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New 2017 Federal Drug Policy from Attorney General Jeff Sessions

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Last week, the Attorney General of the United States sent a memo to all the Offices of the U.S. Attorney General around the country, including the one overseeing the Northern District of Texas that prosecutes federal crimes here in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It’s a big deal for anyone facing criminal charges here in Texas, or who is (or suspects they are) being investigated for violating a federal crime.   If you are arrested for a federal drug crime in 2017 here in Texas, then you’re facing some serious jail time under the federal sentencing guidelines.     May 11, 2017 DOJ Memo from Sessions to All Federal Prosecutors For your convenience, the entire memo has been uploaded into the Michael Lowe Digital Library; read it here:      Immediate Change to Federal Position on Drug Charges Set Up By Eric Holder The memo is effective immediately.  Federal prosecutors in the Northern District of Texas must comply with its…

Insurance as the Big Bad Wolf of Big Data

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Max N. Helveston, Consumer Protection in the Age of Big Data, 93 Wash. U. L. Rev. 859 (2016). Daniel Barnhizer In this insightful and well-researched article, Consumer Protection in the Age of Big Data, Professor Max Helveston arguably has opened stage two of a movement in contracts scholarship assessing the dangers and opportunities presented by large scale data aggregation for contract law and practice. Specifically, recent decades of contract scholarship have explored generalized issues surrounding information era contracting practices by producers with access to extraordinary amounts of data regarding their consumers. We could (but probably shouldn’t) refer this early stage as the “Oh crap! What does it all mean?” inquiry; it is probably better to stick with “Big Data & Contract 1.0.” That early stage examined the rapidly changing landscape of consumer-producer interactions in the early Internet and information-era context. The gist of…

The Comey Obstruction Memo And Trump’s Mens Rea (Update)

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To read the New York Times, there is no question but that the story is totally, completely, absolutely, irrefutably true. “I hope you can let this go.” Those are President Trump’s words, according to the former F.B.I. director, James Comey… No “allegedly.” No caveat of the details that appear in the buried in the original story. Mr. Comey shared the existence of the memo with senior F.B.I. officials and close associates. The New York Times has not viewed a copy of the memo, which is unclassified, but one of Mr. Comey’s associates read parts of it to a Times reporter. And yet, media start screaming from the rooftops that this happened, that this is fact. And it may very well be fact. Or perhaps mostly accurate. Or not at all, since at this point Jim Comey has yet to confirm its truthfulness and no one has seen this memo. Yet, as the New York Times informs us, “those are the presidents words, according to…Comey.” …

Betty Shelby’s Defense: Trained To Shoot Too Soon

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The defense rested in the case against Tulsa Police Officer Betty Shelby, who shot and killed Terrence Crutcher, after calling prosecution witness Homicide Sgt. Dave Walker as its own witness. He was called to smear Crutcher, though it’s unclear how much got to the jury: Constant objections and bench conferences didn’t allow him to say much after the defense tried to ask about Crutcher’s criminal background and outstanding warrants. Walker said the fact that Crutcher had warrants for his arrest at time of the shooting was important for his investigation into Shelby’s actions on that evening. But that wasn’t the crux of the defense. Rather, it was Betty Shelby’s words that were offered in explanation. Shelby told defense attorney Shannon McMurray that police training videos showed her that if suspects are allowed to reach into their vehicles, “they can pull out guns and kill you,” which is why deadly force can be warranted.…

Kopf: Yossarian’s Revenge

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One of the greatest novels of the 20th century is Joseph Heller’s Catch-22. The novel is set during World War II. It follows the life of Captain John Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Force B-25 bombardier. As most everyone knows, the title Catch-22 has become a figure of speech.  The best explanation comes from the omnipotent eye of Heller: There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to, but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of…

May I Still Drive My Car After a DUI

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In May of 2016, the legislature modified the Vehicle Code to allow a person to obtain an interlock license  for almost any Driving After Imbibing offense.  The changes are due to begin fifteen months from the legislation which is quickly approaching effective August 25, 2017.  These changes allow any person to obtain an Interlock Driver’s […]

DA: No criminal charges will be filed in fatal Amtrak derailment

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An Amtrak derailment in 2015 that caused the deaths of eight people and injured 200 others was determined to be caused by an engineer who was operating the train at excessive speed, but the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced this week that no criminal charges will be filed in connection to the crash. A lengthy investigation into the crash reportedly revealed that the engineer became distracted just moments before the fatal crash which resulted in “situational awareness,” an article by Philadelphia Patch reports. Following the investigation, authorities decided not to press criminal charges. Read more: Criminal Defense Lawyers, Philadelphia, PA “We cannot conclude that the evidence rises to the high level necessary to charge the engineer or anyone else with a criminal offense,” the district attorney’s office said in a statement that was released in the article. “We have no evidence that the engineer acted with…

