Lawyers know what you want from them – a strong legal defense, a small bill and reduced or dismissed charges. But in order to achieve these goals, lawyers also want some things from you. Below, we share some things your lawyer wants from you that will make your whole case run smoother and put you in the best position to have a good outcome. What Your Lawyer Wants To best help your case, here’s what your lawyer is going to want from you. 1. Honesty – Honesty is one of the most important factors in a criminal case. Your lawyer is going to take your word at face value, and if they design their arguments around statements that turn out to be false, it’s going to tank your case. Even if you think the truth casts you in a poor light, tell the whole truth to your lawyer. Not only is that conversation privileged, but it will best allow your lawyer to build a case that puts you in a favorable light. 2. Communication – You don’t need to be in contact…
What Your Criminal Defense Lawyer Wants From You
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Relative Madness
Monarchs and dictators name relatives to high-level government positions regardless of their qualifications. Presidents in democratic countries not so much. JFK received all kinds of criticism when he nominated his younger brother to be his Attorney General -- but at least RFK had to be confirmed by the Senate. Meanwhile, Trump's daughter and son-in-law run amok in the White House as senior advisers to the president, sorely lacking security clearances, much less the requisite qualifications and experience. And his two sons run the family business from which Trump has refused to divest, ignoring conflicts of interests and reneging on promises to not engage in new foreign deals.Ivanka headed a delegation to South Korea that went far beyond merely attending the closing ceremonies at the Olympics. With no background or training in government policy, foreign relations or diplomacy, she met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in to discuss U.S. -…
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**UPDATE** - Lanes clear --- Lane Blockage Westbound I-84 near Milepost 38 just west of the Garrity Exit
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: 02/28/18 8:30 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office **UPDATE** The scene has been cleared and all lanes of travel are now open. Traffic is now flowing normally in the area. Idaho State Police is investigating a crash on westbound I-84 near the Garrity overpass in Nampa. The left two lanes of traffic are block; only the right lane is currently open to travel. Troopers expect to have the scene clear within the hour. 3318 -------------
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Trump reportedly praised Singapore for executing drug dealers. Here’s how they’re killed.
Source: The Washington Post (27 February 2018)https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/27/trump-reportedly-praised-singapore-for-executing-drug-dealers-heres-how-theyre-killed/?utm_term=.d3e29b3f0884President Trump has been privately praising Singapore, the small city-state once known as the world's most active executioner per capita.This is according to Axios, which reported Sunday that the president has been telling friends for months that the death penalty should be imposed on drug dealers in the United States — similar to a policy enforced for decades by Singapore.An anonymous senior administration official told Axios that the president has also spoken admiringly about the executions of drug traffickers in China and the Philippines, and has said he would love to have a law that allows the United States to execute drug dealers without exception. Axios reporter Jonathan Swan also said Tuesday that Trump has “talked up” executions in…
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**FINAL UPDATE** Lanes clear --- Lane Blockage Westbound I-84 near Milepost 38 just west of the Garrity Exit
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: 02/28/18 - 10:30 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office **FINAL UPDATE** On February 28, 2018, at approximately 6:42 p.m., Idaho State Police investigated a two vehicle crash on Interstate 84, westbound just west of the Garrity Boulevard interchange. Betty Ward, age 67, of Eagle, driving a 2011 Ford F-150 was stopped in heavy commuter traffic. Susanne Tuttle, age 34, of Caldwell, driving a 2006 Ford Expedition did not slow in time and collided with the back of Ward?s pickup, causing it to roll. Ward's Ford came to rest on its top in the left lane of travel. Both Ward and Tuttle were wearing seat belts. Ward was transported by ground ambulance to Saint…
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Self-Described Feminist and Her Son Accused of Running a Brothel
A Santa Rosa woman and her son were arrested on Friday for allegations that they were running a prostitution ring involving up to 150 women over a 10-year period of time. They are also suspected of using properties as brothels to employ women as sex workers. 59-year-old Fay Ruth Romesburg is an author of female-empowering erotic literature under the pseudonym F.R.R. Mallory, and she identifies herself as a feminist. She is the mother of 38-year-old David Scott Romesburg III with whom she shares a home and declared as dependent on the earnings from her writing career. At the end of last year, Rohnert Park Police was notified by an apartment manager reporting suspicious activity leading them to believe that one of the units was being used as a brothel. One of the neighbors added to the complaint and stated that men visited the apartment regularly. The Santa Rosa Police Department had also been notified with similar information regarding a private home in their district. Continue…
