Hitman Faces Death Penalty: A Louisville drug dealer who boasted that he had murdered people for hire and had killed 10 men, will face trial on December 1 for killing a rival drug dealer twelve years ago. Andrew Wolfson of the Louisville Courier Journal reports that RIcky Kelly is charged with the first degree murder for shooting drug dealer Lajuante Jackson in 2005. The evidence included Kelly's 2010 description of the murder to a cellmate who was wearing a wire. The prosecution told reporters that it has 20 cooperators including members of Kelly's drug-trafficking crew who can corroborate Kelly's statements regarding the killing. A former prosecutor called Kelly "the most frightening person I've come across in 30 years of law enforcement." 4 Time Drunk Driver Kills 4: A California man who plead guilty to his 4th DUI in 2013 killed four members of a family in a car crash Saturday night. …
News Scan
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Baker on Prosecuting Complicity
Dennis J Baker (University of Surrey - School of Law) has posted Prosecuting Complicity: The CPS Legal Guidance on Secondary Liability on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The CPS has revised its “legal guidance” on secondary liability (previously titled “Joint...
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Keep expectations realistic vis a vis 'reformer' DAs
In the world of criminal-justice reform, because there are so many different participants and levels of government involved in how the system operates, reformers must keep available a full tool chest of possible approaches, selecting each one to accomplish a particular task in a given situation.Nueces County DA Mark GonzalezFor example, if you want to eliminate money bail, maybe litigation is the only option. OTOH, if one wants to close prisons, that must be done through the Legislature, and in particular the House Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees. Want to oppose local jail expansion? You'll need to lobby the county commissioners court. Or if one wants fewer people shot by police, the policies governing use of force are controlled by unelected administrators at local departments, with only indirect input from city managers or city councils. Each of these issues requires reformers to adopt a tailored approach if they hope to succeed; there's no one…
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How Much is My Personal Injury Case Worth?
Answering the question: “How much is my personal injury case worth?” can be tricky from the onset after an accident. After most accidents, victims will have to seek medical attention and treatment to determine the extent of their injuries. Since the human body is unpredictable in the way it heals and how it will react to an injury, it is often unknown the extent of medical treatment needed. Since medical treatment and care dictates a large portion of the value in a personal injury claim, the value of a personal injury claim is typically known at the conclusion of the medical treatment. First steps to determine value of an injury claim One of the first steps in determining the value of an injury claim is to establish insurance coverage. Insurance coverage means, how much insurance does the at-fault party have? If the person does not have insurance, the victim will often have to rely on their own insurance for compensation. If the person who caused the accident or…
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I Think My Breathalyzer Test Was Wrong
Breathalyzer machines are far from perfect, which is why they don’t carry much legal weight in the courtroom. However, police rely heavily on these devices because they paint a seemingly clear picture of whether or not the driver in question has had too much to drink. These machines are supposed to undergo regular baseline and 0.08 testing, but malfunctioning units are being used each and every day. It’s not easy to prove that your breathalyzer malfunctioned or is inaccurate, but there are some things you can do challenge the validity of the results and the DUI charge itself. We explain what you should do if you think your breathalyzer test was wrong in this blog. I Think My Breath Test Was Broken If you submit to a roadside breathalyzer test and it comes back with a reading that you know or highly suspect is incorrect, here are three steps you should take. 1. Have It Documented – If you’re planning on challenging the arrest because you think or know the…
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Drunk Man Allegedly Having Sex While Driving Crashes with Infant in Car
A Washington couple engaged in sexual activity while driving with the woman’s 3-month-old daughter in the car were the victims of an accident when they slammed into a tree on Wednesday. They were both intoxicated at the time of the crash. The day before Thanksgiving Michael Tonkin was driving down a winding mountain road with a female companion and her baby. Tonkin and the woman were fully disrobed, and she was reportedly straddling him in the driver’s seat as they has sex. According to statements by police both Tonkin and the woman were inebriated. Tonkin allegedly lost control of the car as he tried to navigate the bends in the road, causing him to swerve off of the shoulder and crash into a tree. Onlookers said they spotted the pair emerging from the vehicle completely nude after the wreck. Continue reading →
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Bounties: How Law Enforcement Tracks Down Criminals
When a citizen is arrested, Texas law enforcement schedules his or her first court appearance within 48 hours of arrest. During the initial appearance, the individual is arrested, identified as a defendant, and informed about the availability of bail. Bail is a form of payment made on behalf of the defendant in exchange for his more > The post Bounties: How Law Enforcement Tracks Down Criminals appeared first on The Law Office of Matthew D. Sharp.
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AG Sessions announces stepped up efforts to address opioid crisis
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**Update** Crash Blocks Eastbound Interstate Traffic Past Meridian Rd.
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642 (208) 846-7550 Fax (208) 846-7520 For Immediate Release: 11/29/17 11:20 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office Update: Traffic is now flowing following the crash on I84. David Ramsey, age 59 of Boise, was travelling eastbound on I84 just past the Meridian Rd. onramp in a Ford Taurus when he struck a Hyundai Accent driven by Jose Herrera-Ramos, age 45 of Nampa, from behind. Herrera-Ramos's vehicle then struck a Buick LeSabre driven by a minor subject, which then struck a Chevrolet Cruze driven by Rachel McConnell, age 32, of Meridian, which then struck a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by Mandy Hiraga, age 33, also of Meridian. All drivers were wearing their seat belts. Herrera-Ramos was transported to Saint…
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The Göring Gambit
There is one sure-fire way for a convicted defendant to avoid execution of his sentence: suicide. Hermann Göring infamously took this way out on October 15, 1946, just before he was to be hanged. The Nuremburg tribunal had denied his request to be shot instead.Today, Cleve Wootson reports in the WaPo:Shortly after hearing his fate, former Bosnian Croat military chief Slobodan Praljak shouted "I am not a war criminal!" and lifted a vial of liquid to his lips.He tilted his head back and swallowed.A short time later, he told the confused court -- and the judge who had affirmed his 20-year sentence for murdering Muslims and other war crimes -- "I just drank poison."His death was reported by Croatian state TV later on Wednesday.
