A minister called the police to report the door of a warehouse across the street was open, and he felt something was wrong and it must be a break-in. The police respond and enter and see a marijuana grow operation. … Continue reading →
OH8: 911 call about a door open and a possible break-in justified police entry to check
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Internet Shaming of Connecticut Underage Drinkers (& their Parents) Has Got to Stop
Connecticut police are going to even greater lengths these days to bust underage drinking parties and arrest teenagers and their parents for distributing and possessing alcohol. Many of the top criminal lawyers / attorneys in Darien, New Canaan, Wilton and Greenwich Connecticut—the smaller Connecticut towns where underage drinking parties continue to take place—are seeing more arrests, and worse, the public shaming of these teenagers and parents on the internet. Police routinely release their names and mug shots to daily news websites, triggering an avalanche of bad press and reputation smearing. The irony? In spite of law enforcement’s anti-underage drinking campaigns to deter underage drinking, Connecticut police still can’t get it right… Connecticut Underage Social Hosting Arrests under CGS 30-89a Social Hosting arrests under CGS 30-89a in Darien, New Canaan, Greenwich and Wilton Connecticut, and well as felony…
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Defense of Immigrants in Las Vegas
Every year, thousands of immigrants come to Las Vegas. They are hoping for a new start, and perhaps a chance at the American dream. With Las Vegas continuing to grow, it’s no surprise why so many people choose to move here. There are just so many good jobs available. Unfortunately, like long-time residents, people who are considered immigrants sometimes run afoul of the law. For an immigrant who may still be learning English and isn’t familiar with the American justice system, being arrested and charged with a crime can be particularly traumatizing. They fear being sent to prison or receiving a sizable fine. Perhaps even more troubling, they wonder if they will be deported back to their nation of origin. These fears can be well-founded. Certain criminal convictions can certainly land a non-citizen in immigration court where they may be deported. The Department of Homeland Security also gets involved, usually trying to convince the immigration court that the…
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Nebraska Supreme Court decides "undocumented status" can be proper, but not conclusive, sentencing factor when deciding on probation sentence
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AZ: Computer search warrants get greater scrutiny; this one lacked all particularity and no GFE applies
Computer search warrants get greater scrutiny. The search warrant for defendant’s computer lacked any particularity, and it could not be saved by the good faith exception. State v. Dean, 2017 Ariz. App. LEXIS 12 (Jan. 12, 2017): P16 Because of … Continue reading →
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The “Rule of Primacy”, The Cornerstone to Effective Trial Advocacy: Plus Some Bonus Acting Tips
RULE OF PRIMACY: Following the “Rule of Primacy” is one of the easiest (yet most overlooked) ways for attorneys to improve their trial performance. If you’re a young attorney with aspirations of becoming the next Clarence Darrow you need to know and follow this rule (all great trial attorneys do). If you’re a presiding judge who believes in the value of mentoring young attorneys, the “Rule of Primacy” should be at the top of your constructive critique list to share with attorneys following a jury trial. So, what is the “Rule of Primacy”? The most important concept to remember in organizing your statements to the jury, whether during opening statement or closing argument, is the “Rule of Primacy:” Jurors tend to believe what they hear first and most frequently. What someone believes first is hard to change or dislodge. That’s why going first gives the prosecution in a criminal case or the plaintiff…
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Jim Crow’s Unwritten Code
Stephen A. Berrey, The Jim Crow Routine: Everyday Performances of Race, Civil Rights, and Segregation in Mississippi (2015). Anders Walker In The Jim Crow Routine, historian Stephen Berrey brings fresh eyes to the intricate set of legal rules that maintained racial segregation in the American South. Building on works like Leon Litwack’s Trouble in Mind: Black Southerners in the Age of Jim Crow and Neil R. McMillen’s Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow, Berrey focuses not on the rise or demise of Jim Crow so much as the manner in which it disciplined daily life. For average folks, argues Berrey, Jim Crow turned the South into a stage where whites and blacks learned to negotiate one another’s presence on the street, in stores, at the post office, and at work – according to elaborate, albeit unwritten, scripts. Taking Mississippi as a point of focus, Berrey demonstrates that Jim Crow involved a complex set of scripted…
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Today and all days, we shall overcome
