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Does Arson Require Intent to Start a Fire?

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According to the U.S. Fire Administration, there were about 1,240,000 fires in 2013.  Spread evenly across the year, that’s an astounding daily average of nearly 3,400 fires.  While many of these fires are successfully contained, others grow into uncontrollable blazes, destroying billions of dollars in property, causing numerous injuries, and claiming thousands of lives.  But what if a fire was started by accident?  Can the person responsible be criminally prosecuted?  Salt Lake City arson attorney Darwin Overson explains whether you can be charged with arson in Utah if you didn’t mean to cause a fire. Can You Be Charged with Arson if You Accidentally Cause a Fire? In the legal field, precision and detail are incredibly important.  Utah’s criminal code enumerates hundreds of different offenses, and every single one has its own, highly specific definition. These definitions often have multiple segments, each of which are…

Juliet’s Story

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I lost two years of school to leukemia. I lost holiday parties with my family to leukemia. I lost my ... The post Juliet’s Story appeared first on Law Office of David P. Shapiro.

Massachusetts Voters Reform Marijuana Laws Again – What Happens Now?

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We have previously covered on the blog the implications of Massachusetts initiatives regarding marijuana and the interaction between Federal and state drug laws. In 2008, voters decriminalized the possession of an ounce of marijuana under state law. In 2013, voters set up a system for the medical use of marijuana in Massachusetts. Possession, distribution, or use of marijuana in any form remains illegal under Federal law, and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration recently reaffirmed the placement of marijuana on Schedule I, meaning that it has “no currently accepted medical use,” a “high potential for abuse,” and a “lack of accepted safety for [its] use.” However, in 2014 Congress enacted into law an Obama administration policy permitting states to implement medical marijuana laws, giving a subtle positive signal at least for medicinal use of marijuana. This week, Massachusetts voters again gave the green light to marijuana reform in…

Political Endorsements Have No Place In Canadian Courts: The case of Justice Zabel and the Trump Hat

AIOCLA’S 10 Best in California For Client Satisfaction

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PRESS RELEASE Samantha A. Greene Has Been Nominated and Accepted as a 2016 AIOCLA’S 10 Best in California For Client Satisfaction The American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys has recognized the exceptional performance of California’s Criminal Law Attorney Samantha A. Greene as 2016 10 Best Criminal Law Attorneys for Client Satisfaction. The American Institute of Criminal Law Attorneys is a third-party attorney rating organization that publishes an annual list of the Top 10 Criminal Law attorneys in each state. Attorneys who are selected to the “10 Best” list must pass AIOCLA’s rigorous selection process, which is based on client and/or peer nominations, thorough research, and AIOCLA’s independent evaluation. AIOCLA’s annual list was created to be used as a resource for clients during the attorney selection process. One of the most significant aspects of the selection process involves attorneys’ relationships and reputation…

“Clear and Obvious” Sentencing Error Does Not Affect Fairness of Judicial Proceeding

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Aaron Wikkerink had an extensive criminal history that included a conviction for a sex offense (aggravated incest that had resulted in an eight-year prison sentence) when he was arrested again in February 2014 in Shreveport, Louisiana on 41 counts of possession of child pornography.   In October of 2014, Wikkerink, through his attorney, entered into a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana in which he would plead guilty to one count of possession of child pornography in violation of U.S.C. § 2252A(a)(2).   U.S. District Court Judge S. Maurice Hicks, Jr. accepted the plea and ordered a presentence report (“PSR”). This is standard procedure in the federal sentencing scheme. Defense attorneys are served with a copy of the PSR at the time it is submitted to the court and the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Defense counsel can then to file written objections to the PSR and submit a sentencing memo to the…

Some California communities have sought to limit local participation in legal marijuana market

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Californians may have approved recreational marijuana use last Tuesday, but that doesn't mean they can expect weed shops to be as ubiquitous as 7/11s any time soon. Even before it passed, many municipalities had taken advantage of Prop. 64's provision leaving to local communities the authority to restrict the commercial...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/TiQu0aXMrMg" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>