How Failing a Field Sobriety Test Can Lead to a DUI Charge

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When an Illinois police officer suspects you of DUI, you may be asked to take one or more field sobriety tests. By law you do not have to agree to such tests. Moreover, if you take a test and “fail,” based on the officer's judgment, it may be used against you as evidence in court. Court Rejects Peoria Officer's Arrest Based on HGN Test However, not all field sobriety tests are afforded the same weight by judges. Nor does failure necessarily prove that you were intoxicated above the legal limit in Illinois. Therefore, it is important to challenge any test result that may be inaccurate or improperly administered by the police. Consider a recent DUI case from Peoria County. The defendant was riding his motorcycle when he crashed. A local police officer responded at the scene and cited the defendant for numerous traffic violations and charged him with DUI. The basis for the DUI arrest was a common field sobriety test known as a Horizontal…

Sturm & Tae on Mass Incarceration

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Susan P. Sturm and Haran Tae (Columbia Law School and Yale University - Law School) have posted Leading with Conviction: The Transformative Role of Formerly Incarcerated Leaders in Reducing Mass Incarceration on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This report documents...

Indiana University Health and Healthnet pay $18 million to settle kickback allegations

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On April 27, the Department of Justice announced that Indiana University Health, Inc., and HealthNet, Inc., had agreed to pay $18 million to settle charges, initially brought by a whistleblower, the at the providers violated the kickback laws. According to DOJ’s press release: The Department of Justice announced today that Indiana University Health Inc. (IU Health) and HealthNet Inc., have agreed to pay a total of $18 million to resolve allegations that they violated federal and state false claims laws by engaging in an illegal kickback scheme related to the referral of HealthNet’s OB/GYN patients to IU Health’s Methodist Hospital. Under the settlement agreement, IU Health and HealthNet each will pay approximately $5.1 million to the United States and $3.9 million to the State of Indiana. *   *   * The Anti-Kickback Statute prohibits, among other things, the knowing and willful payment of any remuneration to induce the referral of services…

Quest Diagnostic pays $6 million to settle allegations that lab it acquired violated kickback rules

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On April 28, the Department of Justice announced that Quest Diagnostics agreed to pay $6 million to settle allegations that a California laboratory it acquired in 2011 had, until Quest ended the practices, violated Medicare’s Antikickback Statute. According to DOJ’s press release: Quest Diagnostics Inc. has agreed to pay $6 million to resolve a lawsuit by the United States alleging that Berkeley HeartLab Inc., of Alameda, California, violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to physicians and patients to induce the use of Berkeley for blood testing services and by charging for medically unnecessary tests. Quest, which is headquartered in Madison, New Jersey, acquired Berkeley in 2011, and ended the conduct that gave rise to the settlement. *   *   * Physicians refer their patients to independent laboratories like Berkeley to conduct tests on blood samples. According to the government’s complaint, Berkeley paid kickbacks to referring…

Furniture importers pay $275,000 to settle False Claims Act allegations for evading customs duties

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On May 1, the Department of Justice announced that a Texas-based furniture importer, one of its executives, and its agent had agreed to pay $275,000 to settle allegations that the company submitted false claims to evade customs duties on furniture made in China. According to DOJ’s press release: The Department of Justice announced today that Import Merchandising Concepts L.P. (IMC) and two individuals, Glen Michaels and Alan Lewis, have agreed to pay $275,000 to resolve allegations that the company improperly evaded customs duties on imports of wooden bedroom furniture from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), in violation of the False Claims Act. IMC imports, among other things, bedroom furniture that is sold for use in university student housing. The company is headquartered in Addington, Texas. Glen Michaels is an IMC executive, and Alan Lewis was an IMC agent. *   *   * The settlement announced today resolves allegations that IMC, led by…

DOJ intervenes in second qui tam against UnitedHealth in two weeks

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On May 2 and again on May 16, the Department of Justice announced that it was intervening in whistleblowers’ suits against the insurance giant UnitedHealth Group, Inc., alleging that the company mischarged federal health care programs for prescription drugs. Both suits allege that the company obtained inflated “risk adjustment” scores for beneficiaries insured under the Medicare Advantage (Part C) program. According to the May 2 press release: The United States has intervened and filed a complaint in a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UHG) that alleges UHG obtained inflated risk adjustment payments based on untruthful and inaccurate information about the health status of beneficiaries enrolled in UHG’s largest Medicare Advantage Plan, UHC of California, the Justice Department announced today. Yesterday’s action follows the government’s intervention in February of this year in United State ex rel. Poehling v. UnitedHealth Group. Inc.,…

Terrific effort to sort out "How Many Drug Offenders Benefited From the Holder Memo That Sessions Rescinded?"

