong. No.

And the more information you have, the more educated you are, things usually go smoother and you feel more comfortable. So, ask questions. give us a call. Hey, we appreciate you taking the time.

Look for us on our next podcast. Thank you.

[music]