When everything is on the line, experience is the defense
Twenty-five murder cases. Fifty-plus trials where the client faced life. When the charge is a felony, you hire the firm that has stood in that fire before, and won.
Felony cases are where trial reputation pays
In a felony case the state has leverage: mandatory minimums, enhancements, and the threat of years. The counter-leverage is a defense lawyer the prosecution genuinely believes will try the case. That is this firm’s entire reputation, built over 211 trials.
James Barnes has defended every kind of felony this coast produces, including 25 murder cases and more than 50 trials where the client faced life in prison. Two capital sex crime cases in the last year alone ended in NOT GUILTY verdicts.
If you or someone you love is facing a felony, the worst thing you can do is wait. Evidence moves, witnesses talk, and the state is already building.
Two capital sex crime trials in the past year. Two NOT GUILTY verdicts. Recent trial results
Felony charges we take
- Homicide & murder
- DUI manslaughter
- Aggravated battery & aggravated assault
- Drug trafficking
- Burglary
- Grand theft & grand theft auto
- Sex crimes & sexual battery
- Crimes against children
- Firearm offenses
- Battery on a law enforcement officer
- Child abuse & neglect
- Tampering with evidence
Sex crimes
A proven record in complex sex-crime cases, handled with the discretion they demand. Two capital sex-crime trials in the past year alone ended in NOT GUILTY verdicts. See our dedicated sex crimes defense page.
- Sexual battery & capital sexual battery
- Lewd and lascivious offenses
- Child molestation charges
- Traveling to meet a minor
- Possession of obscene material / child pornography
- Obscene communication & internet-related offenses
- Statutory rape
Felony defense in Pensacola and across both counties
Felony cases in Escambia County are tried at the M.C. Blanchard Judicial Building in downtown Pensacola; Santa Rosa felonies in Milton. James Barnes has tried more cases in these courtrooms than almost anyone practicing today, including capital cases where the client faced life.
Florida felonies carry state prison exposure, and enhancements for firearms, priors, and trafficking thresholds can add mandatory minimums that judges cannot waive. The counterweight is preparation and a genuine willingness to try the case, which is exactly the reputation this firm has spent 36 years building in front of these specific judges.
We defend clients from every corner of both counties:
- Pensacola
- Milton
- Pace
- Gulf Breeze
- Navarre
- Cantonment
- Perdido Key
- Ferry Pass
- Ensley
- Jay
Facing a felony? Don’t face it with a rookie.
Talk to the firm with 250 trials behind it. Tonight, if that’s when you need us.