Darkness cannot drive out darkness- MLK (Photo by Jon Katz, katzjustice.com) Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial (Photo by Jon Katz, katzjustice.com) The darkness of the upcoming Trump presidency is offset by the light of the lessons of Martin Luther King, Jr. Our law firm this and every year celebrates his birthday by being closed. Today, my son and I will join the annual peace walk on Martin Luther King Avenue, Southeast, in Washington, D.C. Then, we will perform service by going to one or more parks to remove trash. We will also have some fun together, because Dr. King’s vital message also was about liberation. Below is a reprint of my 2016 tribute to Dr. King: Martin Luther King, Jr., presented his immortal “I Have a Dream” speech when I was just four months old. When he was shot dead on April 4, 1968, I was only five years and three days old, and he was only thirty-nine. He would have been eighty-six years old on his January 15, 2016, birthday. I…
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The Limits Of Hero Worship
John Lewis stood with Martin Luther King in the 1960. He now sits in the House of Representatives as the Congressman from the 5th District of Georgia. On this Martin Luther King day, it is worthy to note that he is, without question, a civil rights leader deserving of a nation’s appreciation and respect. But that doesn’t mean his every utterance is above reproach. John Lewis is an elected official, and every elected official should be subject to scrutiny and criticism. It does not diminish his accomplishments, which stand on their own. But his accomplishments do not make him immune from criticism. And criticism of an elected official can come from high or low. Even from another elected official, no matter how incomprehensible it may be, for which he too should be criticized. The problem isn’t that he was criticized, but what he was criticized for and whether the criticism is sound. Lewis, D-Ga., told moderator Chuck Todd of NBC’s Meet the Press…
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RIDING A TIGER
THERE IS NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. A new President takes office in five days. Qi hu nan xia"When on the tiger's back, it's hard to dismount."Chinese Proverb.See You In Court. We've made a tidy sum on the November/December Trump rally. What area of Canada should we buy a ranch in? Site Feed
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The Children Of The Fight
Many remember Martin Luther King for the words that warm our hearts. Many white Americans focused on one line of King’s “I Have a Dream” speech — that he longed for the day when his children would “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” — and molded him into a gentle champion of colorblindness. There was far more than that, even if you don’t realize it, and contrary to the glowing homages you will see today, he was the subject of vast criticism at the time. The establishment responded bitterly to King’s speech. The New York Times editorial board blasted King for linking the war in Vietnam to the struggles of civil rights and poverty alleviation in the United States, saying it was “too facile a connection” and that he was doing a “disservice” to both causes. It concluded that there “are no simple answers to the war in Vietnam or to racial injustice in this…
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Incarceration rates and crime: A counter-intuitive relationship
The lock-em-up logic of mass incarceration holds that prison expansion keeps more criminals off the street and therefore reduces crime. But that's an hypothesis, not a fact. Luckily, differing incarceration policies among states in recent years have supplied a natural experiment to test the theory, which turns out to be full of holes. In fact, a new analysis from Pew analyzing the state-by-state data found that jurisdictions which reduced incarceration most saw higher drops in crime rates.Crime has declined across the western world and throughout the United States since the 1990s, but at the state level there have been variations. From 2010 to 2015, according to Pew, 35 states saw reductions in incarceration rates while 44 states saw reductions in violent and property crime.Digging more deeply, the states which reduced incarceration most saw higher crime reductions. "In the 10 states with the largest imprisonment declines, the crime rate fell an average of…
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CA6: Sheriff’s deputy relying on writ of execution didn’t violate 4A
Defendant deputy sheriff and the state court plaintiffs acting on a writ of execution issued by the trial court couldn’t be sued over it. Without even considering Tennessee’s post-judgment execution law and even assuming the writ was improperly issued, no … Continue reading →
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Delivery of Marijuana in Texas | Delivery of Marijuana Charges Defenses
In October 2015, Gallup polls reported that 58% of Americans favored legalization of marijuana. In October of 2016, Gallup released a poll showing 33 million Americans smoked marijuana. (Compare this to 40 million cigarette smokers.) Just this month, a Pew Research Center study shows an astonishing 68% of officers support legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. While possession of marijuana for personal use or medical becomes legal in a growing number of states in the United States, and jurisdictions in Texas decline prosecution of these charges, one thing is clear: the sale and delivery of marijuana is not expected to become legal in Texas anytime soon. Is it legal to grow marijuana in Texas? No. Growing marijuana will subject you to charges for possession of marijuana. Selling marijuana will result in charges for delivery of marijuana. Delivery of Marijuana in Texas Marijuana, under the Texas Health and Safety Code, is defined to include the “plant Cannabis…
