Fort Walton Beach Lawyer Featured in The Brain Defense Publishes Florida Criminal Law

FORT WALTON BEACH, Fla. - Nov. 7, 2017 - PRLog -- Fresh off of defending a week long Capital Murder trial with D. Reed Ammon, Criminal Defense Attorney Stephen G. Cobb published his first book, Florida Criminal Law this week.

Cobb is Okaloosa County's only certified criminal law specialist, and is best known for his ground breaking use of brain imaging in criminal court. After his write up in The Brain Defense by Kevin Davis, one might expect Cobb to focus on forensic brain imaging. Instead, the book mainly discusses the local criminal justice system in practical terms for the recently arrested and their families.

"Arrest and prosecution are unbelievably stressful for anyone," Cobb noted. "The entire family suffers. This is why every client gets a copy of our stress control system, Coping with Stress During Criminal Prosecution," he added. Additionally, "people need to know exactly what they should and should not do while a criminal case matter is pending, and that starts with a Fact Pattern Report in order to tell us what happened."

Cobb developed Coping with Stress During Criminal Prosecution and Fact Pattern Reports early in his career because "criminal defense attorneys are not mental health counselors. We are counselors at law." He strongly opposes what he calls "unproductive comfort meetings," and faults criminal defense attorneys for failing to provide their clients with the tools to deal with post arrest emotional turmoil.

Practical advice, such as how to write a Fact Pattern Report is touted as "the most effective way to communicate factual information with a criminal defense legal team." He also wades into the politics of the criminal justice system. Even the most casual courtroom observer has heard him call incarceration the act of "setting taxpayer money on fire." Cobb has advocated treatment based sentencing for more than a quarter of a century.

When asked about the lack of brain imaging, Cobb laughed and remarked that he just completed a chapter on brain imaging for an American Bar Association. This second book, a collaboration with numerous other authors on the growing use of neuroscience in the courtroom, is due to be published by the ABA in 2018.

Cobb is the only private practice attorney certified by the Florida Bar as a criminal law specialist between Pensacola and Tallahassee. He won his first capital case in 1997 and has been practicing in the local area for over two decades. Florida Criminal Law is available on Amazon for $14.95. For more information, http://www.cobblawfirm.com/