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Oscars Time

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The Oscars have begun. Here's a thread to discuss them. ACLU ribbons were a big hit -- many of the stars wore them. Some red carpet photos that don't take too long to load. The OJ show won an Oscar (since when do Oscars give awards... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Michigan DUI Lawyer – The high cost of Being Honest

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It’s hard to say this without sounding conceited, but I’ll try anyway: as a Michigan DUI lawyer, I am rather successful, both in terms of the excellent results I produce for my clients and the busy nature of my practice.  Probably more than anything else, I am most proud of being an honest lawyer, because it takes conscious effort to do that.  It would be much easier (and a hell of a lot more profitable) to be a lawyer who simply tells people what they want to hear.  In the context of a Michigan DUI case, it goes without saying that everyone wants to “beat” the charge against them, or otherwise have it “knocked out” of court.  Every person charged with OWI hopes that the evidence in his or her case is somehow flawed in a way that can get the case dismissed.  In theory, there are millions things that could be wrong with the evidence, but in the real world, those flaws don’t occur often enough to make getting your…

Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act – creatively using administrative law principles to overturn an indictment: United States v. Ross, _ F.3d _ (D.C. Circuit, No. 11-3115, February 24, 2017)

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In 1999, Anthony Ross was convicted in 1999 of sexual assault, a misdemeanor offense.  In 2009 he moved from D.C.  to Ohio. In 2010   he   was   indicted   for   failing   to   register   with   local   authorities pursuant  to  the  Sex  Offender  Registration  and  Notification Act (“SORNA”), which criminalizes the offense of  “travel[ing]  in interstate  or  foreign  commerce,”  and  “knowingly  fail[ing]”  to  update  [the]  registration  when  required  by  the  act  to  do  so. 18 U.S.C. § 2250(a). Ross unsuccessfully moved to dismiss the indictment and, after entry of a conditional guilty plea, appealed. He advanced two grounds, the first based on the fact that his conviction preceded…

D.Nev.: Govt responds it won’t use evidence seized at trial so motion for return of property or to suppress granted

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The government seized defendant’s iPad and but didn’t search it because they didn’t have a password. Finally, they decided not to attempt to use it as evidence, so the motion for return of property is granted. The government didn’t intend … Continue reading →

W.D.Mo.: The occupant’s stepping back from the door and opening it showed consent to enter to look for def

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Officers could conclude that the occupant consented to entry when the police knocked and they said they were looking for somebody inside, and she backed away and opened the door more. United States v. McDaniel, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 25372 … Continue reading →

CO: SW for things that could transmit pictures to a computer fairly included a digital camera

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The search warrant was for digital images and was for computers, storage media, and things that could transmit pictures to the computer. That fairly included defendant’s digital camera. People v. Raehal, 2017 COA 18, 2017 Colo. App. LEXIS 199 (Feb. … Continue reading →

Being Interconnected

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Drucilla Cornell & Karin van Marle, Ubuntu Feminism: Tentative Reflections, 36 Verbum et Ecclesia (2015). Margaret Davies For a number of years, Drucilla Cornell has been studying and reflecting upon ubuntu,1 an African term expressing the idea that humans come into being through interconnectedness and that therefore they have a being, understanding, and set of obligations that emerge in their interconnections. The 2015 article authored by Cornell and South African scholar Karin van Marle summarises ubuntu, compares it with classical Western individualist notions of the self, and considers what it has to offer to Western feminism. The article not only serves as an introduction to a significant African concept, but also challenges Western legal feminism to reflect on its foundational concepts. Although this particular article is relatively short, it is very rich in detail and offers a number of intriguing directions for further reflection and action. In this brief review,…

Divorce Financials: Using a Tax Return to Find Income and Assets

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While consumers generally hate income tax returns because of their complexity, they can be invaluable sources of information in divorce proceedings. Not only do they provide insight into prior years’ earnings, they can also point to assets and sources of income. They may be used to unearth financial information that a spouse omitted from the financial disclosures, and can hold subtle clues to otherwise unknown financial details. For example, assets are sometimes sold by the spouses to generate cash. Many times this may be a taxable transaction reported by the purchaser to the taxing authorities. Therefore, such a transaction will be required to be reported on the income tax return, and this may help unearth a hidden asset or provide clues to concealed cash. Information on income and assets can be found within the personal income tax returns in the following areas: Form 1040 – The first two pages of the personal income tax return will show a summary of the…

Half A Crime

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There was once a time when the rarified air of federal court wasn’t commonly befouled with the banal stench of defendants accused of drug crime. But the war on drugs in the 1970s changed that, and a defendant might well find himself one of the unfortunates who faced penalties magnitudes harsher than state judges would mete out for no better reason than “it’s Tuesday.” The Drug Enforcement Administration was created in 1973. Conspiracy became the darling of federal prosecutors, especially when they needed no overt act for drugs as opposed to any other conspiracy. Forfeiture was beloved by Americans who wanted to take the profit out of crime. Heady times. But Americans began to tire of the War on Drugs, both because it was expensive and we were losing it. Badly. And in time, people came to doubt that Reefer Madness was a documentary, and voted in states to legalize marijuana, first as medicinal and later as recreational. As it turned out, the horrors drug…

THE SAO: TWO VIEWS

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We received two comments with two different views on the SAO under State Attorney Katherine Fernandez-Rundle.Here they are for your consideration: Anonymous said... It is such a tired line the worship of Reno and the hatred of KFR. Reno was a great person and we have not had an AG Since with her integrity. That said, Reno was the State Attorney when crime was totally out of control in this city. There were double the number of murders and robberies that there are today. German Tourists were being killed regularly by armed robbers. Kathy has been SA during one of the greatest drops in crime and has done many innovative things such as setting up states first human trafficking unit, insurance fraud unit. She disbanded the narcotics unit and increased the staffing of the career criminal unit. All the while Rick Scott destroying her ability to retain staff by giving no raises for 8 years and cutting all employees pay by 3 percent. Not saying she or that office are perfect but…

