Driving While License Suspended (DWLS) is one of the most common criminal charges you’ll find in the courts, particularly in the Metro-Detroit area of Wayne, Oakland and Macomb Counties. In a very real way, these cases are also the easiest money-makers for the court system. Because DWLS and DWLR (Driving While License Revoked) charges are misdemeanor criminal matters, they deserve to be taken seriously; certainly, the possibility of forever having a criminal conviction stuck on your record is worth the effort to avoid that in the first place. From my perspective (I’m in court for up to 20 cases in a typical week, so I wind up handling a lot of suspended license cases), these matters are sometimes over-hyped by lawyers who use “fear based” marketing techniques, while other times overlooked by both lawyers and the public alike because actually going to jail is highly unlikely except for multiple, repeat offenders. To that last…
Michigan DWLS and DWLR Charges – Suspended License Cases in the Detroit-Area
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CA11: RS justified home search by PO when door opened and MJ could be smelled, plus more, not that it mattered
POs came to defendant’s place for a home visit. When the door was opened, the officer could smell marijuana. He asked for defendant and the man answering the door said defendant didn’t live there. He asked for defendant’s girlfriend who … Continue reading →
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CA5: Handing over one’s phone in response to “do you mind if I look through your phone?” is consent
Defendant’s stop 30 miles from the border in a corridor known for smuggling was based on reasonable suspicion. When defendant was asked “do you mind if I look through your phone?”, he handed it over, and that was consent. United … Continue reading →
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W.D.Mo.: Email SW to Google was particular, and target has no 4A right to notice of the SW
“Courts have repeatedly upheld courts’ ability to issue warrants outside their respective district under the S[tored] C[communications] A[ct]. The computer system was in California with Google. The email warrant was for nearly everything for 13 months, and it wasn’t overbroad. … Continue reading →
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Two on qualified immunity
It was not sufficiently clear that the officers’ actions here in aiding a repossession violated the Fourth Amendment, so they get qualified immunity. “However, there is sufficient daylight between the Officers’ conduct here and the conduct in Cochran and Hensley … Continue reading →
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WaPo: Want Medicaid coverage? A drug test should come first, Wisconsin governor says
WaPo: Want Medicaid coverage? A drug test should come first, Wisconsin governor says by Paige Winfield Cunningham: Now that House Republicans have squandered their shot at reordering Medicaid, governors who want conservative changes in the health program for low-income Americans … Continue reading →
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Out of Luck
Child pornography cases are hard. The people charged with such offenses often suffer serious mental health conditions or survived traumatic events. Penalties for child pornography offenses are severe. And the images of abuse are terrible—so terrible, in fact, that few defense attorneys would ever want to try a child pornography case to a jury. The theory goes that, once the jurors see the awful images, their desire for recrimination will make consideration of nuanced defenses about the defendant’s intent nearly impossible. United States v. Luck illustrates just how few arrows are in defense counsel’s quiver when defending child pornography cases.Lindell Luck was charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. Both charges require proof that the images possessed and distributed depict child pornography. In an effort to focus on other elements (and perhaps to…
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Effective January 1st, 2017 in order to pass NY vehicle safety inspection your window tints must be in compliance with the law
Since the beginning of 2017 New York State has made being window tint compliant a requirement to pass the required annual safety and emissions inspection. New York’s Window Tint Law is contained in NY VTL Sec. 375 12-a. The particular degree of window tinting in terms of which windows must be tinted is dependent upon whether the vehicle is a passenger vehicle or a truck. Passenger vehicles are defined at station wagons, sedans, hardtops, coupes, hatchbacks and convertibles. Pick up trucks and SUV’s, even when not commercial vehicles, are considered trucks. As part of the annual inspection the inspection station will have to inspect your windows with a light transmittance meter for the amount of light that transmits, or passes, through the window. The window tint cannot block more than 30% of light. In other words, the tint has to be light enough to allow 70% light transmittance. There are, however, exceptions to this rule. The first exception is that for all…
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Ecuador Elections: Leftist Candidate Lenin Moreno Wins
Julian Assange is happy tonight. Leftist candidate Lenin Moreno has been declared the winner in Ecuador's presidential election. Moreno defeated right-wing ex-banker Guillermo Lasso. Earlier Sunday, dueling exit polls had each of them winning.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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More than Half of 2016 Exonerations Involved No Crime
The number of exonerations in the United States rose again in 2016. Many of the wrongful convictions were in Texas and more than half of them were related to cases in which no crime was committed. The annual report from the National Registry of Exonerations found the number of exonerations rose to 166 last year, CBS reported. The registry found a record 94 of last year’s 166 exonerations came from cases in which no crime was committed. Texas had more exonerations than any other state last year with 58. Illinois was second with 16, followed by New York with 14 exonerations. Approximately two-thirds of the 94 cases lacking a crime were related to convictions for drug offenses while 16 were for sex crimes. Harris County in Texas had the highest number of exonerations in the country. Arrests in the Houston area led to 48 of the drug cases. Lab tests later revealed these defendants did not have illegal substances on them. Five such cases were recorded in Oregon. In Texas, a…
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Examining distinctive state laws on home growing marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes
Among the many exciting topics for student presentations in my Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform seminar this coming wee is a look at "recent trends and varying approaches in allowing/restricting home growing marijuana for medicinal or recreational purposes and the plant count and possession limitations these laws impose." As preparation...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/M3GTzj2TIMk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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News Scan