Rural and Suburban Counties Set New “Tough on Crime” Agenda

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Crime reached unprecedented levels in the 1980s and early 1990s before it began a precipitous decline beginning in 1995. Experts from every field in the nation’s criminal justice system have offered reasons or speculation about what caused the decline.  The murder rate (although 2015 experienced a slight uptick in the nation’s 17 largest cities) is about one-third of what it was in 1992, when it peaked and crime in every category has been reduced.   While crime rates are historically low by modern measures, some politicians and elected prosecutors are using fear of increased crime, along with promises of stiff terms of imprisonment, as a rallying cry to garner political power and gain, as well as to remain, in elected office.   Dearborn Sends More People to Prison than San Francisco   The New York Times in a September 2 report, written by Josh Keller and Adam Pearce, has touched on interesting phenomenon: the geography of “tough on…

What is Disorderly Conduct? Is it a Serious Criminal Charge?

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Keeping the peace requires significant “behind the scenes” work in the form of rules, laws, law enforcement, and punishment. Massachusetts Laws establish what we are allowed to do within our state, and any type of behavior that goes against these laws may be punishable. Most states define disorderly conduct as any behavior that is likely to cause alarm, annoyance, or anger to other people, such as fighting or brawling, and public urination.  If you engage in these types of activities, you may find yourself behind bars.  Every state has different disorderly conduct laws. In Massachusetts, disorderly conduct carries fines of up to $150. But second and subsequent convictions can mean time behind bars with up to six months of jail time and a fine of up to $200. Disorderly conduct is typically a misdemeanor offense, but it can be a felony if the circumstances are especially damaging. For example, calling a school to falsely report a bomb may be a felony…

Gongola et al. on Public Sentiments on Juvenile LWOP

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Jennifer Gongola, Daniel A. Krauss and Nicholas Scurich (University of California, Irvine, Claremont Colleges - Department of Psychology and University of California, Irvine) have posted Life Without the Possibility of Parole for Juvenile Offenders: Public Sentiments on SSRN. Here is...

Expert Testimony…The Tutor the Breaks the issues Apart

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Trump vs Hillary is not the only debate that has raged in throughout the state of Michigan. The field of litigation has been in a battle over the concept of expert testimony. The battle for Expert Testimony is tug of war between Frye and Daubert. Frye being a concept of the past with Daubert being the new kid on the block. Expert testimony can make or break a case and to be clear, an expert is somebody that can testify in your litigation without ever seeing the evidence on a first-hand basis. In both civil and criminal litigation, the expert can be the game changer. Let’s discuss the dynamic between the two different tests: In Frye,¹ the court stated that scientific testimony is the key concept that the court will utilize in order to accept the testimony while determining if an expert is truly qualified. This left many very qualified people out in the cold because not all expert testimony requires one to be versed in science, in fact, sometimes one’s work…

Drugs, Kids, and Juvenile Justice in Texas

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Drug possession is one of the most common criminal charges that a Collin County teenager will face in Texas. In many cases, a teenager may run afoul of the law without realizing it. Even parents may not be fully aware…Read more ›

Rosenthal on Police Violence

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Lawrence Rosenthal (Chapman University, The Dale E. Fowler School of Law) has posted Good and Bad Ways to Address Police Violence (The Urban Lawyer, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Concerns about the use of excessive force by police,...

Minnesota Woman Blames DUI on Donald Trump

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We’ve shared stories of people giving some strange excuses as to why they are driving drunk, but this latest excuse may trump them all. According to police in Lino Lakes, a woman recently stated that the election results were partly to blame for her decision to get behind the wheel after drinking. Elizabeth Louis Lundberg, 33, was involved in a three-vehicle crash last Wednesday around 5:15 p.m., less than 24 hours after the completion of the Presidential election. When officers arrived on scene, they noticed that Lundberg had rear-ended another vehicle, which was then pushed into a third vehicle. Upon speaking to Lundberg, police noted that she exhibited slurred speech, bloodshot and watery eyes and that she seemed to be confused. They also reported that she became argumentative before failing the field sobriety tests, even breaking the breath testing machine at one point. Later, she told an officer that she was “upset over the outcome of the election and you…

