The U.S. and Washington constitutions give criminal defendants certain clear rights. In Washington, one right accused people have is the right to a public trial. There are several procedural obligations that the courts must follow in order to ensure that an accused person’s trial meets this requirement. One requirement that does not exist is that prosecuting and defense attorneys cannot use sidebar to submit peremptory juror exclusion choices. The Washington Supreme Court, in a recent decision explaining the extent of the public trial right as it relates to submitting peremptory challenges, concluded that attorneys could make these challenges at sidebar as long as certain other processes are followed. The accused person in the case was Dustin Marks, who faced trial in Pierce County in the spring of 2013. In that trial, the prosecution accused him of having committed first-degree assault, unlawful firearm possession, second-degree vehicle prowling, and reckless…
Court’s Handling of Juror Selection Did Not Violate Assault Defendant’s Rights, Washington Supreme Court Rules
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Poll: Clinton Leads Among Hispanics in Key Battleground States
A new poll of Hispanic voters in several key battleground states show Hillary with a significant lead among Hispanic voters. The poll is by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economic Polling Initiative. The press release is here and the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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In Florida DUI Case, Odor of Alcohol Plus Causing a Serious Accident is Sufficient for Blood Draw
In Florida, most DUI (driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs) cases involve the police requesting the defendant take a breathalyzer test at the jail. This test is normally offered only after the police make the DUI arrest. Therefore, if the defendant has a low score on the breathalyzer, or even a 0.00 result, the defendant is still arrested for DUI. In many cases, the police will then request a urine or blood sample to test for other substances. The police do not admit error after making an arrest, and once the police effect the DUI arrest, there is no going back. There are times when the police can draw blood and send the blood to the lab for testing of blood alcohol content. The police are not allowed to obtain a blood draw when a breath test is viable and reasonable, as in most DUI cases in Florida. However, the DUI suspect can request one, and there are other situations where the blood draw is permissible. This often comes up in DUI cases that involved…
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Minnesota Steps Up Enforcement, Makes 1,351 DWI-related Arrests Over 18 Days
A police officer pulls over a driver for a traffic violation in a downtown cityThe Minnesota Department of Public Safety has revealed that it made 1,351 DWI-related arrests between August 19th and September 5th, during an end-of-summer extra enforcement initiative. The campaign included 300 different law enforcement agencies across the state – with most of the arrests occurring in the Twin Cities area. However, other top locations around the state where arrests were made included Rochester, St. Cloud, and Duluth. In a statement made available by the DPS, Donna Berger, the agency’s Office of Traffic Safety director, noted that most of those arrested were “first-time offenders who won’t get arrested again.” Berger, meanwhile, went on to emphasize that even first offenses could be costly and deadly. “People can overestimate their driving skills and think they’re OK to drive after drinking. They’re not OK, and we need the…
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Loughnam & Ward on Psychiatry and Criminal Responsibility
Arlie Loughnan and Tony Ward (University of Sydney - Faculty of Law and University of Hull - School of Law) have posted Emergent Authority and Expert Knowledge: Psychiatry and Criminal Responsibility in the UK (International Journal of Law and Psychiatry,...
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Syracuse couple on the run for five years arrested in mortgage fraud case | syracuse.com
Alexander and Sima March fled to Canada after their 2011 indictment on mortgage fraud charges. Source: Syracuse couple on the run for five years arrested in mortgage fraud case | syracuse.com
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Courtroom Etiquette 101: The Do’s and Don’t of the Courtroom
Courtroom Etiquette: Check Electronics, E-Cigs, and Emotions at Door For one reason or another, just about everyone will enter a criminal courtroom at some point in their lives. Whether you’re a defendant, a potential juror, or a college student researching a class assignment, proper courtroom etiquette is required. Saying, doing, or wearing the wrong thing in court is a surefire way to get shown the door — or in extreme instances, end up behind bars for contempt of court. Here’s a look at basic courtroom etiquette rules and how some judges laid down the law for breaches of decorum. Turn off cell phones. Just about every courthouse in the country has signs prohibiting phones or warning visitors to turn them off. Despite these announcements, phones routinely go off in court and disrupt proceedings. In 2004, a 17-year-old defendant facing a drug charge was sentenced to 21 days in jail for contempt of court when her cell phone rang after the Judge warned…
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Shearing & Stenning on Modern Private Security
Clifford Shearing and Philip Stenning (Griffith Institute of Criminology and Griffith University) have posted Modern Private Security: Its Growth and Implications (In: Tonry, M. & Morris, N. Eds. Crime and Justice: An Annual Review of Research, Vol. 3. Chicago: University...