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Delivery of Marijuana in Texas | Delivery of Marijuana Charges Defenses
In October 2015, Gallup polls reported that 58% of Americans favored legalization of marijuana. In October of 2016, Gallup released a poll showing 33 million Americans smoked marijuana. (Compare this to 40 million cigarette smokers.) Just this month, a Pew Research Center study shows an astonishing 68% of officers support legalization or decriminalization of marijuana. While possession of marijuana for personal use or medical becomes legal in a growing number of states in the United States, and jurisdictions in Texas decline prosecution of these charges, one thing is clear: the sale and delivery of marijuana is not expected to become legal in Texas anytime soon. Is it legal to grow marijuana in Texas? No. Growing marijuana will subject you to charges for possession of marijuana. Selling marijuana will result in charges for delivery of marijuana. Delivery of Marijuana in Texas Marijuana, under the Texas Health and Safety Code, is defined to include the “plant Cannabis…
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Turkey's Best Asset: #SaltBae
Turkey has the hottest, most sensual butcher, chef/restaurateur ever. His name is Nusret Gökçe, and his Instagram videos have now gone viral. Bruno Mars posted a photo of them together last week. Then James Corden did the hilarious clip... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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'Money is coined liberty': Bail where economic populism meets the justice system
Sitting in a czarist prison, Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote that "money is coined liberty." He could have been referencing 21st century American bail systems - long ago abandoned at the federal level and nearly everywhere else on the planet - in which one defendant may remain in jail while an identically situated person goes free, based entirely on who has access to cash.We're still waiting for soon-to-be-filed legislation aiming to reform Texas' bail system. Such legislation would implement recommendations from the Texas Judicial Council to move away from money bail toward the use of risk assessments (to a greater or lesser extent, as remains to be seen) in determining whether to incarcerate people pretrial. In the meantime, though, the topic of bail reform percolates continuously in other states and at the local level. Here are a few examples of which Grits readers should be aware:The Atlantic: How cash bail keeps the poor in jailLA Times:…
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Conflicts of Interest for Donald Trump
Discussing President-Elect Donald Trump’s conflicts of interest, attorney Page Pate had this to say on CNN New Day Weekend with Christi Paul, “We’ve never had a situation where the… read more → The post Conflicts of Interest for Donald Trump appeared first on Pate & Johnson Law Firm.
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$30 Million DUI Personal Injury Case In Iowa
A surprising face appeared in Iowa court as a witness earlier this month in the case of Cheryl Bronson. Bronson was the victim of a drunk driving accident and has suffered a number of injuries. Bronson also happens to be the aunt of Olympic gymnast and ‘Dancing With The Stars’ champion Shawn Johnson, who appeared in court as a witness for the plaintiff, her aunt. Bronson was once a golfer, and an Iowa Women’s pool champion in 2008, and due to her injuries is no longer able to participate in either of those activities. The incident caused her to suffer multiple fractures to her leg and although she has healed, she has had significant changes in her life. Bronson must now walk with a limp, has trouble walking, and has even had to move to a single story home. In addition to this, Bronson has 3 more surgeries planned for her injured leg in the future. Bronson’s Case Bronson’s injuries stemmed from being struck by a drunk driver, Ryan Foley, who plead…
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Getting Blood Evidence Excluded In A DUI Case In Okaloosa or Walton County
Recently, we have had success in local DUI cases by challenging the admissibility of breath or blood testing results. One way to attack these tests is to first determine if the test was administered involuntarily. If so, you may have a legal pathway to getting this evidence suppressed. This is especially common in DUI cases that stem from an automobile accident. It is officially called DUI with Property Damage. Single car accidents are generally charged as misdemeanors. The legal argument begins by asserting that the Defendant’s blood draw at the scene was involuntary and done so without probable cause. Three separate factors may support this conclusion: The Defendant was not arrested at the scene. The arrest warrant was not requested by the Officer until the blood testing results were received. The Officer may concede in the report that probable cause was not determined until after the blood testing results were received. Secondly, we assert that not only is probable…
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