Creative Sentencing: Nine Unusual Punishments

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We’ve all heard the adage: “Do the crime, do the time.” But what if the judge has some other punishment in mind, like carrying an embarrassing sign, working in a morgue, or getting married? It’s not uncommon for judges to get creative and try to send a message with their sentences, especially when the punishment is a condition of probation, community service or part of a plea deal. Still, creative sentencing is not without controversy. Occasionally it can go too far and violate the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments. Check out these nine unconventional punishments handed down by judges throughout the country in the past decade. What do you think – are they cruel and unusual or just creative? 1. Stiff a Cabbie, Take a Hike. Painseville, Ohio: Lake County Judge Michael Cicconetti has been making headlines for years doling out unusual punishments for first-time offenders. In August 2015, he gave an 18-year-old woman a…

Man Who Won $23K Lawsuit Against Florida Sheriff Arrested for Drugs

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Dontrell Stephens was awarded $23 million earlier this year by a federal jury after he was paralyzed from the waist down when shot by a Palm Beach County sheriff’s deputy after being stopped for riding his bicycle into traffic.  Now, he is facing felony drug charges for reportedly selling heroin, cocaine and marijuana in close proximity to a preschool. Authorities announced the arrest of the 23-year-old Palm Beach County man in a Facebook post with his mugshot and the hashtag “BUSTED.” It was the first arrest the agency announced since it posted news of an arrest in a 40-year-old murder case. A spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office said the announcement on Facebook had “nothing to do with who he is, but was because he was arrested for selling drugs near a day care.” Right… She also insisted the agency wasn’t trying to publicize the arrest because they hadn’t issued a press release to the media. Formal press release…

California voters weigh in on several important criminal law matters

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Charlotte Criminal Lawyer Brad Smith answers the question: “What are the long term effects of being convicted of a crime?” Millions of voters around the country are busy today making a number of important decisions, the biggest of which is about who will lead our country for the next four years. Though the significance of that question often overshadows other concerns, voters in some states, California chief among them, will also need to consider some important ballot questions that could have an important impact on criminal law for years to come. Let’s take a moment to discuss a few of these California proposals and what they might mean for citizens of the state should they become law. Continue reading →

Alleged Drunk Driver Crashes into Police Car in Brockton Area

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According to a recent news article from CBS Local Boston, a police officer from the East Bridgewater Police Department suffered severe personal injuries after he was hit by and alleged drunk driver while he was waiting at a red traffic signal.  The 24-year-old alleged drunk driver was placed under arrest and charged with operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol (second or subsequent offense), reckless driving, tailgating (following too closely), and failure to stop at a red light. Authorities have said the accident occurred around 1 p.m. as the officer was stopped at a red light at the intersection on Route 18 in the East Bridgewater area.  As the officer was waiting for the red light to change, the defendant allegedly crashed his 2013 Volkswagen Golf into the rear of the officers fully marked police SUV. When first responders arrived on the scene of this Brockton area car accident, they found the officer to be in serious, but stable, condition and…

How Many Expunctions Can a Person Get?

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I sometimes get this question from judges, lawyers, and individuals seeking relief. The answer is: As many as the law allows. North Carolina’s statutes establish precise requirements for obtaining an expunction, including conditions barring relief. Many of the statutes specify that a prior expunction of an adult criminal proceeding bars a later expunction (more on juvenile proceedings below). Some statutes contain no such language, however. Under the terms of those statutes, a person with a prior expunction can obtain a later expunction if he or she meets the other requirements for relief. There is not a general prohibition on a subsequent expunction. Here are the principal statutes providing for this result. Expunction under G.S. 15A-145 after expunction under G.S. 15A-146. Under G.S. 15A-145, a person may obtain an expunction of a misdemeanor conviction for an offense committed before age 18. (The statute also allows an expunction of certain alcohol offenses committed…

Hong on Rape by Malice

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Kari E. Hong (Boston College - Law School) has posted Rape by Malice (Montana Law Review (2017 Forthcoming)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: When people seek to reform rape law, the focus is on the actus reus — either...
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