IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 4/16/2017 at 3:50 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office *****Update***** On April 16, 2017, at approximately 11:39 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a commercial vehicle rollover crash westbound Interstate 84 at milepost 184, west of Hazelton. The commercial vehicle was driving westbound on Interstate 84, when the driver had a medical emergency. The semi drifted into the median, continued across the eastbound lanes of travel, and rolled. The semi came to rest on the eastbound shoulder, blocking the westbound lane of the frontage road, south of Interstate 84. The driver succumbed to their injuries at the time of the crash. Names of the driver and…
Update - Crash Blocks Interstate 84 West of Hazelton
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Federal Sentencing Remains a Journey of Uncertainty
There was a time when federal sentencing was rather straightforward. A convicted defendant, either through a guilty plea or a jury verdict, appeared before a judge to face sentencing. The judge would consider a pre-sentence investigation report, entertain suggestions made by the prosecution, and consider arguments for leniency made by the defendant. The judge then had the discretion within the parameters of a statute—a minimum to a maximum—from which to fashion an appropriate sentence. In effect, federal judges had unfettered sentencing discretion within statutory parameters. This discretion led to significant sentencing disparities. For example, a judge would impose a sentence of two years on one defendant and 10 years on another defendant for relatively similar conduct; or a judge in one district would impose a twenty-year sentence on a defendant while a judge in another district would give the defendant probation for similar conduct. Concern for…
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Legislative Session Ends With Unresolved Marijuana Issues
Lawmakers celebrated the end of the state’s annual legislative session with balloons and confetti falling from the ceiling, but despite hundreds of passed bills not all elected officials left Annapolis feeling a sense of accomplishment. There were a few criminal law bills that passed the General Assembly including a measure that will classify human trafficking involving a minor as a sex offense, which will require a defendant to register upon conviction. In addition, lawmakers passed several bills taking aim at the heroin epidemic, a battle that the governor has greatly emphasized. But as has been the case for the last five years, marijuana once again dominated the criminal law headlines, and arguably stole the show for the entire legislative session. The irony in all of this is that medical marijuana is already state law, and has been for a few years now. Despite the lack of groundbreaking news on the topic it just keeps sparking intense debate, and this year the debate…
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Hit & Run Accident
In Michigan a driver who has reason to believe that he or she has been in an accident has a responsibility to stop the vehicle at the scene of the accident and remain there. Failure to comply can result in a criminal prosecution under either State law or local ordinance, depending upon the circumstances. According to Michigan Compiled Law 257.619 the driver has other responsibilities as well: First, the driver must provide his or her name and address, the vehicle owner’s name and address, and the registration number of the vehicle to a police officer, the individual struck, or the driver or occupants of the other vehicle or vehicles involved in the accident. Continue reading
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Reviewing the realities of a new sheriff in charge at the US Department of Justice
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News Flash: Harvard Can't Stomach Jeff Sessions
Sentencing Law and Policy has an entry today about the Sessions era at the Justice Department. It quoted The Hill magazine, which starts off:Attorney General Jeff Sessions has brought sweeping change to the Department of Justice. In just two months as the nation's top cop, Sessions has moved quickly to overhaul the policies and priorities set by the Obama administration....Alex Whiting, faculty co-director of the Criminal Justice Policy Program at Harvard Law School, said it appears Sessions is resurrecting the tough on crime policies last seen during the George W. Bush administration. "Obama moved away from that approach, and I think in the criminal justice world there seemed to be a consensus between the right and left that those policies, those rigid policies of the war on drugs and trying to get the highest sentence all the time, had failed," he said. "I don't know if he is really going to be able to persuade the department to…
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News Scan
More MS-13 Victims in New Jersey: Police suspect that the butchered bodies of four young men found last Thursday in a New Jersey RV park were more victims of the brutal MS-13 gang. The New York Daily News reports that the victims ranging in age from 16 to 20 were killed with a sharp edged instrument. Because of the brutality of the killings, the gang, which uses machetes and baseball bats to kill its victims, is the prime suspect. Gang members are already in custody for the recent murders of several other New Jersey teens including two girls aged 15 and 16. MS-13 is a Salvadorian street gang known for its brutality, which was formed in Los Angeles and has spread throughout the country. Federal Judge Blocks Arkansas Executions: A Federal District Judge issued a preliminary injunction Saturday to block the executions of two Arkansas murderers scheduled to be carried out Monday. Alan Blinder of the New York Times…
