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Sixth Circuit Vacates Convictions Because of District Court's Failure to Hold Remmer Hearing to Determine Scope and Impact of Juror Misconduct

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After jury deliberations had commenced a juror contacted a state prosecutor, who was not involved in the case, and expressed concern about the way the deliberations were going. The state prosecutor informed the juror that they could not discuss the matter and later contacted the district court to report the juror's call. The juror never raised any issue with the court or any of its personnel. The jury returned guilty verdicts not long after the juror's call to the state prosecutor, and a report from a court officer that the jury was "very clearly divided into two groups this morning and they're angry with each other." The district court denied the defendants' post-trial motions including motions to interview jurors. The case is United States v. Lanier, Nos. 16-6655/6657.The Supreme Court's decision in Remmer v. United States, 347 U.S. 227 (1954), Established for District Court's a duty  to "investigate a colorable claim of…

Two motorcyclists killed in Augusta I-95 crash during charitable ride.

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According to news reports from Augusta, Maine, two motorcyclists were killed Sunday afternoon while participating in  a charitable ride for children’s toy donations. It was a major crash that resulted in the closure of the two northbound lanes of Interstate 95. According to the police, Jamie Gross, 58, of Belmont, died at the crash. Aaron White-Sevigny, 25, of Windsor, died at the hospital. They were riding their own motorcycles.  At this time, State Troopers are investigating the cause of the accident. Apparently,  a pick-up truck was involved in the crash, which occurred between Exit 112 and Exit 113,  just as the United Bikers of Maine Toy Run had left the Augusta Civic Center on their annual charitable ride. The two motorcyclists who were killed were participating in the charity ride, along with several thousand other motorcyclists. The United Bikers of Maine’s annual toy run is a very well know event with thousands of…

Can I Go to Jail for Marijuana in Pennsylvania?

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With all the discussion of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania, and our own Governor Tom Wolfe telling the media that “we ought to decriminalize marijuana use,” it might be easy to think that the criminal penalties related to marijuana possession, distribution, and cultivation are a thing of the past. Not so, and certainly not at the present moment. While the introduction of medical marijuana laws and a state leader friendly to decriminalization may indeed be signs of a future Pennsylvania with very different marijuana laws, at present the statewide Pennsylvania criminal laws relating to marijuana are mostly unchanged, even if several localities around the state have relaxed their laws. State authorities fully retain their power to investigate and prosecute individuals for marijuana crimes, many of which involve potential jail sentences. Possession of Marijuana Can Mean Up to a Year in Jail Under current Pennsylvania law, it is illegal to possess marijuana without…

ABA Panel Tackles Venture Investing in Cannabis Companies

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Venture capital is playing a growing role in the country’s emerging legal cannabis industry. Attorneys Emily J. Yukich and Matthew R. Kittay of Fox Rothschild’s Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice will conduct a panel discussion with industry insiders during the American Bar Association Business Law Section’s annual meeting in Chicago. The Angel Venture Capital Subcommittee, which Yukich and Kittay co-chair, will present an in-depth 360-degree examination of venture capital investing in cannabis companies, featuring: Panelists: Jeremy Unruh, general counsel and director of external communications at PharmaCann, a medical cannabis provider based in Oak Park, Illinois. Charlie Bachtell, founder and CEO of Cresco Labs, LLC, a Chicago-based medical cannabis cultivating and manufacturing company. William Bogot, co-chair of the Cannabis Practice Group at Fox Rothschild LLP. Date: Thursday, Sept. 14 Time: 10 a.m. to 11…

News Scan

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Execution Set For Georgia Murderer:  A September 26 execution date has been set for a 59-year-old Georgia man who murdered his sister-in-law in 1990.  Rhonda Cook of the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that Keith Leroy Tharpe will be the second murderer executed in Georgia this year.  In 1990 Tharpe's wife left him to escape a violent marriage and moved in with her mother.  Responding to Tharpe's repeated threats to kill her and her family, the ex-wife received a court order prohibiting Tharpe from contacting them.  A few weeks later, Tharpe, whose own mental health expert called a "mean son of a bitch," forced his ex-wife's car off the road as she and her sister were heading to work.  He then shot the 29-year-old sister twice with a shotgun and rolled her body into a ditch, before kidnapping his ex-wife and raping her.  He was later caught in Macon trying to withdraw money from his ex-wife's credit…