Georgia Court Addresses When An Independent Chemical Test May Be Requested

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One of the biggest concerns that often arises for criminal defendants dealing with a DUI is whether the chemical test that they took, such as a breathalyzer test, was accurate and not contaminated. While defendants may seek to attack the results of a breathalyzer test at trial, another way to address this issue is to request an independent test when stopped on suspicion of DUI. A recent case before the Georgia Court of Appeals considers whether a defendant properly requested an independent test following submission to the state administered chemical test. In January 2014, F.F. was driving her truck when she ran it off the road and into a tree. Shortly thereafter, a trooper arrived at the scene to investigate the accident. When the trooper arrived, F.F. was still sitting in her vehicle. The trooper noticed the odor of alcohol and saw that her eyes were watery. He asked her to blow into a portable alcohol sensor and determined that she was under the influence of alcohol. F.F.…

States' rights Trumped: An ode to forgotten federalism

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Okay, we've heard a lot about federalism and states' rights from Governor Greg Abbott over the years. So will we now hear an outcry from the governor after ICE agents showed up at a Texas state district court and arrested an undocumented domestic violence victim who'd just received a protective order from an elected Texas judge? See the details here.Nine percent of Texas' workforce are illegal immigrants. That's a lot of people, and a lot of women and kids, to boot. Will other undocumented domestic violence victims now resist reporting their abusers to authorities because petitioning a Texas court for protection could mean they'll be arrested? Won't kids who are physically or sexually abused face the same hesitation to report serious crimes? Think about it: Is that a good idea?Having ICE agents show up at Texas state courts is a slap in the face to the state from a President for whom it voted overwhelmingly. It's just plain disrespectful…

And The Oscar Goes Too

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Meta Prologue: In the first post today, Trump’s shallow, ignorant grasp of law, Constitution and governance is discussed with regard to federal enforcement of marijuana laws. In this post, the alternative is juxtaposed, as social justice rhetoric proves itself just as shallow and ignorant. The question isn’t which is better, as people will pick the lesser of two evils or the side most closely alsigned with their personal issues, but to note that both reflect an untenable depth of ignorance. It’s die by knife or drowning in the cesspool, but either way, you’re gonna die. When the brilliant and beautiful Roxane Gay decided to condemn Nate Parker for being acquitted of rape, and the New York Times found this worthy of its precious real estate, it reflected the modern social justice conundrum. Not even a black man, tried and acquitted, could be permitted to move on in the court of racial and gender justice. Casey Affleck won the Best Actor Oscar. There…

Will a Justice Gorsuch be a strong SCOTUS voice against over-criminalization?

Can What I Said Years Ago Be Used Against Me in a Sex Crimes Case?

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A sex crimes charge can permanently brand the accused as a “sex offender” in the eyes of the law and the public. One factor to keep in mind is not all sex crimes involve physical assault. For example, if a person “engages in a sexual act” in the “presence or virtual presence” of a child, he or she may be charged with “sexual exploitation.” This is a misdemeanor for a first offense but a felony if the defendant has any prior sex crimes conviction. Ex-Wife's Testimony Used to Convict Defendant In pursuing a sex crimes case, Illinois prosecutors will not hesitate to introduce any evidence designed to make the defendant look as bad as possible to the jury. Judges are supposed to keep unduly “prejudicial” evidence away from the jury, but prosecutors still have quite a bit of leeway in making their case. This includes allowing evidence that supposedly proves a defendant's motive or intent. Consider a…

SCOTUS grants cert on (yet another) AEDPA habeas procedure case

Put A Lid On The Basket Of Deplorable Supporters

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Depending on the poll, there are between 38-42% of the American people who still approve of the vulgar talking yam.  This is roughly the same percentage of Americans who don't believe in evolution, by the way.  These stalwarts are getting a lot of attention in the media -- earnest perspectives about why their views have not changed after a month of madness (it's not because they are ignorant racists, of course) and what it would take to persuade them to become part of the resistance.  But I don't care what they think, why they think it, or whether their feelings are hurt by liberal outrage.  And I especially don't care about what Democrats can do to win them over -- which is nothing.These are people who voted for Trump despite the fact that he rose to political prominence by promoting the racist birther lie about Obama -- and then lied about it.  Despite the fact…

Senate Judiciary Committee this week to consider two (holdover) nominees to US Sentencing Commission

Today's criminal law/procedure cert grant

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Issue summary is from ScotusBlog, which also links to papers: Wilson v. Sellers: Whether the court's decision in Harrington v. Richter silently abrogates the presumption set forth in Ylst v. Nunnemaker – that a federal court sitting in habeas proceedings...

The Best And Worst Criminals Of The Year – The 2nd Annual Criminal Oscars

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If you’re a fan of movies, you probably caught a bit of the Oscars last night. Aside from some confusion when Best Picture was announced, the night was filled with award winners being honored for their work in films. We have a similar tradition here at Appelman Law Firm, only we don’t recognize movie stars, we recognize the best and the worst the criminal world brought us in the past year. Below, you can check out our second annual awards show for the best and worst criminals in this year’s Oscars – Crime Edition. (View last year’s award winners by clicking here) 2017 Criminal Oscar Winners Here’s a look at some of the nominees and award winners: Best Original Piece The nominees: Avery Gets Reckless Driving Ticket Tossed For Two Clients, I Got A Ticket For Texting and Driving in Minnesota. A lot of our blogs come from firsthand knowledge, but these two stories stood out from the rest as they provided a firsthand perspective throughout their…
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