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Forfeiture Law: Minnesota Legislature Protects Marriage, Brings Back Innocent Owner Defense for Co-Owners
Imagine that you are married to someone who has been struggling with alcohol addiction. Your spouse has been sober for an encouraging length of time. Then one day you get a call. Your spouse has had a slip and been arrested for DWI. The police have seized your $40,000 car – the one he or she was driving at the time – for administrative forfeiture. That doesn’t feel right, does it? Could it be the last straw that stresses and breaks a struggling relationship, leading to another failed marriage? Effective August 1, 2017 in Minnesota, as an innocent owner you will now be able to challenge the forfeiture of your vehicle to the government in court and assert the “innocent owner defense” even where your spouse was the DWI driver of that vehicle – thanks to the Minnesota legislature and Governor this year. The new law, which amends Minnesota Statutes Section 169A.63, subdivision 7, effectively overrules…
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FBI Most Wanted – Jaime Jesus Sola Avila
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Jaime Jesus Sola Avila, a convicted felon, is wanted for his alleged involvement in a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme that operated between Miami, Tampa, and Largo, Florida, in 2007 and 2008. Avila’s last known residence was in Doral, Florida. He has ties to the Westchester area of Miami, Florida. Avila allegedly recruited unqualified buyers […] The post FBI Most Wanted – Jaime Jesus Sola Avila appeared first on Mortgage Fraud Blog.
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Operating a Motor Vehicle without a License, The Prosecutor and the Facebook Pos
This post examines a recent opinion from the Court of Appeals of Kentucky. Huff v. Commonwealth, 2017 WL 1102994 (2017). The court begins the opinion by explaining that it granteddiscretionary review in this case to address Appellant's contentions that (1) the trial court erred when it failed to strike a juror for cause for violating Kentucky Revised Statutes 29A.310(2); and (2) a Facebook post made by the prosecutor in Appellant's case disparaging the jury trial process in an unrelated matter one week prior to Appellant's trial created a substantial likelihood of prejudicing the defendant. Huff v. Commonwealth, supra. This is how the court explains the second issue:Approximately one week prior to Huff's trial, the prosecutor, Perry Arnold, posted the following comment on his Facebook page in regard to a criminal matter unrelated to Huff's trial:`I want to thank all the jurors who showed up today…
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6 Failed Ways That Smugglers Have Attempted To Move Drugs
Drug smuggling is difficult and quite frequently hazardous, especially when illegal drugs are being moved across the border. Drug smugglers are regularly challenged to find new ways of moving their smuggled cargo past security checkpoints or drug dogs. Sometimes these efforts prove successful but other times results are arrest and shocking headlines for the rest of us. Some recent drug smuggling busts not only shocked but amused readers at the lengths drug traffickers will employ to get their product from the fields and labs to the U.S. market place. The following are some of these stories: Fake Carrots. Can you tell a real carrot from a bunch of drugs wrapped up in orange tape? The law enforcement officers along the U.S.-Mexico border sure can. In January of this year, customs officers seized almost $500,000 worth of pot that was being shipped across the border wrapped in orange tape shaped to look like a carrot. Not surprisingly, image scans, along with…
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Final Update - Crash Blocks Interstate 84 West of Hazelton - photo now available
Newsrooms can now download an ISP crash scene photo from our archived news releases at http://idahostatepolice.blogspot.com/ IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 4/17/2017 at 11:13 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office *****Final Update***** Family notifications have been made. The driver was Joe Townley Jr, age 78, of Anderson, California. The passenger was Mark Zahler, age 57, of Brooklyn, New York. 3435 /3632 *****End of Update***** On April 16, 2017, at approximately 11:39 a.m., the Idaho State Police investigated a commercial vehicle rollover crash westbound Interstate 84 at milepost 184, west of Hazelton. The commercial vehicle was driving westbound on Interstate 84, when the driver had a…
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Kantorowicz-Reznichenko on Reviving Day Fines
Elena Kantorowicz-Reznichenko (Erasmus University Rotterdam) has posted Day Fines: Reviving the Idea and Reversing the (Costly) Punitive Trend (American Criminal Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Fines have numerous advantages as a criminal sanction. They impose minor...
