A defendant appealed his DUI conviction under the theory that evidence of his prior DUI conviction was wrongfully admitted at trial. In June, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on the case for the second time. At the core of the issue was the mechanism lower courts use to decide the admissibility of extrinsic act evidence under Rules 404(b) and 403 of the Georgia Evidence Code. While these laws do not apply in Illinois, the case is still instructive for people charged with an Illinois DUI in terms of showing the importance of evidence admissibility issues. Rule 404(b) provides that evidence of other crimes should not be admissible to prove the character of a person in order to show action in conformity therewith. It may be admissible, however, for other reasons, such as opportunity, intent, motive, absence of mistake, or others. The prosecution must provide notice to the defense in advance of trial unless excused by the court. Rule 403 provides that relevant evidence may be…
Georgia Supreme Court Holds Probative Value of Appellant’s Prior DUI Conviction Outweighed by Danger of Unfair Prejudice
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Reuters: U.S. regulators drop fraud case against Wall Street financier Wey
Reuters: U.S. regulators drop fraud case against Wall Street financier Wey by Brendan Pierson: (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators on Friday moved to drop their fraud case against Wall Street financier Benjamin Wey, about a month after prosecutors dropped a … Continue reading →
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Court of Appeal Orders New Trial for Father Because of Expert’s Fraud on the Court
In a groundbreaking decision last summer after a 147 day trial, Mr. Justice Paul Walker of the British Columbia Supreme Court found that B.C.’s child protection authorities had negligently permitted a father to sexually abuse his children while the youngsters were in the custody of the Ministry. The Court found that the government’s failure to protect the children was “egregious, negligent, and a breach of duty” and government social workers showed a “reckless disregard to their obligation to protect children.” The evidence before Mr. Justice Walker included expert evidence from Californian Dr. Claire Reeves who had been an expert witness at the 90 day family law trial that preceded the action against the Ministry by several years. Dr. Reeves’ expert opinion played a significant role in the original finding that this father had sexually abused his children. The parties agreed that her expert evidence from the family law trial would be…
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Larkin on The Federal Clemency Process
Paul J. Larkin Jr. (The Heritage Foundation) has posted Reorganizing the Federal Clemency Process (The Heritage Foundation, No. 206, May 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The President relies on the Department of Justice to filter out ineligible applicants...
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Reason.com: In Warrantless Cellphone Search Case, It’s the Trump Administration vs. the 4th Amendment
Reason.com: In Warrantless Cellphone Search Case, It’s the Trump Administration vs. the 4th Amendment by Damon Root: The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments sometime in its coming term in one of the most significant Fourth Amendment cases in … Continue reading →
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Week of August 28 - September 1, 2017
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News Scan
Judge: Sex Offender Registry Unconstitutional: A federal district judge in Denver has ruled that Colorado's sex offender registry violates the Constitution's Eighth Amendment. Kirk Mitchell of the Denver Post reports that District Judge Richard Matsch found that the registry exposes sex offenders to a "serious threat of retaliation, violence, ostracism, shaming and other irrational treatment from the public; directly resulting from their status as registered sex offenders..." The judge also announced that the state's registry violates the 14th Amendment due process clause. The ruling came in a 2013 civil case filed by three sex offenders.Sheriff's Deputy Killed by Repeat Felon: A 21-year veteran of the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department was gunned down Wednesday by a habitual felon wanted by both state and federal law enforcement. The Associated press reports that shooting suspect Thomas Daniel…
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Gordon on Mutual-Support Programs in Drug Courts
Sara Gordon (University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law) has posted The Use and Abuse of Mutual-Support Programs in Drug Courts (University of Illinois Law Review, 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: There is a...
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Levinson on Substantive Due Process
Rosalie Berger Levinson (Valparaiso University Law School) has posted Kingsley Breathes New Life into Substantive Due Process as a Check on Abuse of Government Power (Notre Dame Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For over twenty-five years...
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Labor Day Weekend Open Thread
The Rolling Stones and Guns 'N Roses singing "Salt of the Earth." My favorite song for Labor Day. Here's one of my favorite statue/sculptures, in downtown Omaha, at the Lewis & Clark landing, along Omaha's Missouri River... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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A Different Harvey Descends On Houston
In 2013, Matt Harvey emerged as one of the great young pitchers in baseball -- a dynamic force who appeared on his way to becoming one of the most exciting players in Met history. Every one of his starts was celebrated by Met fans as "Harvey Day." But after injuring his elbow, almost exactly four years ago, and undergoing Tommy John surgery, the promise of a great career seems to be fading. Harvey returned in 2015, and helped the Mets make it to the World Series. But it has all gone downhill since his brilliant start in Game 5 ended ignominiously when he insisted on taking the mound in the ninth inning with the Mets leading 2-0. He surrendered a walk and a double, leading to a devastating loss of the game and the series. Since then Harvey hasn't seemed right, physically or mentally. He pitched poorly in 2016 before succumbing to season-ending surgery, and…
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The Show Will Go On (But Without Me)
Calls come in all the time about doing TV shows. The truth is that they don’t really care about you, but that they can fill air time, which means they need you to show up, speak words, appear somewhat credible and kill time until the next TV commercial. What? You thought you were brilliant? But sometimes, you get an odd call, such as a show about, say, an old case of yours, where you, rather than some other random attorney, are necessary. The first question you ask yourself is why? Why would I want to waste my time to do this? They don’t pay. There’s nothing in it for you. It’s old news and the only people who will ever watch it are the terminally unemployed. There isn’t even a wisp of a prayer they will ever retain you. In fact, they’ll never remember your name, as the dead air will fill up with someone else within the hour. Then comes the call, begging, imploring, that you give up a few hours and do it. Sigh. Fine, whatever. The chat…
