- negotiated thousands of favorable plea bargains on behalf of clients with prosecutors in Lee County and the Twentieth Circuit (Naples, Punta Gorda, LaBelle);
- personally handled approximately fifty (55) homicide cases;
- acted as lead defense counsel or co-counsel in nineteen (19) capital first degree murder cases where the death penalty was sought;
- has no clients on death row.
- handled and tried cases to juries in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Lee, Collier, and Charlotte Counties;
- had numerous trials of federal criminal cases, including in the District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
Over his career as a criminal defense lawyer, Brener has written and been published in various criminal defense magazines, including:
"Re-thinking Change of Venue in High Profile Capital Cases", published in "The Champion"
Magazine, a publication of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (June 2010);
“Prosecutorial Misconduct in the Penalty Phase closing Argument of Capital Case" published in "Florida Defender", Magazine of the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (Winter 2007);
“Thoughts on Delays in Death Sentences,” Guest Opinion, Fort Myers News-Press (January 10, 2008);
“The Mitigation Specialist as an Integral Part of the Defense Team in a Capital Murder Case,” Res Gestae, Lee County Bar Magazine (November 2008);
“Limitations on the Scope of Voir Dire,” Res Gestae (January 2009);
“The Bottom Line, Death Penalty Costly” Res Gestae (February 2009);
“The Necessity for a Special Jury Instruction on Heat of Passion Manslaughter,” Res Gestae (March 2009);
“Death Penalty Costly in Tough Economic Times,” Guest Opinion, Fort Myers News-Press (April 02, 2009);
“Florida’s Death Penalty Problems and Recommendations,” Res Gestae (May 2009);
"Arraignment Exception Swallows Rule" ; Res Gestae (August,2009);
"On Jury Nullification," Res Gestae (October 2009);
"Not Just Wishful Thinking", The American Bar Association Guidelines for the Appointment and Performance of Defense Counsel in Death Penalty Cases," Res Gestae, (January 2010);
"It's All Junk: Defense Counsel's Duty to Litigate Forensic Evidence", Res Gestae, (May, 2010)
"Lawyers Must Be "Capital Qualified" to Represent First Degree Murder Clients Unless the Death Penalty Has Been Waived", Res Gestae, (July/August 2010).
"The Credibility of Forensic Evidence", Res Gestae, September 2010;
"Life is Worth the Wait: Supreme Court Reverses Death Sentences", to be published, November 2010.
Mr. Brener has appeared on "In Session" (formerly Court TV) as a special local commentator, and has been quoted in:
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post
- The Miami Herald
- The Naples Daily News
- The Fort Myers News-Press
- ESPN
- The Cape Coral Daily Breeze
- The Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
- FIRST DEGREE MURDER
- SECOND DEGREE MURDER
- DRUG TRAFFICKING
- SEXUAL BATTERY (RAPE)
- AGGRAVATED ASSAULT AND BATTERY WITH FIREARM / DEADLY WEAPON
- ARMED AND UNARMED ROBBERY
- ARMED AND UNARMED BURGLARY
- GRAND THEFT AND DEALING IN STOLEN PROPERTY
- POSSESSION AND USE OF FIREARMS AND WEAPONS
- DRUG SALES, DELIVERIES, PURCHASES, AND POSSESSIONS
- CARJACKING
- HOME / BOAT INVASION ROBBERY
- MANSLAUGHTER
- ATTEMPTED MURDER
- CONSPIRACY
- KIDNAPPING
- POSSESSION OF NARCOTICS WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE
- ARSON
- FALSE IMPRISONMENT
- RESISTING ARREST
- DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
- CULTIVATION AND MANUFACTURE OF ILLEGAL DRUGS
- BATTERY ON LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER
- FLEEING AND ELUDING
- LEWD ASSAULT, BATTERY AND MOLESTATION
- DUI
- MISDEMEANORS
- ECONOMIC / WHITE COLLAR CRIMES
Thank you.
