Attorney fees are a concern for spouses considering divorce. This is particularly true for the dependent spouse. They may lack the legal knowledge to deal with a divorce alone, but their limited financial resources make it difficult to hire a divorce attorney. Fortunately, North Carolina law permits a court to award attorney fees to a dependent spouse is some instances. This can help defray the legal expenses of a divorce and allow a dependent spouse to pursue their legal rights. Attorney Fees for Alimony Cases Whenever a dependent spouse receives alimony or post-separation support, a court is permitted to award them reasonable attorney fees. This means that the other party (their spouse or former spouse) would have to pay the fees. Just because a court decides you should receive alimony, that doesn’t mean that you will automatically be awarded attorney fees. You will have to file a request for attorney fees, and the court will look at your financial situation to…
Are Attorney Fees Recoverable in a Divorce?
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Pennsylvania Appeals Court Upholds DUI Conviction After Defendant Was On Drugs in “Therapeutic Range”
In a recent Pennsylvania DUI case, the state intermediate court recently affirmed the appellant’s sentence imposed following her convictions of driving under the influence of a controlled substance, operating a vehicle without a valid inspection sticker, and operating a vehicle without evidence of emission inspection. On June 28, 2016, a Pennsylvania trooper was on traffic enforcement duty in East Lampeter Township when he observed a red car with expired inspection stickers. When the car passed his location, the trooper made a U-turn to pursue the vehicle. The trooper caught up with the car and initiated a traffic stop. He informed the driver, the appellant, that he had pulled her over for an inspection violation, and he requested her license, registration, and proof of insurance. According to the trooper, it took the appellant more time to gather her information than it would for an average person during a non-DUI vehicle stop, and the appellant had difficulty locating…
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Crash blocking westbound offramp at the 211 exit on I84, near Burley
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 04/02/2018 6:45 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office The Idaho State Police is investigating a crash. The westbound 211 off ramp is currently blocked on I84, near Burley. 3490 -------------
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Short Take: Iowa Admits A Legal Fiction
For those unaware, the law has many masters, one of which is finality. It’s not that the issues raised, and their consequences, aren’t extremely serious, but that there must ultimately be conclusions, ends to the debate, the fight, the doubt. One such line happens when a defendant pleads guilty to a crime. The process varies. In some courts, the defendant is put under oath to admit his guilt. In some, he engages in an allocution, where he is asked to state, in his own words, what he did. The judge may ask a litany of questions to be sure the defendant is pleading of his own free will, not due to coercion or promises about which the court is unaware. But once done, once the guilty plea has been entered, guilt admitted, that aspect of the case is over. As far as the law is concerned, there is no turning back, no denying that the defendant committed the crime, once he’s pleaded guilty. Of course, it’s a fiction. No one believes that defendants only plead…
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*Update* Crash at the 211 exit on I84, near Burley
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 04/02/2018 6:57.m. Please direct questions to the District Office **Update** State Highway 24 is currently blocked at milepost 0, under I-84 at milepost 211 overpass. 3632 *********** The Idaho State Police is investigating a crash. The westbound 211 off ramp is currently blocked on I84, near Burley. 3490 -------------
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*Update 2* Crash at the 211 exit on I84, near Burley
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE District 4 Patrol 218 West Yakima, Jerome, ID 83338-5904 (208) 324-6000 Fax (208) 324-7897 For Immediate Release: 04/02/2018 7:35 a.m. Please direct questions to the District Office **2nd Update** The westbound lanes are currently reduced to one lane near exit 211 on I-84. **Update** State Highway 24 is currently blocked at milepost 0, under I-84 at milepost 211 overpass. 3632 *********** The Idaho State Police is investigating a crash. The westbound 211 off ramp is currently blocked on I84, near Burley. 3490 -------------
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Opinion reversing Ninth Circuit excessive force case on qualified immunity grounds
The per curiam opinion is in Kisela v. Hughes. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justice Ginsburg, dissented.
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SCOTUS grants cert on yet another ACCA case(!) while Justice Sotomayor is in fine dissenting form on other criminal justice matters
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Today's criminal law/procedure cert grant
Issue summary is from ScotusBlog, which also links to papers: Stokeling v. U.S.: Whether a state robbery offense that includes “as an element” the common law requirement of overcoming “victim resistance” is categorically a “violent felony” under the Armed Career...