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"Should NC sex offenders pay to be on registry?"
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Charged with DUI: What Happens in Maryland?
One of the most common questions I get, and it usually gets asked at a cocktail party or event where alcohol is served: What Happens If I’m arrested for DUI in Maryland? Attorney Randolph Rice is a Maryland DUI and DWI defense attorney. Before he defendant clients charged with DUI and DWI in Maryland, he was an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore County, Maryland. He prosecuted thousands of DUI cases and has defended clients charged with DUI since 2009. Most people ask: How Do I Get Out of a DUI? The answer is, don’t drink too much and then get behind the wheel of a vehicle. That’s the easiest way, but most people aren’t looking for that answer. They want to know what they should do if they are pulled over and the police officer suspects they are driving while impaired or driving under the influence. DUI Lawyer Baltimore As I said before, don’t drink too much and then get behind the wheel of a car. Use the common ridesharing apps like…
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The Judge Did What?
There were a couple of death penalty protests in Arkansas on Friday. That is not unusual as an execution approaches. But look who was among the protesters. Phil McCausland reports for NBC:An Arkansas judge will be barred from ruling on death penalty cases and could be disciplined after he attended two death penalty protests on Friday -- the same day that he blocked a spate of executions scheduled by the state.On Monday, the Arkansas Supreme Court reassigned all of the death penalty cases that Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Wendell Griffen would have overseen -- following reports and photos of him strapping himself to a cot in front of the governor's mansion on Good Friday in a protest of the state's lethal injection policy."Judge Wendell Griffen is referred to the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission to consider whether he has violated the Code of Judicial Conduct," the order states.But it wasn't immediately clear how…
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Former Knicks Favorite Charles Oakley Arraigned on Assault Charge
New York Knicks favorite Charles Oakley made his first court appearance last week since his arrest and ejection while attending a game at Madison Square Garden. Oakley, 53, was arraigned in criminal court in Manhattan on misdemeanor assault and other charges before being released without bail. Prosecutors have accused Oakley of striking a security guard in the February incident. They believe two other people who intervened were pushed and received cuts. In court, prosecutors read into the record a statement Oakley made after his arrest alleging that Knicks owner James Dolan kept him under watch for no reason. “Every time I come to the Garden, Dolan has security guards following me,” Oakley said, according to the prosecutors. “Every time I come to the Garden it’s a problem. I buy my own ticket. I don’t want to feel like I owe them anything. I had a couple of drinks before the game but nothing at the game.” The former NBA player told The…
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VA: PC for arrest for reckless driving wasn’t stale after three hours
The officer saw defendant recklessly driving, but wasn’t able to stop him. Staleness for arrest for that did not dissipate within three hours before he saw defendant again. Hairston v. Commonwealth, 2017 Va. App. LEXIS 99 (April 11, 2017) (see … Continue reading →
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AK: Street rumor supplemented by controlled buy was PC
The CI passed on information from others that was virtually only a street rumor that he then corroborated with a controlled buy. The totality was probable cause. Hart v. State, 2017 Alas. App. LEXIS 59 (April 14, 2017). The officer … Continue reading →
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Expiration Date Follies
The reason Arkansas is trying to rush executions is that its batch of one of the execution drugs is nearing its "expiration date." Does something magical happen to a bottle of a drug when that precise date arrives? Does it turn into something else at the stroke of the clock, like Cinderella's coach turning into a pumpkin?Of course not. Drugs have a shelf life, and the "expiration date" is the manufacturer's very, very conservative estimate of how long we can be confident, without testing, that the purity and potency of the drug has not deteriorated below acceptable limits by the passage of time alone, as long as the drug has been stored under the proper conditions.But throwing drugs away simply because that conservative estimate date has arrived is not always required, particularly if the drug is expensive or in short supply. See this post from 2014 and the quote from Johns Hopkins.The Food and Drug Administration and…
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