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Short Take: MLK’s Seal of Approval On Violence
The DailyKos is still around, much to the pleasure of conservatives, for whom it provides a perfect foil. And, finally, I naïvely believed that liberals will finally take the threat of people who deny my humanity and call for my death seriously. Instead, I’ve noticed a growing (and, frankly, confusing) pushback on Antifa from progressives. Suddenly, people who were supposedly on my side are denouncing a group of folks who organize against the people who will boldly march the streets shouting racist and anti-Semitic phrases. Individuals like Cornel West have explicitly said that Antifa activists have saved their lives, yet I see (white) liberals spending more time squabbling about alleged Antifa violence than pondering about what they’re doing to fight fascism and dismantle white supremacy. There is one dilemma facing progressive calls for action. They can’t grasp that their jargonistic hysteria isn’t the least bit convincing to anyone but them. They…
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QUE EL ADULTERIO SEA LEGAL
Si pelean tanto por convertir en legal la homosexualidad, exijo que hagamos lo mismo con el adulterio que, de lejos, es menos bochornoso que permitir que dos seres del mismo sexo se unan en sagrado matrimonio.¿Porque los hipócritas se guardan sus opiniones donde nunca llegará el Sol y se pronuncian respecto de las cuotas partidarias IGUALDAD entre mujeres, hombres y homosexuales REQUISITO INDISPENSABLE para poder participar en las elecciones? ¿Alguien se opone?, de pronto el "hermano de dios", pero como está por encima del común mortal debe tener mucho miedo que lo bajen al lugar que le corresponde. Ahora unos versos madurados a lo largo de esta semana Milagros en primer lugar Pasan por la vida con perversos y grandes ojos negros, azules, verdes o marrones que pudieron ser preciosos. Saben todas las preguntas tienen todas las respuestas, son un campo minado, destructoras dulcificadas por Lucifer. Mensajeras del…
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Social costs of incarceration in Houston are high
For Grits' ever growing to-read pile: "The Criminal and Labor Market Implications of Incarceration" (2014) studying Harris County.ABSTRACT. This paper investigates the pre- and post-release impacts of incarceration on criminal behavior, economic wellbeing and family formation using new data from Harris County, Texas. The research design identifies exogenous variation in the extensive and intensive margins of incarceration by leveraging the random assignment of defendants to courtrooms. I develop a new data-driven estimation procedure to address multidimensional and non-monotonic sentencing patterns observed in the courtrooms in my data. My findings indicate that incarceration generates modest incapacitation effects, which are offset in the long-run by an increased likelihood of defendants reoffending after being released. [emphasis added] Additional evidence finds that incarceration reduces post-release employment and wages, increases take-up of food stamps,…
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E.D.Wis.: Long protective weapons search applied to inside screen door where officers believed they saw a gun stashed
As officers saw defendant on the street at 11:40 pm, and they saw what they thought might be a gun in his pocket. They turned around, and he got to his house, stashed the object inside the door, and came … Continue reading →
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NH: No constitutional prohibition of state court issuing SW for records stored out of state
There is no constitutional prohibition from a state court issuing a search warrant for cell phone records of a provider doing business in the state even when the records are physically located in another state. Territoriality in the statute applies … Continue reading →
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What is Criminal Charge Stacking?
Criminal Charge Stacking Sometimes when law enforcement officers makes an arrest, they charge as many crimes as they can at once. Police have the right to use their discretion when asserting criminal charges, and they sometimes err on the side of caution and assert more charges than is actually fair. This processes is known as criminal charge stacking and it affects many criminal defendants in Massachusetts. You may have heard of police making numerous charges in an attempt to see what charges stick after being scrutinized by the court, that is exactly what charge stacking is. Sometimes charges will be asserted against a criminal defendant that are not substantiated by the facts surrounding the alleged crime or arrest. By asserting so many charges, the police are making it clear that the criminal defendant did something wrong and in violation of the law in the police officer’s opinion. Why is Charge Stacking Bad for Criminal Defendants? Charge stacking is troubling for…
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What Kind of Lawyer Do You Need to Fight DUI Charges in Las Vegas?
When you have been charged with a DUI in Nevada, the most sensible thing you can do is to hire a Las Vegas DUI defense lawyer. However, most people mistakenly believe that all lawyers are the same. This may lead them to waste time interviewing attorneys who do not normally deal with DUI charges. If you have been arrested under NRS 484C, then you need an experienced practitioner like the attorneys at Potter Criminal Defense. As you begin your search for a qualified attorney, you need to be prepared to ask several questions. For instance, you’ll want to ask the lawyer what area of the law they focus their practice in. If you’re facing DUI charges, then you want to hire an attorney who routinely helps clients who are confronted with a similar situation. It is possible for lawyers to focus their practice in hundreds of legal areas. Some lawyers handle complex business litigation while others help with complicated real estate transactions. Still others assist clients to…
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After Return from Prison, Friends Can Be Key to Success or Failure
New research highlights the importance of friends in determining whether returning prisoners will commit new crimes. A considerable body of prior research has demonstrated the importance of family relationships to the returning prisoner, but a new study John Boman and Thomas Mowen suggests that peer relationships may exert an even greater influence over success or failure. Boman and Mowen collected data on a sample of 625 serious and violent male offenders, including their self-reported substance abuse and new criminal activity over a fifteen-month period after release from prison. The data also included the offenders’ assessment of their family support and the criminal histories of their closest friends. After controlling for a number of variables, Boman and Mowen identified several factors that proved to be statistically significant predictors of post-release recidivism. The protective factors (i.e., the variables associate with lower levels of…
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