If you are ever charged with a crime in Ohio, it is very important to consult with a qualified legal professional, who can help you effectively deal with the charges and will work to protect your criminal record from unnecessary harm. Such was the case for a 32-year-old Ukrainian woman when a retail theft charge [...]The post Theft Conviction Avoided for Woman in Danger of Deportation appeared first on Columbus Criminal Attorney.
Theft Conviction Avoided for Woman in Danger of Deportation
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Cramer on The Murder/Burglary Rate and Drug Abuse
Clayton E. Cramer (College of Western Idaho) has posted The Murder/Burglary Rate Correlation as a Proxy for Drug Abuse on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Murder and burglary rates are very strongly correlated: much more so than any other crimes...
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“Driving Under the Influence of Coffee” Charges Dismissed
In my previous post Driving Under the Influence of…Caffeine?, I reported on pending criminal charges against a citizen for driving under the influence of …yes, coffee. This was after an ABC agent (California Alcohol Beverage Control) was apparently upset when she claims to have been cut off by the "erratic" driver and she stopped and arrested him. Subsequent blood tests showed no alcohol or drugs of any kind in his system. Zero. Despite this, the Solano County D.A. filed DUI charges against the driver. He has, of course, consistently refused to plead guilty and has demanded a jury trial. Yesterday, after almost a year-and-a-half, the D.A. finally dismissed the DUI charges…. DA Drops DUI Charge for Man Who Tested Positive for CaffeineSolano County, CA. Dec. 30 — The Solano County District Attorney’s Office decided Wednesday to drop a DUI charge against a Fairfield man who only tested positive…
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First-Degree Murder, the Cell Site Simulator and the Fourth Amendment
This post examines an opinion from the Court of Special Appeals of Maryland: State v. Andrews,134 A.3d 324 (2016). The court begins the opinion by explaining that[t]his case presents a Fourth Amendment issue of first impression in this State: whether a cell phone—a piece of technology so ubiquitous as to be on the person of practically every citizen—may be transformed into a real-time tracking device by the government without a warrant.On the evening of May 5, 2014, the Baltimore City Police Department (BPD) used an active cell site simulator, without a warrant, to locate Appellee Kerron Andrews who was wanted on charges of attempted murder. The cell site simulator, known under the brand name `Hailstorm,’ forced Andrews's cell phone into transmitting signals that allowed the police to track it to a precise location inside a residence located at 5032 Clifton Avenue in Baltimore City. The officers found Andrews sitting on the couch…
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Third Circuit reverses (short) sentence based in part on "bare arrest record"
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Have A Little Heart
Some things are simply hard to explain. Why is there something rather than nothing? How did self-conscious beings arise out of lifeless star dust? And, how can prosecutors be so cold-hearted? To help answer question number three, above, we’re going to review a recent case. To mentally prep you, let’s start with some stretching exercises. For sentencing purposes, assume that drugs are bad, and selling them is even worse. Contrary to what you’ve seen on TV, most of the drug sales force out there consist of poor people trying to support their habit. They don’t own fast cars or 22″ rims. And, it’s probably a myth that they’re “selling” anything. Philosopher Chris Rock argues that no one really “sells” drugs–drugs sell themselves. If you can get someone to buy life insurance, you’re a sales person with real sales skills. I’m just saying. Anyway,…
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Koops on Criminal Investigation and Privacy in Italian Law
Bert-Jaap Koops (Tilburg University - Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TILT)) has posted Criminal Investigation and Privacy in Italian Law on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The law regulating criminal investigation both legitimates and limits the government’s use...
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What Happens to a First-time Petty Theft Offender
If you have been charged with petty theft, you might be wondering what to do next and asking yourself where you went wrong. At Luftman, Heck & Associates, we understand that shoplifting or other petty theft crimes are often a one-time mistake or occurred because you were pressured by your peers. The desire to be [...]The post What Happens to a First-time Petty Theft Offender appeared first on Columbus Criminal Attorney.
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Possession And Under The Influence Of A Controlled Substance
FENTANYL MAKES FOR GRIM STATISTICS AS WE CLOSE OUT 2016 Prince was one of thousands of people who died last year after overdosing on fentanyl. The number of deaths attributed to fentanyl overdoses is rising almost exponentially. Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid, is said to be from 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and so powerful that heroin addicts report they can no longer get high off heroin after using fentanyl. Developed over 50 years ago as a “safe alternative” to morphine, its purpose was to treat severe pain. And it is still prescribed, although strictly controlled, to treat cancer pain and as an anesthetic during surgery. The New York Times recently reported that fentanyl fatalities are surpassing heroin fatalities in much of the country and as part of a national trend that is expected to continue. Drug overdose fatalities are increasing, in no small part due to the rise of fentanyl abuse. For the first time in New York City’s…
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Bell on Race
Jeannine Bell (Indiana University Maurer School of Law) has postedtwo articles on SSRN. The first is Can't We Be Your Neighbor? Trayvon Martin, George Zimmerman, and the Resistance to Blacks as Neighbors. Here is the abstract: The Civil Rights Act...
