In news that might seem unsurprising to both lawyers and non-lawyers alike, on December 28 a judge in the Superior Court held that Endicott College was not liable for a student who got extremely drunk at a dorm party, and then assaulted three fellow students, leaving two with broken facial bones. After serving part of his four-year sentence for the assault and being paroled, the student brought suit against the college alleging that the college’s negligence caused his actions. The student argued that the college was liable in negligence for his actions under three theories: (1) social host liability (which applies to those who negligently serve alcohol to someone who later injures someone as a result of being intoxicated); (2) that the college had a “special relationship” with the student that imposed a duty of care to protect the student; and (3) that the school was negligent in supervising the student and preventing him from harming himself. The judge,…
Massachusetts Courts Grapple with Universities’ Duties of Care Toward Their Students
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Stoughton on Police Body-Worn Cameras
Seth W. Stoughton (University of South Carolina School of Law) has posted Police Body-Worn Cameras (North Carolina Law Review, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: Since the summer of 2014, community members, politicians, and police executives across the country...
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Three Southern California Men Charged in Loan Modification Scam
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Michael Paul Paquette, 34, San Juan Capistrano, California; Allan Jessie Chance, 34, Temecula, California; and Dennis Edward Lake, 59, Costa Mesa, California, were indicted on federal mail fraud charges that allege they solicited homeowners on the verge of foreclosure with bogus promises of loan modifications with interest rates as low as 2 percent. The three men were arrested pursuant to an […] The post Three Southern California Men Charged in Loan Modification Scam appeared first on Mortgage Fraud Blog.
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Foreclosure Rescue Schemer Pleads Guilty
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Sergio Roman Barrientos, 64, Poway, California pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and bank fraud. According to court documents, from about September 2004 through February 2008, Barrientos and co-conspirators Zalathiel Aguila and Omar Anabo operated an entity named Capital Access LLC, in Vallejo, California. They preyed on homeowners nearing foreclosure, convinced […] The post Foreclosure Rescue Schemer Pleads Guilty appeared first on Mortgage Fraud Blog.
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Inflated Purchase Prices Kink LTVs in Guilty Plea
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Abolghasseni “Abe” Alizadeh, 59, Granite Bay, California, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, bank fraud and making false statements to a federally insured financial institution. According to court documents, Alizadeh, a Sacramento-area commercial real estate developer, restaurateur and owner of Kobra Properties, came up with a scheme to fraudulently purchase land that he planned to develop. Banks […] The post Inflated Purchase Prices Kink LTVs in Guilty Plea appeared first on Mortgage Fraud Blog.
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Short Sale Fraud Indictment Alleging Non-Arms Length Transaction
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Gary P. DeCicco, 59, Nahant, Massachusetts, and Pamela M. Avedisian, 54, Nahant, Massachusetts, were charged in an indictment with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud in connection with the “short sale” of a house in Nahant, Massachusetts. DeCicco was also charged with one count of conspiracy to […] The post Short Sale Fraud Indictment Alleging Non-Arms Length Transaction appeared first on Mortgage Fraud Blog.