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Bail Process in Harris County Alarms Federal Appeal Judges
The cash bail process is controversial in Texas, nowhere more so than in Harris County where bail practices have been examined by a federal court. A panel of three federal appellate judges met in New Orleans in October. They were reported to be concerned about Harris County’s bail practices as they relate to low-income defendants on misdemeanor charges, reported the Texas Tribune. We have noted how poor defendants often languish for long periods of time in Harris County Jail. Often they end up there on traffic offenses. Some of these inmates filed a lawsuit in 2016. One them was Maranda Lynn O’Donnell. She was arrested for allegedly driving with an invalid license. She said she was jailed for two days, removing her from her four-year-old daughter and a new job at a restaurant. In October, The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans held an hour-long hearing on many aspects of Harris County’s pretrial system. In the biggest jail in the state, arrestees…
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Distinguishing Between Petit Larceny and Grand Larceny in New York: NY PL Article 155 Crimes
In New York, general theft-related crimes are referred to as “larcenies.” A crime of larceny essentially boils down to an allegation that a person, the defendant in a criminal case, stole property. There are many different ways in which a person steals property under the Criminal Procedure Law and Penal Law, specifically under Penal Law 155.05, which defines “larceny.” What level of crime may be charged, such as a B Felony, D Felony, or A Misdemeanor, and whether a person may be charged with Grand Larceny or Petit Larceny, depends on many factors including the method by which the person allegedly stole property, the nature of the property that was stolen, and the total value of that property. The difference between being charged with a felony and a misdemeanor is huge, and it is critical that a person charged with a larceny in New York understands the implications of that distinction. A criminal lawyer with expertise in this area can be invaluable. The…
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What Do Audits Teach Us About Tax Compliance?
Taxpayer Advocate Service Research Report, Audits, Identity Theft Investigations, and Taxpayer Attitudes: Evidence from a National Survey (2017). Kathleen DeLaney Thomas For those interested in understanding taxpayer compliance—including what motivates taxpayers to report honestly and how to reduce tax evasion – there is a robust body of empirical and legal literature. A number of economists and lawyers have examined the effect of traditional deterrence mechanisms like audits and penalties, as well as non-economic factors like social norms, guilt, taxpayer attitudes about how their tax money is spent, and other psychological factors. While this growing body of literature provides a rich description of the myriad of factors that influence tax compliance decisions, our understanding of taxpayer behavior is far from complete, and further study continues to be necessary. In expanding our understanding of taxpayer motivations, one revealing but possibly…
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E.D.Mo.: No joint venture shown with Philippines LEOs in seizure of def’s suitcase there
The search in the Philippines was not a joint venture with the United States, so the exclusionary rule doesn’t apply to it. “There is no evidence that the FBI was aware that items from Defendant’s home were in the suitcase. … Continue reading →
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CA10: The GFE question is “whether the affidavit is so facially deficient that reliance on a warrant issued in response to that affidavit cannot have been in good faith”
The question is not just probable cause; it’s whether it was reasonable for the officer to rely on a warrant that is not facially deficient. United States v. Knox, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 4791 (10th Cir. Feb. 27, 2018): In … Continue reading →
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Pushing The Prosecutor Problem
It’s long been recognized that prosecutors are part of the problem. They hold too much power over the system, as a by-product of mandatory minimums, based upon charging choices that constrain a judge’s authority to sentence as she sees fit. And then there’s the deference problem, that judges acquiesce to prosecutorial demands because they’re the good guys on the side of truth and justice. And it’s long been recognized that much of the system that’s gone terribly awry, from mass incarceration to gross racial disparities, happens at the hands of prosecutors. But it wasn’t until Fordham lawprof John Pfaff’s research that we learned that prosecutors played a pivotal role in mass incarceration by increasingly pursuing felony charges, with their higher sentences. Pfaff showed that many of the favored tropes about the system, the myth that the overload is caused by non-violent first-time drug offenders, for example, were false. If…
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Juan Paredes Castro y una propuesta sensacional y monstruosa.
