Update for the vehicle versus bicyclist collision from 10/17/2017 in Coeur d'Alene and ISP's request for community assistance: Idaho State Police Troopers are continuing to investigate the fatal vehicle versus bicycle collision which occurred on October 17, 2017, at approximately 2155 hours, on I-90 near milepost 15.5, in the eastern city limits of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Idaho State Police have confirmed the identity of the deceased bicyclist, a 48 year old adult male who has ties to the Spokane, Washington, area. The male's identity is being withheld as ISP personnel are still attempting to locate his next of kin. The male's identity will be released once notifications have been made. Additionally, an ISP Trooper was en route to the male bicyclist at the time of the collision's occurrence. The male had been reported by a passing motorist to be riding in the right westbound travel lane of I-90. The white GMC Sierra pick-up community members have…
Update for the vehicle versus bicyclist collision from 10/17/2017 in Coeur d'Alene and ISP's request for community assistance:
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Stays and Possibility of Success
The U.S. Supreme Court has vacated another stay of execution from Alabama, reminding the lower federal courts that "a significant possibility of success on the merits" is a requirement for a stay. See prior post of October 4. No, again, you can't use the All Writs Act to weasel out of that requirement. Here is the order in Dunn, Commissioner v. McNabb, 17A440:The application to vacate the injunction entered by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on October 16, 2017, presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court, is granted. "[I]nmates seeking time to challenge the manner in which the State plans to execute them must satisfy all of the requirements for a stay, including a showing of a significant possibility of success on the merits." Hill v. McDonough, 547 U. S. 573, 584 (2006). The All Writs Act does not excuse a court from making these findings. Because the District Court enjoined…
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Rothstein on Burdens and Presumptions
Paul F. Rothstein (Georgetown University Law Center) has posted Demystifying Burdens of Proof and the Effect of Rebuttable Evidentiary Presumptions: In Civil and Criminal Trials on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Evidentiary presumptions in law act as shortcuts to rigorous...
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Facebook Won't Let Me Post This
Senator Leahy Can Go Fuck HimselfPatrick Leahy of Vermont is the longest serving Democratic Senator. His liberal bona fides are beyond dispute. Throughout his tenure he has personified decency, thoughtfulness and honor. His rectitude was on full display as the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee during the Obama Administration. There he clung to the Senate's norms and traditions in the face of unprecedented obstruction by the Republicans who sought to thwart Obama's judicial nominations regardless of their qualifications. It did not shake the stalwart Leahy from his deep and abiding principles that Republicans shamelessly used whatever tools they could to ensure as many judicial vacancies as possible remained open for the next Republican president to fill with right wing judges. And so, even when it was blatantly obvious that Republicans were abusing the…
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"Nation’s top cops, prosecutors urge Trump not to roll back successful crime policies"
From The Washington Post, via the NACDL news scan: The Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarcerationsent a letter to Sessions and President Trump, and held a summit meeting in Washington, in which they were adamant that crime has...
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"Who can access your e-mails after you die?"
Orin Kerr has this post at The Volokh Conspiracy. In part: The case arose after John Ajemian died from a cycling accident. He didn’t have a will, and his siblings were appointed personal representatives of his estate. Ajemian’s siblings knew...