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CT Supreme Court Reinstate's Michael Skakel's Conviction
The Supreme Court of Connecticut has reinstated Michael Skakel's murder conviction. The conviction had been overturned on a habeas petition, with the lower court finding Skakel's attorney rendered ineffective assistance of counsel. The... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Articles on "Dangerous" Sex Offenders in the Community
Several articles on the above topic, published in the Erasmus Law Review, have been posted on SSRN. The first is Lucia Martinez and Jorge Correcher Mira (University of Valencia and University of Valencia), Legal Constraints on the Indeterminate Control of...
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D.Me.: Detaining def, taking his hotel room key, and moving him from outside the hotel to just outside his hotel room was an arrest; but here with PC
Detaining defendant, taking his hotel room key, and moving him from outside the hotel to just outside his hotel room was a clear indication to defendant he was under arrest. On the totality of circumstances, however, there was probable cause … Continue reading →
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M.D.Fla.: “We can do this the ‘easy way or hard way’” doesn’t make otherwise voluntary consent invalid
“We can do this the ‘easy way or hard way’” doesn’t make otherwise voluntary consent invalid. United States v. Jackson, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175964 (M.D.Fla. Nov. 16, 2016), adopted, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 175505 (M.D. Fla., Dec. 20, 2016): … Continue reading →
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W.D.N.Y.: CI with good track record isn’t less believable because she had a relationship with the def which “soured”
The CI in this case had a track record. Then she was involved with defendant, and then she set defendant up, too. The fact their relationship “soured” didn’t undermine her credibility on the question of probable cause. United States v. … Continue reading →
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Convicted Florida Drug Dealer Gets 30 Years Prison for Fatal Drug Overdose
Drug trafficking is a serious offense in Florida, and it can lead to decades behind bars for those convicted. The failed War on Drugs for years pushed this arcane agenda that often led to even low-level offenders serving many years in prison. Today, even as some of those minimum mandatory penalties for possession have been rolled back, dealers of illicit drugs still face hefty punishment. Additionally, as addiction to heroin and prescription opioids has become epidemic nationally, prosecutors are increasingly looking to hold responsible doctors and dealers for fatal overdoses. That can mean a possible life sentence for simply writing a prescription or a single, low-level drug deal. That’s what happened recently in Palm Beach County, where a federal jury sentenced a 25-year-old man to 30 years in prison for supplying a 23-year-old man the dose of fentanyl on which he later fatally overdosed. In what is believed to be the first federal prosecution of its kind, The Sun…
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A Twit Of Treason
As treason may be committed against the United States the authority of the United States ought to be enabled to punish it: but as new tangled and artificial treasons have been the great engines by which violent factions, the natural offspring of free governments, have usually wreaked their alternate malignity on each other, the Convention has with great judgment opposed a barrier to this peculiar danger by inserting a Constitutional definition of the crime. –James Madison, Federalist 43, as reported in the New York Times, January 25, 1861 Whether the policy decision or its execution suit your pleasure, President Obama took action against Russia and, in response, Vladimir Putin did not. Naturally, PEOTUS felt compelled to twit. Brilliant? Moronic? Somewhere in between? Not yet sure? Fair enough. But that wasn’t everyone’s reaction. Treason? The word gets mentioned, but as a suggestion. But of course, George Takai isn’t a lawyer (nor, in fact, a Star…
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WaPo: Fatal shootings by police remain relatively unchanged after two years
WaPo: Fatal shootings by police remain relatively unchanged after two years by Kimbriell Kelly, Wesley Lowery, Steven Rich, Julie Tate and Jennifer Jenkins: Through Thursday, law enforcement officers fatally shot 957 people in 2016 — close to three each day … Continue reading →
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D.Md.: Extended border search from customs at JFK to locked warehouse in Maryland
The extended border search doctrine applied to a package shipped from China through customs at JFK and then to a warehouse in Bowie, Maryland. It was under lock and key, even on the truck, from customs to the warehouse where … Continue reading →
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Is There A Logic Of Empathy? A Thought To End 2016
When Sonia Sotomayor noted empathy as a trait in favor of her appointment to the United States Supreme Court, it evoked some concern. Her statement broke from the view espoused by Ruth Bader Ginsburg at her confirmation hearing. In her speech, Judge Sotomayor questioned the famous notion — often invoked by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and her retired Supreme Court colleague, Sandra Day O’Connor — that a wise old man and a wise old woman would reach the same conclusion when deciding cases. “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life,” said Judge Sotomayor, who is now considered to be near the top of President Obama’s list of potential Supreme Court nominees. Is empathy, “the capacity to experience the feelings of others, and particularly others’ suffering,” a good thing? It would…
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