Texas Deputy Killed in Shooting: A Texas state deputy lost his life Monday morning after being shot outside of a courthouse. Fox News reports that Assistant Chief Deputy Constable Clint Greenwood, a 30-year veteran of the police force, was shot and killed outside of a Baytown courthouse Monday morning. The officer was administered aid at the scene and lifeflighted to the nearest hospital, but unfortunately the officer succumbed to his injuries. The shooter remains at large. NY Cop-Killer Sentenced to Life: The man convicted of killing New York police officer, Randolph Holder, during a chase in October of 2015 has been sentenced. Katherine Creag at NBC New York reports that career criminal, Tyrone Howard, has been sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole. Holder and his partner were responding to reports of shots fired as Howard had been involved in a gunfight with rival drug dealers just before he was confronted by the two officers. He stood before a…
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Tampering with Physical Evidence: Is Throwing Drugs or Contraband to the Ground Prior to or During an Arrest a Crime in New York
Although not exclusive to drug and marijuana crimes, otherwise fairly simple offenses such as Seventh Degree Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance, New York Penal Law 220.03, and Fifth Degree Criminal Possession of Marihuana, New York Penal Law 221.10, are often complicated when the police not only arrest a person for possessing heroin, molly, MDMA, adderall, oxy, cocaine, ecstasy, marijuana or any other drug, but also charge that person with an additional crime when he or she attempts to hide or dispose it before the police can get their respective hands on controlled substance. In these circumstances the NYPD or other local police department often charges the accused not only with the PL 220.03 or PL 221.10, for example, but also with either Tampering with Physical Evidence or Attempted Tampering with Physical Evidence, a class “E” felony and class “A” misdemeanor respectively. While the latter offense, New York Penal Law 215.40, is punishable…
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Stevenson & Mayson on Bail Reform
Megan Stevenson and Sandra G. Mayson (University of Pennsylvania Law School and University of Pennsylvania Law School) have posted Bail Reform: New Directions for Pretrial Detention and Release (In Academy for Justice, A Report on Scholarship and Criminal Justice Reform...
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“The Best Criminal Lawyer in Toronto” …and other marketing falsehoods
"The best criminal lawyer in Toronto" ...and other marketing falsehoods. "I’ve wrestled with alligators. I’ve tussled with a whale. I done handcuffed lightning, and throw thunder in jail. You know I’m bad. Just last week, I murdered a rock, injured a stone, hospitalized a brick. I’m so mean, I make [...]
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US v. Blackwell, No. 16-10287 (4-3-17)(Per Curiam: Leavy, Fletcher, & Owens). The 9th holds that Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996 (MVRA) amended the Victim and Witness Protection Act (VWPA) so that any restitution ordered terminates 20 years from the entry of judgment or 20 years after the defendant's release from imprisonment. The MVRA amended the VWPA and did not affect substantive rights. The ex post facto clause does not apply.The decision is here:http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2017/04/03/16-10287.pdf
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Illegal Search and Seizure Results in Reversal of Gun Possession Conviction
We Fight Illegal Search and Seizure At a hearing on a motion to suppress an illegal search and seizure, a Boston police officer testified about responding to a radio broadcast for someone wanted in connection with a domestic assault and battery. The broadcast identified the license plate of the car the suspect might be in, the vicinity it was in and warned that he may have a gun. The officer continued that the victim of the domestic assault and battery went into the station to report the crime. After the motion judge made her findings the defense attorney requested factual clarification. After some additional inquiry the judge struck the portion of the officer’s testimony regarding the victim’s in person report of the domestic assault and battery. However, in denying the motion to suppress the judge found sufficient independent corroboration based on the broadcast stating that the vehicle was heading towards the defendant’s mother’s home. In fact, there…
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Republicans Threaten Nuclear Option to Confirm Gorsuch
Democrats are close to having the required votes to defeat Neil Gorsuch. Republicans will then change the rules to allow passage by 51 votes (the nuclear option.) If that means that radical right justices like William Pryor can be confirmed by... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Understanding the New DOJ Compliance Guidance: Part 2 – Autonomy, Resources, and Staffing
This is the second in a series of posts where we will explore critical elements of a successful compliance program. In February, the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section offered a new perspective on what the government expects in an anti-corruption compliance program, in the form of a series of questions that companies should be prepared to answer about their program. The guidance offers companies a roadmap for building or assessing their compliance program. In this series, we will explore recent and past guidance on key compliance topics, as well as key takeaways for companies of all sizes. *** It would be a mistake for companies to dismiss the Fraud Section’s recent guidance, which one high-level DOJ official suggested may be used more broadly by DOJ’s Criminal Division, as business as usual. It is not just more of the same. The guidance does more than merely flesh-out existing direction; it operationalizes compliance. …
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Injury Crash on I-84 near Meridian
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: Monday-April 3,2017 12:30 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On Monday, April 3, 2017, at approximately 7:50 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a two-vehicle, injury crash on I84 at milepost 44, near the Meridian exit ramp. Loretta Drake, 31, of Nampa, was driving a 2013 Chevrolet Cruze in the right lane. Jacob Thurber, 25, of Boise, was riding a 2005 Honda motorcycle when he initiated a lane change and the motorcycle struck the rear of the Chevrolet. Thurber was wearing a helmet and was transported via ground ambulance to St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. Drake was wearing a seatbelt and was not transported. The lane was partially…
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