This innovative approach was the brainchild of Fort Lauderdale attorneys Kenneth and Joshua Padowitz, who petitioned the court to allow Oculus Quest 2 headsets to assist the fact finder in understanding a crime scene reconstructionist’s opinion. December 19, 2024 By Lisa Willis A Broward County judge broke new ground this week during a stand-your-ground hearing on Tuesday and Wednesday, by allowing the defendant to use Oculus Quest 2 headsets to present, in virtual reality, a visualization of [...]

Padowitz is accustomed to breaking ground on the use of computer animation in court. As a prosecutor in 1992, he was credited with the first use of two-dimensional computer animation to illustrate an expert witness’ testimony. Judge Andrew Siegel watches a virtual reality presentation on Thursday at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale during a hearing on the admissibility of a virtual reality depiction in a stand-your-ground case. (Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun Sentinel) By Rafael Olmeda [...]

Historic use of VR in courtroom could set legal precedent Padowitz believes it’s the first time VR has been admitted to evidence in a Florida — or any American — courtroom. “It may be the first time in the United States that virtual reality was admitted into a criminal hearing,” he said. Padowitz was also responsible for another Florida first back in 1992 as a homicide prosecutor: He introduced the first computer animation into evidence. “It became one of the [...]

“The case should never have been brought,” said defense lawyer Kenneth Padowitz, who represented Johnson. By RAFAEL OLMEDA South Florida Sun Sentinel  November 7, 2024 at 5:43 PM EST A Broward judge dismissed a second-degree murder charge Thursday against an Orlando woman accused of shooting and killing her boyfriend in North Lauderdale in 2017. Satoya Johnson, 36, was arrested in March 2018 and served a brief time in jail before being released on a $60,000 bond, but the [...]

Broward Circuit Judge Edward Merrigan granted a defense request to step aside from the case after he told attorneys on both sides he could not schedule a “stand-your-ground” hearing until late spring at the earliest, a delay defendant Miguel Rodriguez Albisu and his lawyer, Kenneth Padowitz, found unacceptable. By RAFAEL OLMEDA | South Florida Sun Sentinel UPDATED: October 8, 2024 at 5:52 a.m. A Broward judge has decided to step aside from the case of a Southwest Ranches wedding venue owner [...]

But according to Padowitz, Albisu didn’t enter the venue until after he had been awakened by his son and wife, who told him they were physically attacked by angry wedding guests who were refusing to leave, some screaming threats and others “throwing chairs, breaking glasses and ripping door panels off walls.” Albisu did not display his gun until he was surrounded by irate guests and feared for his life, Padowitz said. After one guest threatens to beat Albisu the same way they [...]

To gain insights into this transformation, we spoke with former Assistant State Attorney Joshua Padowitz, a forward-thinking criminal defense lawyer based in Broward County, Florida, who alongside his father law-partner (selected as one of “America’s Top 100 Criminal Defense Attorneys” and a true “legal legend” in his own right, Kenneth Padowitz), is at the forefront of integrating technology into legal practices. In today’s fast-paced world, technology touches every facet of our lives, including the legal realm. From streamlining [...]