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Lansing Man Connected to Texas Drug Ring Leave Friends and Family in ‘Disbelief’ According to News Reports
Recently a Lansing man was sentenced to five years, 10 months in prison for allegedly transporting cocaine from Texas to Michigan. Carlos Ramirez-Zuniga was reportedly involved in a drug ring, much to the surprise of friends and family members. News reports indicate that friends and family were in disbelief after learning of the crime Ramirez-Zuniga had allegedly committed. According to the government, he was involved in a drug ring that began in 2001 in Michigan, one that “Hector,” a man whose real name was Merced Alvarado, began. Ramirez-Zuniga’s defense lawyer stated in a sentencing memorandum that his client was concerned about his children viewing him in an unflattering light, something other than the loving, providing father he was known to be. His attorney went on to say that he is “very remorseful” for the mistakes he has made. Additionally, numerous letters were provided to the court supporting the fact that Ramirez-Zuniga was a highly…
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Polls and the Importance of Question Wording
In mid-August, Bill and I both noted a poll by the Institute for Government Studies at Berkeley on the competing death penalty propositions. That poll found the repeal proposition losing by 45-55 and the reform proposition winning by a landslide 76-24. See also the IGS press release.Last week, I noted a SurveyUSA poll showing the repeal proposition "trails by 16 points today and is headed for defeat." Also noted the same day was a USC/LA Times/SurveyMonkey poll showing Prop. 62 down by 11%. Neither of these polls asked about the reform measure, Prop. 66.Now we have a poll done by Field and IGS, the same organization as the first poll above, that has a dramatically different result. This one shows repeal at 48% yes, 37% no, and 15% undecided, while the reform measure is at 35% yes, 23% no, and 42% undecided.As Seinfeld would say, what's up with that? Has there been a dramatic shift in public opinion since the first IGS…
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RS: Springsteen Calls Trump a "Moron"
Will Donald Trump soon go into free-fall? I think so. Here's today's Trump news: In a new interview in Rolling Stone, Bruce Springsteen calls Donald Trump a "moron." What do you make of the Trump phenomenon? Well, you know, the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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US House passes significant update to federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act
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"Originalism and the Criminal Law: Vindicating Justice Scalia's Jurisprudence ― And the Constitutution"
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10 things to know before committing to a life of crime…
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Effective review of the <em>nine</em> state with marijuana initiatives going to voters this November
International Business Times has this up-to-date article, headlined "Marijuana Legalization 2016 Ballot: Which States Are Voting On Cannabis Laws On Election Day?," providing an effective review of where and what voters will be considering as to marijuana reform in numerous states. Here are the basics: More than 82 million U.S....<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/md1kTI_yAMM" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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S.D.Iowa finds Playpen NIT warrant violation of Rule 41 and Fourth Amendment
S.D.Iowa joins minority and finds Playpen NIT warrant violation of Rule 41 also a Fourth Amendment violation. United States v. Croghan, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127479 (S.D.Iowa Sept. 19, 2016): The Court notes that the NIT Warrant at issue in … Continue reading →
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TN: Blood on def’s sock supported PC for automobile exception
Based on blood on defendant’s sock, on the totality there was probable cause to believe that more possible blood evidence would be found in his car. That was sufficient for the automobile exception to apply. State v. Peden, 2016 Tenn. … Continue reading →
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Self-defense: Dominance, Escalation and Deception
Whether you think little or a lot about self-defense, you can live a better life when you consider self-defense from two perspectives: the practical and the legal. The different schools of self-defense training agree on many things. Similarly, the law of self-defense agrees in many ways across jurisdictions, cultures, even history. And though practical self-defense training (how to do it) and the law of self-defense seem to be quite different perspectives, they share much in common. Whether a legal defense of self-defense is accepted will depend partly upon what people believe the defendant’s situation was at the time – a totality of the circumstances. Inevitably jurors, judges, all of us will compare what we believe the person being judged did, with what we imagine we would have done in those hypothetical circumstances. “Better judged by twelve than carried by six.” A wise aphorism in the lore of self-defense is…
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Report: Alleged Drunk Driver in Boston Hits Police Cruiser – Trooper Injured
According to a recent news feature from CBS Local Boston, a woman has just been arrested after she allegedly crashed into a Massachusetts State Police Cruiser in Boston, injuring a trooper. Authorities say the alleged drunk driving crash occurred in on Route 93 in Boston near the Mass Ave exit around 1:30 a.m. The alleged drunk driver was in a 2010 Chevy Malibu. A spokesperson for the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) say the Chevy Malibu was being driven by a 21-year-old woman who was operating her motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. Specifically, the allegations are that she rear-ended the trooper’s cruiser with enough force to cause an injury. The trooper was conscious following the Boston drunk driving accident and was able to radio for backup. When first responders arrived on the scene, they were able to provide immediate medical attention to the trooper and take him to the nearby Tufts Medical Center located in…
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Esquire: The Bill of Rights Is Hanging by a Thread
Esquire: The Bill of Rights Is Hanging by a Thread by Charles P. Pierce: The law is supposed to be our protector, not our enemy. Since I suspect a lot of us will be talking about the inequities of the … Continue reading →
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