Is Court Canceled or Not? There is no System to Know

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Irma has been an adventure. It was an adventure that started last Friday when I drove down to Mitchell County, Georgia (about as far Southwest as you can go in the state and not be in Florida or Alabama). I drove down to see a habeas client for final preparations for what would have been a habeas corpus hearing in that county this morning. On the way south on the interstate were drivers headed out of Florida about driving about about 10 miles per hour. So, I saw my client and headed back north via backroads. I received an email about the time I arrived back that there would be no court in Mitchell County on Tuesday due to the hurricane. Mitchell was my only court appearance this week. Other colleagues were not so lucky. Eventually most of the courts were canceled for Monday and Tuesday. But what I noticed was a lack of any kind of uniform coherent way to know. In one court, some of the judges canceled but others were holding out. And when the announcements went out, there was…

Tuesday Open Thread: Keys Update

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I think all TalkLeft readers will welcome the news that I received word today from Fishcamp (though two of his friends) that he is fine and wanted me to let his friends in Aspen, his sister and TL readers know. I've called his sister and a... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

New Child Time-Sharing Legislation

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New Child Time-Sharing Legislation By Robert Napper, Legal Correspondent Child time-sharing in Florida could be a hot topic for attorneys and their clients in the coming months as one new law concerning the issue has already taken effect and another kicks off Jan. 1. Florida House Bill 329 became law in July and deals with visitation of children whose parent is in a drug or alcohol recovery residence. Statute 61.13 now prohibits a time-sharing plan from requiring or being interpreted to require visitation at a recovery residence overnight, specifically between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., “unless the court makes a specific finding that such visitation is in the best interest of the child.” Courts will also be tasked with factoring in whether a parent lives in a specialized residence for pregnant women or parents whose children reside with them, the number of adults living in the recovery residence, and the parent’s…

RECOVERY

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Date line: Ritz Carlton, Washington DC. September 12, 2017. POWER: FPL says all east coast power restored by this Sunday. All power in West Miami to be restored by this Friday. The farther east you go, the more power lines are down and the longer it will take. COURTS:SAO SUFFERS DAMAGE AND FLOODING:Our intrepid state attorney is seeking temporary office space, as her office (part or all- it's not yet clear) is damaged/flooded. State courts remained closed on Wednesday. But the REGJB also suffered flooding and damage so we think - highlight THINK state courts will not re-open this week. Federal court refuses to confirm or deny if they will be open Wednesday: Their attitude is "you should know". We don't.Monroe County Courts closed...indefinitely. OUR VIEW:Here is our community's attitude: The Storm came. The rain came. The wind came. We all are in this together. We are damaged. We shall rebuild. We are all strong and…

Lauren Bacall and The Big Sleep: Film Noir Cool, White Collar Crime, Cocktail Cold

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Lauren Bacall To the extent that it reflected crime, Lauren Bacall’s work was noir, not white-collar; black, not white; guns, not accounting fraud.  Yet, there was an elegance and a fierceness about her films – especially those with Humphrey Bogart – that are familiar to those who work in a white-collar crime landscape. David Brooks, writing in the New York Times, reflects on The Bacall Standard.  In particular: [Raymond] Chandler was not particularly kind to women, though. It was up to the director Howard Hawks and his star, Lauren Bacall — who died this week — to give that era a counterpart female ideal, a hero both tough and tender, urbane and fast-talking, but also vulnerable and amusing. Vivian Rutledge, the lead female character in the movie version of Chandler’s “The Big Sleep,” is stuck in a classic film noir world. Every situation is confusing, shadowed and ambiguous. Every person is dappled with virtue…

Spalding on the FCPA Pilot Program

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Andrew Brady Spalding (University of Richmond School of Law) has posted Restoring Pre-Existing Compliance Through the FCPA Pilot Program (University of Toledo Law Review, Vol. 48, 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For a quarter-century, incentives to invest in...

New Netflix Series Explores False Confessions

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A new Netflix documentary series explores the issue of false confessions by delving into homicide cases in which an innocent person initially took responsibility for the crime. Season one of The Confession Tapes features six cases in which the defendant falsely confessed after being interrogated, manipulated and threatened by police. Each episode is supplemented by video footage of the interrogations, archival photos and interviews with prosecutors, police, attorneys, family members and experts. The series tackles the commonly held notion that a person would never confess to a crime he or she did not commit. In fact, 32 percent of people exonerated by DNA evidence in the United States falsely confessed to the crimes for which they were convicted. The reasons why people falsely confess are complex and varied, but what they tend to have in common is a belief that cooperating with police will be more beneficial than continuing to maintain innocence. Often defendants are told that,…

Arrested For DUI & Now Have A Probation Violation?