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US v. Hulen, No. 16-30160 (1-10-18)(Clifton w/Wardlaw & Owens). The 9th affirms a SR revocation based on the defendant's admissions during mandatory sex offender treatment. "There was no violation of Hulen's right against self-incrimination because a proceeding to revoke supervised release is not a criminal case for the purposes of the Fifth Amendment." (11). SR gets due process lite--it is not a criminal case, with the full panoply of constitutional protections; it is not new punishment for a new crime. Rather, it is conditional liberty. The right against self-incrimination only extends to prohibit the use of an admission in a criminal case. There was no new crime charged here.The case contains a listing of rights not afforded a defendant on SR: self-representation does not apply; right of confrontation does not apply; corroboration of a confession is not required; collateral estoppel does not bar a subsequent revocation after an…
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US v. Depue, No. 15-10553 (1-11-18)(Callahan w/Tallman & Ezra). No “Twelve Angry Men” scenario here. The 9th affirms convictions for a mortgage fraud scheme, and finds no abuse of discretion when the court dismissed a juror. The juror (No. 9) had stated that he was unwell, claimed he had been poisoned by another juror, and was “odd man out.” Under Fed R Crim P 23, a court can dismiss a juror for “good cause,” which can include “physical incapacity.” The 9th concluded the court here dismissed the juror for “physical incapacity,” and not for his views on the case. The Court focused on the juror’s physical symptoms, emphysema, and his feeling unwell. The statement “odd man out” was not delved into by the Court and was not the reason the juror was dismissed. The 9th also affirmed the sentencing (262 mos.) based on the amount of loss because of the failure to object. (Defendant represented himself Pro…
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Innocence Project Files Civil Rights Lawsuit on Behalf of Exoneree Robert Jones
Today the Innocence Project, along with the law firms Covington & Burling LLP and Jones Walker LLP, filed a civil rights lawsuit on behalf of exoneree Robert Jones against the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office for the damages Jones suffered following his arrest, wrongful convictions, and over 23 years of wrongful imprisonment for crimes he didn’t commit. The lawsuit highlights the Orleans Parish District Attorney’s Office’s long history of failing to honor its constitutional obligation to disclose evidence favorable to defendants in cases like Jones’s, including its failure to adequately train and supervise its prosecutors to disclose favorable evidence, despite repeated court findings of disclosure violations in other cases. You can read the complaint filed today here. You can read more about Jones’s wrongful conviction here. More: Robert Jones on Father’s Day: ‘It’s a joy to have a family who looks up to…
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Laurency on Hybrid Police Work in Mexico
Patrick Laurency (University of Konstanz) has posted Hybrid Police Work and Insecurity in the Mexican Federal State (Centre for Security Governance - CSG Papers, No.17) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In the years leading up to 2015, the level...
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The Continuing Problem in Federal Drug Sentencing
Sentencing in federal drug cases can sometimes pose difficult challenges for the judges imposing sentence. This was illustrated in a December 12, 2017 decision, United States v. Collins, by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. There was nothing especially exceptional about the drug charges brought against Marcus Collins by the federal government in the State of Illinois. The appeals court stated that between 2013 and 2014, over several months, law enforcement authorities used a confidential informant to set up “three controlled buys of powder cocaine and one of crack cocaine” with Collins. Deal Made with Confidential Informant It was typical law enforcement procedure. The confidential informant was monitored during two of the controlled buys made from Collins. The informant called Collins, set up a meet, and purchased the requested cocaine. From all appearances, it was a straight up drug transaction between the two men with no one else…
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Racist Juror Casts Dark Shadow Over Death Penalty Case
The n-word has a long, sordid history in this country. The African-American Registry says that, “Nigger is one of the most notorious words in American culture.” The precise origins of the word in American culture is uncertain, but history does inform us that, as the African-American Registry says, by the early 1800s the word had firmly established itself as a derogative term systematically used to debase an entire people. The n-word is truly unspeakable. No word in the American lexicon is more vile, more despicable. It literally robs a race of people of their humanity. That one word has been used to justify the murder, rape, lynching, and beatings of black people throughout the past two centuries. Racist Juror Sits on Death Penalty Case And it was the n-word that was instrumental in sending Keith Tharpe to a death cell in the State of Georgia, a state with an ugly history of racism. In August 1990, Tharpe was embroiled in a…
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The Sobering Truth About Holiday Drunk Driving Statistics
National holiday drunk driving statistics paint a grim picture. Between work parties, family gatherings, and celebratory bar nights, people tend to consume more alcohol during the holidays. And, since more people travel during the holidays than other times of the year, the number of serious and fatal DUI accidents also increases. This isn’t just true over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays — the summer’s holiday drunk driving statistics are equally high. Holiday Drunk Driving Statistics Are Higher Than Other Times of the Year During the holidays, millions of Americans hit the roads to visit family, friends, or enjoy a vacation. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, the number of long-distance travelers increases by 54% over the Thanksgiving weekend and by 23% between Christmas and New Year’s Day. While most drivers operate their vehicles responsibly, more Americans tend to drive drunk during the holidays. Annually, about…
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Do You Need Help Fighting a Holiday DUI?