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NYTimes: A Big Test of Police Body Cameras Defies Expectations
NYTimes: A Big Test of Police Body Cameras Defies Expectations by Amanda Ripley: The results of the largest, most rigorous study of police body cameras in the United States came out Friday morning, and they are surprising both police officers … Continue reading →
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Legislative aide faces domestic violence charges
An attorney for a veteran state Senator faced arrest on Monday, September 11 on charges of felony domestic violence. Robert Nickol, who is counsel to Republican Senator William Larkin, was arrested by the Albany Police Department. According to an arrest summary report, he is confronting charges of felony assault with intent to cause injury, and weapons possession. Police said the victim accused Nickol, age 31, of striking her with a television cord, causing her to experience pain, swelling and bruising on her leg. One source said the victim was Nickol’s girlfriend. Nickol entered a plea of not guilty and was released without bail. However, court officials said he must check in with authorities. Nickol’s annual salary for serving as an aide to the senator is $92,000, and he has worked for the chamber since 2008. An allegation of domestic assault can have disastrous consequences for your life. You may be required to spend time in jail, or undergo counseling, and it…
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Bodycams Significantly Reduce Police Misbehavior
Sorry -- April fools! As this piece from the NYT, of all outlets, shows, the notion that police were brutalizing citizens simply because they wouldn't be seen doing it has now been shown to be false.Indeed, the article goes so far as to suggest that the expense of bodycams isn't worth the candle, because the supposed police attitude of "I-can-do-it-because-you-won't-see-it" was a myth from the getgo.Imagine that! Still, I tend to favor bodycams, because legal outcomes should be based on truth, and bodycams -- even when they don't catch much misbehavior by the police -- are sure to capture a boatload by arrestees.
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All Jail Visits Should Be Like This
Last night, I attended the Griffin Historical Society’s “Drink in History” event at the old Griffin Jail, featuring the fine products of the Jailhouse Brewery. I had spent my entire afternoon at the new Spalding County Courthouse, and this event was in a building that was once the old Spalding County Courthouse, from approximately 1860 unit approximately 1914. In 1914, the county converted the building into a county jail. The building functioned as the jail until 1984, when the Sheriff’s department opened another facility across town. The whole facility was open for a tour, including all the creep showers, the two solitary confinement cells, the women’s unit (with six beds), and the gallows. On the third floor, there was a trapdoor. You could look up to see the eyelet hook for the rope. And the lever for the trapdoor was there as well. I was told that there is no record of the gallows ever being used, as the public preferred outdoor hangings…
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Commingled Assets in Washington Divorce Cases
The court must distribute the assets in a divorce if the couple does not reach an agreement as to distribution. Certain property may be considered separate property. In Washington, an asset is separate property if it is either acquired before the marriage, acquired during the marriage by gift or inheritance, or acquired during the marriage with the traceable proceeds of separate property. If property is acquired during the marriage, it is presumed to be community property. Washington divorce attorneys know, however, that separate property may become community property in certain circumstances. A Washington appeals court considered whether certain assets were separate or community property in a recent divorce case. The husband appealed the distribution of property. Both parties had worked and begun funding retirement prior to their marriage. The husband had worked for the same employer for 20 years prior to the marriage, and he contributed to…
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Court Denies Sheriff Joe Arpaio's Request to Vacate All Orders and Dismiss Case Following Pardon
NPR reports:U.S. District Judge Susan Ritchie Bolton says that President Trump's pardon of former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio does not "revise the historical facts" of his case — and that she will not vacate her ruling that found Arpaio guilty of criminal contempt.On Thursday, Bolton quoted Black's Law Dictionary to say that a pardon "releases the wrongdoer from punishment and restores the offender's civil rights without qualification." But she then added a further interpretation in her own words: "It does not erase a judgment of conviction, or its underlying legal and factual findings."The NPR story contains a copy of the Order, but a complete copy of the Order can be found here. Additional coverage of this most recent development can be found here and here. Arpaio's attorneys have filed a notice of appeal of the ruling. My own discussion of the Arpaio pardon can be found here.I do not have a time to do…
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Relying on Packingham, Federal judge strikes down Kentucky limit on sex offender internet access
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Federal District Judge Proposes Hearing to Examine Perjured Testimony by New York Police
On Tuesday, Judge Jack B. Weinstein of Federal District Court in Brooklyn issued a decision in which he announced a potential hearing to examine the extent to which New York City police lie in criminal cases. The New York Times wrote an article about the case that prompted Judge Weinstein’s decision and whether his proposed hearing could spur broad reform in how the New York Police Department discipline officers who give false testimony. According to the New York Times, Weinstein’s decision was issued in the case of 59-year-old Hector Cordero, a bodega cashier who has sued two New York police officers who, he says, falsely charged him with dealing drugs on October 24, 2014. In his lawsuit, Cordero claims that the officers arrested him not because they had solid evidence against him but because they wanted to earn the overtime pay from booking a case at the end of their shift. The police testified that they saw a man leave the store, sell drugs to a person on…
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Mallatt on Prescription Monitoring and Heroin Crime Rates
Justine Mallatt (Purdue University - Department of Economics) has posted The Effect of Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs on Opioid Prescriptions and Heroin Crime Rates on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In response to growing abuse of prescription opioid painkillers, 50...