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Photos of Miami Medical Students Posted to Sex Fetish Sites
Dozens of female University of Miami medical students believe a classmate has been stealing their photos from Facebook and social media and uploading them to sexual fetish websites. Their car selfies, pics with friends at bars and the beach, even images of them in their graduation gowns have been copied and uploaded to foot-fetish fan sites and even just sites for men who masturbate while viewing images of everyday women — while sometimes photographing themselves doing so. The posts apparently identified the UM women by name, and included lewd captions, some seemingly threatening rape. The suspected classmate accused of stealing these pics and uploading them to fetish sites is a 25-year-old UM medical student who has been suspended and is now the subject of an internal school investigation. The scandal came to light last week when at least two victims discovered their own photos on the websites and filed for restraining orders against the man. The man’s behavior…
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Two South Florida Women Arrested at Aventura Mall in Credit Card Fraud Case
Police arrested two women on Monday at the Aventura Mall who are accused of trying to buy thousand of dollars’ worth of designer goods with stolen credit cards. Aventura police said the women, 31 and 52, allegedly stole five credit cards from a Sunny Isles Beach woman. The 31-year-old is accused of using one of the cards around 4:30 p.m. on Monday to buy two pairs of sunglasses valued at $1,400 at the mall’s Bloomingdale’s store, police said. Police said she left the store and joined the 52-year-old woman, who was waiting inside a car in the mall’s parking lot. Officers said they were waiting for the pair as they tried to leave the mall, having been tipped off by an earlier attempt to use the stolen credit cards. An hour earlier, officers said, the 31-year-old had attempted to buy a designer handbag for $4,800 at the mall’s Nordstrom store. When she used one of the stolen cards to pay, the transaction was declined, police said. She tried again…
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Carpenter argument transcript
is available here.
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They Didn’t Read Me My Rights! When the Police Must Read You Your Miranda Rights in Florida and What Happens When They Don’t.
MIRANDA WARNINGS You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. Continue reading
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Florida Racial Profiling Alleged in Pedestrian Citations
A new report co-published by the Florida Times Union and journalism non-profit ProPublica revealed strong evidence that the sheriff’s office in Jacksonville has been racially profiling people of color for pedestrian citations. While such tickets might seem a minor annoyance, the disproportionate way in which they are reportedly being doled out raises serious concerns that the department could be disparately deploying justice. If it’s happening with pedestrian tickets, it’s not an enormous leap of logic to suppose it may be happening when it comes to other offenses too. Our traffic ticket defense lawyers know that a simple allegation of racial discrimination won’t necessarily stand up as a defense in court. While it could be grounds to file a civil rights lawsuit, in criminal or traffic courts, the main issue will be the reasonable suspicion to stop the individual and the strength of evidence of a crime or violation. As far as these citations, Florida has…
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The Carpenter Argument
The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument today in Carpenter v. United States, No. 16-402, the much-watched case regarding whether a warrant is required to obtain records from a cell phone company showing which cell towers the defendant's phone connected with at the time that robberies were being committed. The transcript is now available on the Court's website.I don't think it bodes well for Carpenter that Justice Kennedy peppered his lawyer with questions throughout his argument and said not a word during the government's argument. That said, though, Justice Kennedy is among the most difficult to "read" from oral argument, so it is not certain he will vote for the government.Justice Gorsuch clung to a property rights theory like a dog to a bone, while DSG Dreeben came close to saying, "Seriously? How can anybody think the customer has a property right in these records?" Of course he didn't really say that, but I…
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Two articles on money bail reform
both courtesy of the NACDL news scan: Don’t let judges hijack California bail reform Time for a national fund that chips away at money bail and stops criminalizing poverty
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Still more on drugged driving laws and marijuana
As mentioned in this prior post, one student in my Marijuana Law, Policy & Reform seminar is this week giving a presentation focused on scientific studies concerning driving under the influence of marijuana. Another set of students also have taken up this topic, although it appears they are focused more...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/gaqUYiRd9i4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>
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Matt Lauer Fired Over Sexual Harassment Allegation
Matt Lauer is the latest to topple. An allegation was made against him Monday Night, and today he is fired. “While it is the first complaint about his behavior in the over 20 years he’s been at NBC News, we were also presented with... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Leroy Harris: Freedom at a Cost
Last week, on Thanksgiving day, Innocence Project client Leroy Harris was reunited with more than 100 members of his family after spending almost 30 years in prison in Connecticut for a robbery and sexual assault that new evidence—including exculpatory DNA testing results and serious prosecutorial misconduct—strongly suggests he didn’t commit. His release was the cause of much celebration and relief for Harris and his family but, sadly, it came at a cost. Earlier last week, the sexual assault charge against Harris was dismissed, but in order to be released, Harris agreed to enter “Alford” pleas to the remaining charges in exchange for his freedom. Ultimately, though not the full exoneration that Harris hoped for and deserved, the “Alford” pleas permit Harris to maintain his innocence of the crimes and will ensure that he is reunited with his mother, who is in declining health. Leroy Harris “Given the egregious misconduct that…
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