While you might have planned on celebrating with your friends and family, you probably didn’t plan on getting a holiday DUI. Due to our busy social calendars (and increased law enforcement efforts), we typically see an increase in DUI arrests over the holidays. If you’re facing drunk driving charges, make sure you understand your legal rights before you discuss your case with the police or a prosecutor. Arizona Drunk Driving Laws Arizona is a zero-tolerance drunk driving state. Importantly, Arizona is an implied consent state. Drunk driving is defined as operating a vehicle with a: 0.08 blood-alcohol content (BAC) or more for most adults, 0.04 BAC or more if you’re operating a commercial vehicle, or Any BAC level if you’re under 21 years old. If you are arrested for a holiday DUI, you typically must undergo a BAC test. If you refuse to take the test, you will lose your driver’s license for at least…
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Criminal Threats in Massachusetts
Under Instruction § 6.700 of the Criminal Model Jury Instructions for Use in the District Court, the Commonwealth needs to establish the following to show a criminal threat: (1) the defendant stated an intention to harm someone or someone’s property presently or in the future, (2) the defendant intended this threat to be conveyed to a specific person, (3) the injury that was threatened would be a crime if actually committed, and (4) the defendant made this threat in a situation that could have reasonably caused the hearer to fear the defendant had both the intent and the ability to go through with the threat. In a recent Massachusetts criminal threatening case, a man was charged with one count of threatening to perpetrate a crime under M.G.L. c. 275. section 2. The case arose when the defendant was arrested for not paying child support. He was taken out of the courtroom and moved to a lock-up area. While intake was taking place, he got angry and said that if…
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New Practice Guide: Defense Motions and Notices in Superior Court
I’m happy to announce my first indigent defense practice guide, Defense Motions and Notices in Superior Court. As the title implies, it’s a court-ready guide for practitioners about common defense motions in superior court criminal cases at the trial level. While it is primarily written with non-capital felony cases in mind, the information will hopefully be useful to all criminal defense attorneys. The guide is in more or less chronological order of how a criminal case proceeds. Each entry lists the authority for the motion, its basic concepts, applicable deadlines, and any practice pointers. Because it is not a treatise on each type of motion, there are links and references to more detailed information throughout the guide. I can’t say that it includes every type of motion that one may need to file in any given case, but my goal was to put all of the requirements for the most common and important motions all in one place (along with those of a few less…
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News Scan
More on Sexual Harassment: With the recent launch of the "Me Too" movement, celebrities, actors and feminists are supposedly giving voice to millions of women victimized by a patriarchy which exploits women. A compelling City Journal piece by Heather MacDonald questions this narrative, suggesting that the dramatic generational shift in cultural norms since the 1960s has created this problem. "Feminists cannot acknowledge the divide between men and women when it comes to sex and sensibility. Doing so would violate what Steven Pinker calls the blank slate doctrine, a foundation stone of modern liberalism. One of that doctrine's core tenets is that 'differences between men and women have nothing to do with biology but are socially constructed in their entirety,' " MacDonald suggests that today's cultural expectations regarding interactions between men and women, which are entirely the product of the women's…
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Green on Prosecutors and Urban Policing
Bruce A. Green (Fordham University School of Law) has posted Urban Policing and Public Policy — The Prosecutor’s Role (Georgia Law Review, Vol. 51, No. 1179, 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In 2013, a federal district judge found...
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IRS Issues Notice for Denying, Canceling, and Limiting Passports to Seriously Delinquent Taxpayers
On January 16, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service issued a notice, furnishing taxpayers with information about the implementation of new section 7345 of the Internal Revenue Code (Code), enacted by Section 32101 of Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, Pub. L.114–94, on December 4, 2015. Section 32101(a) of the FAST Act added new Code section 7345. Under it the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) must notify the Department of State (State Department) if a certification is made that an individual has a “seriously delinquent tax debt.” Such certification or a reversal of such certification may only be made by the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, the Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), or the Commissioner of an operating division of the IRS (collectively, Commissioner or specified delegate). Upon receipt of a section 7345 certification, section 32101(e) of the FAST Act provides that…
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Effective state-by-state review of recent crime rate and imprisonment rate declines
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