Victoria E. Hatfield - Tampa, FL

Attorney Victoria E. Hatfield is an equity and named partner at O’Brien Hatfield. Ms. Hatfield joined the law firm in 2009 as a law school intern. Mr. O’Brien hired her as an associate attorney in 2010, promoted her to partner in 2012, and then named her an equity and named partner in 2016. Ms. Hatfield is now a renowned state court criminal defense attorney in the State of Florida. She has defended individuals accused of state court crimes in nearly every county court and circuit court in the State of Florida, but now primarily limits her caseload to the greater Tampa Bay, Florida area.

Over the course of her over fifteen-year legal career, Ms. Hatfield has accomplished more than many of her colleagues (most of them older and male, by the way) will accomplish in a lifetime of practicing law. From successful motions to suppress and motions to dismiss to trial acquittals to numerous appellate victories to a groundbreaking ruling in her favor by the Supreme Court of Florida, Ms. Hatfield flat out wins. Find a criminal lawyer in the State of Florida who has won at all the following levels: the Supreme Court of Florida, District Courts of Appeals, and Circuit and County Criminal Courts. Here are a few examples of her legal successes.

Supreme Court of Florida

Ms. Hatfield filed a motion to dismiss in Mr. Shelley’s case based on double jeopardy grounds. The trial court denied all motions. Undeterred, Ms. Hatfield appealed to the Second District Court of Appeals and won. The State of Florida, also undeterred, appealed her victory to the Supreme Court of Florida. After filing her appellate brief and participating in oral arguments at the Supreme Court of Florida, they ruled in Ms. Hatfield’s favor and upheld her lower court victory. As a result of her litigation, the offense of “soliciting a minor after using computer services” is a lesser included offense of “traveling to meet a minor after using computer services.” Because of Ms. Hatfield’s legal acumen, no person in the State of Florida can be convicted of both offenses stemming from the same course of conduct. State v. Dean Shelley, Hillsborough County, 2011-CF-11428, Shelley v. State, 134 So.3d 1138 (Fla. 2d DCA 2014), State v. Shelley, 176 So.3d 914 (Fla. 2015).

District Court of Appeals

After defending himself while being attacked, Max Garcia was charged with Aggravated Battery and faced fifteen years in prison. The trial court denied Ms. Hatfield’s “stand your ground motion”, in which she argued Mr. Garcia was immune from prosecution because he was acting in self-defense. After the denial, the case was set for trial. Ms. Hatfield immediately filed a Writ of Prohibition to the Second District Court of Appeals, the case was paused, and the trial was stopped. Ultimately, the Second District Court of Appeals agreed with Ms. Hatfield and reversed the lower court’s denial of the “stand your ground motion”. Today, Mr. Garcia is a free man. Even more significant on a much broader scale, this case is cited by defense attorneys across the State of Florida to free their clients. Therefore, Ms. Hatfield did not save one person with this case, she saved thousands. State of Florida v. Max Garcia, Sarasota County, 2016-CF-10182, Garcia v. State, 286 So.3d 348 (Fla. 2d DCA 2019).

Trial Victories

Steven Eargood was accused of sexually battering a child family member and faced decades in prison and a lifetime sexual offender registration. He denied wrongdoing from the start, but his public defender did not believe him. He hired Ms. Hatfield. Ms. Hatfield brought the case to trial and obtained a complete acquittal (i.e., not guilty verdicts) on all charges in a little over an hour. State of Florida v. Steven Eargood, Hillsborough County, 11-CF-18990.

Motions to Suppress

Daniel Diner was charged with ninety-nine counts of possessing child pornography and faced 1,485 years in the Florida State Prison. Ms. Hatfield filed a motion to suppress arguing an unlawful search and seizure. The trial court agreed and granted her motion. Case dismissed. State of Florida v. Daniel Diner, Hillsborough County, 2016-CF-13503.

Case Dismissals

Eliezer Tejada was falsely accused of participating in a sophisticated organized fraud operation involving the theft of laptops from UPS delivery trucks. Ms. Hatfield filed a motion to suppress the unlawful out of court identification of Mr. Tejada. Rather than lose the motion, prosecutors dismissed Mr. Tejada’s case. State of Florida v. Eliezer Tejada, Lake County, 2020-CF-1261.

Victor Williams was charged with trafficking over twenty-five pounds of cannabis. He faced thirty years in Florida State Prison. Ms. Hatfield filed a motion to suppress arguing an unlawful search and seizure, which was granted by the trial court. Rather than lose, prosecutors dismissed Mr. Williams’ case. State of Florida v. Victor Williams, Hillsborough County, 23-CF-5807.

Juan Macias was charged with Trafficking in Methamphetamine and faced thirty years in Florida State Prison with a fifteen-year prison minimum mandatory term. Mr. Macias was hired to drive a car from Texas to Florida. Unknown to him, the car had a secret compartment wherein over 200 grams of methamphetamine was hidden. Mr. Macias was essentially a blind mule and maintained his innocence throughout the duration of the case. Ms. Hatfield convinced prosecutors to dismiss the case just prior to trial. State v. Juan Macias, Marion County, 2010-CF-3819.