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DUI Breathalyzers Dealt a Huge Blow
Self-help is everywhere. But, which approach works best? At the risk of oversimplifying things, self-help falls into two categories. For some, the focus is on thoughts. Change your thinking, change your life. Flooding your mind with positive thinking and this will lead to positive outcomes. I’ve thought about winning the lottery for decades, and those positive thoughts have made no impact as of yet. I’m just saying. Some self-help folks shy away from positive thinking, and believe that emptying our brains of its constant chatter helps improve things greatly (monks chanting prayers, meditation, etc.). For every Ying, there’s a Yang. There are also self-help programs that believe changing your thoughts is useless. A waste of time. For them, change only comes with action. Change what you “do”, and you’ll change who you “are”. Is it our actions that change us, or our…
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This Week in Innocence News – October 20, 2017
Here are some of this week’s news highlights: No lawyers for many South Carolina defendants A story in the New York Times last week revealed that defendants in South Carolina are being sent to jail and prison without ever seeing an attorney. The New York Times Kansas mom details 23-year struggle to free her son The Kansas City Star detailed the 23-year struggle Rosie McIntyre endured to clear her son Lamonte, who was exonerated on Friday of a 1994 double-murder. The Kansas City Star Wrongful convictions from the perspective of a former prosecutor Mark Godsey, founder and director of the Ohio Innocence Project and law professor at the University of Cincinnati, spoke to Wisconsin Public Radio on Monday about his new book: Blind Injustice: A Former Prosecutor Exposes the Psychology and Politics of Wrongful Convictions, which was released last week. Listen …
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Miami Herald: Guantánamo guards seize confidential Sept. 11 terror trial defense files
Miami Herald: Guantánamo guards seize confidential Sept. 11 terror trial defense files by Carol Rosenberg: In the latest challenge to attorney-client confidentiality here, prison guards on Wednesday seized the court-approved, non-networked laptop computers and hard drives issued to the accused … Continue reading →
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Florida Court Rules Police Can Order Driver Out of Vehicle During Traffic Stop
In Florida, the police can stop a driver if that officer observes the driver commit a traffic violation. This is a detention under search and seizure law, but it is justified based on the fact that the driver apparently committed a traffic violation. Many DUI cases start this way in Florida. However, if the violation is merely a traffic violation, the police officer can generally only keep the driver for the purpose and only as long as it takes to write a traffic ticket. If the police officer keeps the driver for an extended period of time without specific evidence of criminal activity, it is likely a violation of search and seizure law. Another detention occurs when the police officer asks a driver or other occupant of the vehicle to exit the vehicle. A criminal defense lawyer would argue that pulling a person out of a vehicle during a routine stop is an illegal detention. If so, that criminal defense attorney could have any evidence seized…
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Iowa's High Court Rules That Despite Appeals, Sex Offenders Must Register
10-20-17 Iowa: People convicted of sex crimes are still required to register as sex offenders in Iowa even if they’re appealing their convictions, according to today's ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court. The case centers on the appeal of Brian James Maxwell, who was hired as a youth coordinator for two churches in the Winterset area in March 2014. That month he inappropriately touched a
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