3 Ways To Challenge Prostitution Charges

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When it comes to prostitution in Minnesota, the legal statutes are somewhat undefined and they are always changing, so there are a couple common avenues we always explore when putting together a legal defense. Today, we take a closer look at these three common defenses, and we explain why they are worth pursuing in each case. Three Prostitution Defenses Here’s a look at three defenses that a good criminal defense lawyer will look into when trying to form a narrative of events. 1. Entrapment – The first defense a lawyer may look into is entrapment. Entrapment occurs when a police officer or another government official entices a person to commit a crime that they otherwise would not commit. As you might imagine, entrapment can be a little difficult to prove in a court of law because you need to prove to that the action would not of otherwise happened, and sometimes judges or juries look at the police officer and the defendant and make assumptions without hearing the…

Profiles In Cowardice: "It Is What It Is"

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Sen. Howard Baker (R-Tenn): "What did the president know and when did he know it?""Nixon’s tactics backfired because the system of checks and balances clicked into place; the public demanded that the president be held accountable for his actions, and Republicans stopped defending him at every turn, putting country above party.  But will that happen again now?"  -- Elizabeth Holtzman, former U.S. representative from New York and member of the House Judiciary Committee during WatergateThere is already a prima facie case for obstruction of justice.  The allegations include (1) Trump fired FBI Director Comey as he was  ramping up an investigation into what Trump himself referred to as "this Russia thing with Trump and Russia," and (2) he did so after Comey refused to pledge his loyalty to the president; (3) Trump asked Comey three times whether he was under investigation; and (4) Trump requested…

Capers on "The Ex"

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I. Bennett Capers (Brooklyn Law School) has posted Re-Reading Alafair Burke's The Ex (New England Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Alafair Burke’s best-selling novel The Ex is certainly entertaining. What enhances its entertainment value several times...

They'll Say Anything, Part Ten Zillion

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The Brennan Center is a far left organization that occasionally tells us the truth, as it did in revealing the extent of the murder spike over the last two years:  "With violence at historic lows, modest increases in the murder rate may appear large in percentage terms. Similarly, murder rates in the 30 largest cities increased by 13.2 percent in 2015 and an estimated 14 percent in 2016."Oh, OK. That would be that, in our 30 largest cities, murder has increased by more than a quarter in the last two years  --  the biggest spike over the shortest time in American history.But the Brennan Center is undeterred. In its release two days ago, a prescription for a "federal agenda to reduce mass incarceration, it holds forth:While lawmakers should aspire to the bold changes to federal sentencing described above, Congress can start with a milder first step: reintroducing and passing the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act of 2015. This proposal…

The Animal Abuse and Cruelty Laws of Texas

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An accusation of animal abuse in Texas is a serious charge. If you’ve been accused of abusing livestock or a pet animal, you need help from a criminal defense lawyer in Houston. The laws protecting animals in Texas are complex and challenging to understand. In some cases, a conviction of an animal abuse crime can bring a harsher sentence than your action merits. It’s important to know that Texas animal cruelty laws protect only wild animals in the care or control of a facility or domesticated animals. Have you or someone you know been charged with animal abuse in the greater Houston area? Contact attorney Brett Podolsky today and receive the best legal defense possible. Certain activities may bring misdemeanor liability, such as not providing food, water, and shelter to an animal, while others are considered felonies, such as torturing animals. Depending on the charge severity, you may face jail time, fines, or both. If you’ve been accused of an act of animal…

Charged with a Property Damage Crime in Texas? Here’s What to Expect

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If you’re charged with a property damage or criminal mischief crime in Texas, you may be charged with intentional-deliberate destruction or damage to property belonging to public or private parties. The type of offenses typically include: accidental damage (e.g. after... The post Charged with a Property Damage Crime in Texas? Here’s What to Expect appeared first on The Law Office of Greg Tsioros.
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