Juan Paredes Castro ha tenido una idea sensacional, ayer 28 de febrero de 2018, en "sinrodeos" ATV+ 8 pm, antes de exponerla descartó la renuncia del administrador del Perú, concuerdo, el norteamericano jamás renunciará menos tratándose de "indios ignorantes" que se lo exigen. La vacancia la descartó, también concuerdo, legislativo y ejecutivo están comprometidos con la corrupción, el robo y han colocado al Perú en un País casi ingobernable, si lo vacan toda la podredumbre aun oculta de los fascinerosos congresistas verá la luz más temprano que tarde. Juan Paredes Castro ex hombre fuerte de la línea editorial de "El Comercio", tiene una idea extraordinaria que va de la mano con el actual estado de cosas; Este señor propone que todas las "fuerzas políticas" (así denomina a los malditos desgraciados que…
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Rehabilitating Monica
She was predator, not prey. It was consensual, not coercive. But how would Monica Lewinsky know that someday, 20 years in the future, a narrative would arise that would enable her to reinvent herself as the victim? I have been working toward this realization for years. I have been trying to find that power—a particularly Sisyphean task for a person who has been gaslighted. To be blunt, I was diagnosed several years ago with post-traumatic stress disorder, mainly from the ordeal of having been publicly outed and ostracized back then. My trauma expedition has been long, arduous, painful, and expensive. And it’s not over. Take a second to breathe, wipe the tear from your eye, and reflect. Monica has. But as I find myself reflecting on what happened, I’ve also come to understand how my trauma has been, in a way, a microcosm of a larger, national one. Both clinically and observationally, something fundamental changed in our society in 1998, and it is changing…
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CA8: The challenge to RS isn’t piece by piece; RS on totality
The police surveilled defendant’s garage where he was alleged to sell meth from his home in the early morning or at night when he was home. The totality of circumstances add up to reasonable suspicion, and defendant’s challenge was to … Continue reading →
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LA2: Hearsay admissible in suppression hearings; here it was officer’s preliminary hearing testimony which showed exigency
Hearsay is admissible in a suppression hearing. The parties agreed here that the officer’s testimony at the preliminary hearing would be the basis for the suppression hearing, and it shows exigent circumstances for the entry into defendant’s home. State v. … Continue reading →
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Protecting Young Passengers – Child Safety Tips
Motor vehicle crashes are the most significant causes of deaths for children in the United States. Many of these deaths would be avoidable if basic child safety tips were followed. A report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states 663 children aged 12 years or younger died as passengers in automobiles and other vehicles in 2015. More than 121,350 were injured in 2014. Some research suggests large numbers of parents are failing to restrain their kids. One CDC study found more than 618,000 children aged 12 or under rode in vehicles without the use of a child safety seat, a booster seat or even a safety belt at any given time. Of children aged 12 years and younger who died in a motor vehicle crash in 2015, about 35 percent were not buckled up. According to the law in Georgia, children aged under 8 years old must ride in an approved safety seat or booster suitable for their height and weight. Child safety tips can help young passengers Children under…
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DC LEAVING AFTER COLLIDING STATUTE: DC COURT OF APPEALS
The Court of Appeals in Cherry v. District of Columbia decided on July 27, 2017, revered and remanded the defendant’s conviction for leaving the scene of an accident after colliding and expanded and defined the statutory language. Cherry’s car had collided with the wall adjacent to a convenient store. Cherry had exited his car and initially walked toward the convenient store while police officer were already at the scene. He had initially failed to identify himself but had later (about 12 minutes) after the accident had come forward and identified himself as the driver of the vehicle and to the police officers at which time he was arrested for leaving after colliding. The leaving after colliding Statute in pertinent part requires the driver who comes in contact with another vehicle to immediately stop and: If there is injury call 911 or call or to seek an ambulance or other emergency assistance, and Remain on the scene until law enforcement arrives, and To…
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What are the gun laws in the State of Florida?
There has been a lot of talk about new legislation regarding firearms, but what is the current status of the law as it relates to guns? Criminal defense lawyers know that there are plenty of firearm statutes with extreme high range of punishments already on the books in Florida. These laws are coupled with very long minimum mandatory sentences. There are also many different and often overlapping state and federal laws regulating all aspects of firearm possession, use, distribution, manufacturing, and more. This blog will lay out some of the more common firearm statutes in the State of Florida. What are the common gun laws in the State of Florida? Many of the Florida gun laws are located in Chapter 790 of the Florida Criminal Statutes. Here are some of the more common statutes: Continue reading
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The Bottom Line is that Space Heaters Can be Dangerous
There’s no question that New Jersey’s weather is unpredictable. In the same week, the temperatures can vary a good thirty or forty degrees. It’s no wonder that some use space heaters to take out the chill in select rooms. Meanwhile, the truth is that space heaters can be very dangerous. You may already know some of the consequences associated with using space heaters. Just last month, the news reported that a space heater was likely the cause of a massive fire in Newark. More than a dozen families were displaced as a result of flames that quickly accelerated. Fortunately, residents were saved, but animals lost their lives. Space Heaters: A Risk First, it might seem evident that space heaters can cause a fire. However, you might wonder why. In some cases, it may be that the space heater itself is defective or deemed dangerous. Take for example Vornado Air’s Cribside Space Heaters. According to the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, the…
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