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Typically, when you are sentenced, and your sentence includes probation, one of the things you are ordered to do is not violate the law. If you are arrested, the arrest itself is not a probation violation. However, what ends up happening, is you will have a new open case and the probation violation trailing behind it, waiting to see what happens on your new case. If you plead guilty to the new charge or are found guilty after a trial, the judge will then address the probation violation in a probation violation hearing. Typically that is done in front of the sentencing judge who put you on probation on the first case. However, the judge on your new case, if s/he has jurisdiction over the first matter, may address probation with the new case, in what is often called packaging or bundling both together. The probation violation hearing has a lower standard of proof, meaning a judge only has to find that you violated the terms of probation “by a preponderance of the…

Attacking The Breath Test

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The State’s primary witness in most DWI cases in North Carolina is not a human person, but rather the breath-testing device used to prove a person’s alcohol concentration. Attacking the credibility and accuracy of this non-living witness is essential to defending a DWI case. This article is a brief introduction into just a few attacks that can be mounted on the breath test results. Effective DWI representation requires continual devoted study of the technology and science behind breath testing. Machines Break Remind your jury that machines malfunction. “Have you ever taken a child’s temperature and knew that the reading was not accurate?” This is a particularly effective argument in cases where the State would have difficulty showing appreciable impairment. “You heard from the officer that my client did well on field sobriety tests, did not have slurred speech or sway while standing, had no problems communicating with the…

THE ILLINOIS LAW ON SELF DEFENSE

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You got into a fight at a bar or a party or even in your own home. While you are now charged with a crime, you weren’t the one who started making trouble. Can you claim self defense? The answer depends on a number of factors. Who started the fight? Were you afraid the other person was about to hurt you? Was your fear reasonable? In Illinois, the elements of self-defense include that (1) unlawful force was threatened against a person, (2) the person threatened was not the aggressor, (3) the danger of harm was imminent, (4) the use of force was necessary, (5) the person threatened actually and subjectively believed a danger existed that required the use of force, and (6) the beliefs of the person threatened were objectively reasonable. Whether these elements equal self defense depends on the specific facts of your situation and the whether the judge or jury believes you. In People v Williams, the court held that the defendant’s fear of imminent bodily harm…

How Expert Witnesses Can Strengthen Your Car Accident Case

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Car accidents can be complex and messy. If you have been injured in a car accident caused by someone else, you deserve compensation for your losses. Often times, car accident cases become complicated and require extensive courtroom litigation. A qualified personal injury attorney can assess your case and explain potential strengths and weaknesses. Sometimes an expert witness can be used to testify on your behalf and strengthen your case for collecting damages. Proving Who Was at Fault One of the first things an accident victim must do is prove that he or she was not at fault or was less at fault than the other driver for the crash. If fault is not obvious, each side may call upon expert witnesses to testify as to who caused the accident. Expert witnesses may analyze the accident, draw conclusions based on evidence, and explain their findings and fact-based opinions at trial. Medical professionals, economists, accident reconstructionists and engineers commonly use their…

No-Show Father Ordered to Pay Over a Half a Million Dollars in Child Support Arrears

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In this British Columbia Supreme Court case, the parents of two children separated in 2001 and in 2003 entered into a separation agreement. The agreement stated that the father’s income was $90,000 per year and that he would pay $1,128.00 in monthly child support, together with some additional costs for transportation, as the children lived primarily with their mother on Denman Island. Later, the amount payable was increased to $1,600.00 per month to include the cost of certain extraordinary expenses. At the time the mother signed the agreement she was not aware that the law provided for a review of child support each year and an adjustment, either upward or downward, depending on any change in the father’s income. The payment of $1,600.00 continued until February 2015 when the father arbitrarily, and without notice, reduced his payment to $800.00 per month, on account of the eldest child attaining the age of 19. That was his first mistake…As a result of…

What Can I Do If I Have An Arrest Warrant?

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Many people find out that there is a warrant for their arrest when it is too late to actually do something about it. For example if there is an active warrant and a police officer pulls you over for a traffic violation you will almost always be taken into custody right then and there. Additionally if you show up to probation with a warrant an officer will likely be waiting to take you away in cuffs. But if you are lucky enough to find out about your warrant beforehand there are certain things you can do to avoid having to go to jail. There are two basic types of warrants in Maryland and it is important to understand the differences before deciding what you can do about the situation. In state court cases a bench warrant is a warrant issued by a judge of either the district or circuit court. The most common cause of a bench warrant would be for a failure to appear at a court date for either a traffic or criminal case. Bench warrants will not be issued for failing to appear at a…

New op-ed and op-doc from New York Times takes on "A ‘Frightening’ Myth About Sex Offenders"

So much to read about so many elements of the opioid epidemic

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