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Definition of Crime of Violence in the Supreme Court Has a Bearing on Immigration Law
The definition of the term a “crime of violence” and its use to expel migrants to the United States was discussed by the U.S. Supreme Court in September 2017. The case of Sessions v. Dimaya, considered whether the authorities can use the definition “crime of violence” to expel an offender whose crime involved no violence. The case goes to the heart of the immigration statutes that control whether thousands of undocumented immigrants and green card holders are deported every year. Supreme Court considers definition of a crime of violence During September’s hearing, Justice Neil Gorsuch noted the due process clause does not include the criminal/civil distinction used by the government. He said under the Constitution: “The Due Process Clause speaks of the loss of life, liberty, or property. It doesn’t draw a civil/criminal line, and yet, elsewhere, even in the Fifth Amendment, I do see that line drawn, the right of…
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Fatal Car Crashes In Georgia Rise 30 Percent
Seldom a day goes by without us reading about fatal car crashes in Georgia. Recent figures revealed the issue is getting more serious and the number of deaths on the roads of Georgia rose 33 percent in just two years. Over 1,500 people lost their lives in car accidents on Georgia highways. The Georgia Department of Transportation revealed the number of deaths on Georgia roads in 2018 rose a third in 24 months. That equates to about four deaths a day. Fatal car crashes in Georgia rise 30 percent Kyle Collins with the Department of Transportation told the news station 13 WMAZ Georgia is well ahead of the national average for deaths on the roads. Officials believe a surge in distracted driving may be pushing up the death rate. Collins said: “We hate seeing one life lost, much less over 1,500 every year, which is where we currently stand.” The state Department of Transportation revealed about 60 percent of fatal car crashes in Georgia involve a…
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SCOTUS summarily reverses USCA9, again, on qualified immunity
Last June, the Ninth Circuit denied rehearing en banc in a qualified immunity case where the police shot (but did not kill) a woman who appeared to be threatening another with a knife and did not obey commands to drop it. Dissenting from denial of rehearing, Judge Ikuta warned her colleagues:Rather than ask the correct question--whether Officer Kisela's split-second decision in "the specific context of the case" was "plainly incompetent" or "knowingly violate[d] the law"--the panel opinion defines the "clearly established right" here at the highest level of generality: the right to be free of excessive force. Mullenix v. Luna, 136 S. Ct. 305, 308 (2015) (per curiam). In doing so, the panel opinion adopts the same standard that the Supreme Court has repeatedly overruled.Judge Berzon, concurring in the denial, confidently stated, "The dissent's principal complaint is that the panel characterized the relevant…
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Security Video Evidence is Used in Footballer Assault Charge Case
In recent years, video footage has played an increasingly important part in criminal proceedings whether obtained from street or traffic cameras, social media video or home security systems. Recently, police in Mansfield in Texas said footage obtained from footballer Trevone Boykin’s home security video system may have captured an alleged assault on his girlfriend that resulted in his arrest. Boykin is a former Texas Christian University and Seattle Seahawks quarterback. He was arrested at his home in Mansfield in March. Police charged the footballer with aggravated assault with serious bodily injury. The offense is a second-degree felony carrying a potential penalty of 2-20 years in prison. A report in the Star-Telegram noted Mansfield police obtained the surveillance video from the home of the footballer after they executed a search warrant on March 22. Police officers attended Dallas’ Parkland Hospital on March 21 following a report of an alleged…
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Sergeant Charged with DUI in NH Gets No Trial
It has been a difficult year for former police officer Daniel Crevier, who now resides in New Hampshire. Formerly with the North Andover Police Department, Crevier was accused of crashing an unmarked police cruiser while in Pennsylvania. He received three different DUI-related charges in the state. It appears Crevier will not go to trial. His case was accepted for a program unique to Pennsylvania – Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) — a pre-trial intervention program for non-violent offenders with little or no prior record. After the September 2016 DUI incident, his case spent more than a year in Pennsylvania courts being adjudicated. He had been in Pennsylvania for a training seminar and went for a drink with a fellow officer from his department. He was accused of crashing the cruiser “into a construction vehicle parked away from the main roadway and left the scene without notifying local police.” According to police reports, he registered a…
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Morgan County Court DUI Cases in Fort Morgan, Colorado
In 2017, there were 108 DUI cases filed in Morgan County Court in Fort Morgan, Colorado. These cases had an average BAC of approximately two times the per se legal limit for DUI. The average BAC being 0.155. The number of DUI cases filed in Morgan County Court in 2012 was 137. The average BAC of these 137 cases was 0.147. Thus the sheer number of cases has dropped from the year 2012 to the year 2017 by approximately 27%, however the average BAC has gone up slightly. Enforcement for Morgan County DUI and DWAI cases comes from several different law enforcement agencies. The Colorado State Patrol frequently patrols the I-76 area and other county wide roads looking for traffic infractions and possible DUI drivers. District 3 of the Colorado State Patrol handles patrol for Morgan County (and the entire Northeast Colorado area) with their local post located at 13360 W I-76 Frontage Road, Fort Morgan, CO 80701. The Morgan County…
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Lain on Michael Meltsner
Corinna Lain (University of Richmond - School of Law) has posted The Highs and Lows of Michael Meltsner: A Tribute (Northeastern Law Review, Extra Legal (2018)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In this short essay, I share the professional...
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The Illinois 5-Year BAIID Law
Effective January 1, 2016, the Secretary of State began to enforce a new law requiring that revoked drivers with 2 or more DUI convictions who were granted a restricted driving permit (RDP) after an administrative hearing, drive on a breath alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) for a period of 5-years before applying for full reinstatement. Unfortunately, the Secretary of State made the decision to apply this law retroactively. As a result, applicants whose DUIs occurred before the effective date of the new law and, in many cases years, decades earlier, are subject to the new law, only because they failed to apply before the change in the law went into effect. Many of our clients have asked for the reasoning is behind the law. The law was proposed by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists (AAIM), which claimed that a study they had found demonstrated that until a person drives successfully for at least 5-years on a BAIID device, the chances that the person will return…
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SpearIt on Guns and Self-Defense to Curb Police Misconduct
SpearIt (Texas Southern University - Thurgood Marshall School of Law) has posted Firepower to the People! Gun Rights and the Law of Self-Defense to Curb Police Misconduct (Tennessee Law Review, Vol. 85, 2017) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This...
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Both Sides Argue Over Cameras in Minnesota Courtrooms
A representative from St. Cloud is attempting to restrict camera access in Minnesota courtrooms, and both sides are heavily divided on the issue. The bill, championed by Rep. Jim Knoblach, would restrict camera use from any criminal matter, from the court hearings to sentencing, without consent from everyone involved in the case. This means the victim, defendant, prosecutors, defense attorneys and judge would all have to give consent in order for camera access to be allowed. Currently, Minnesota is involved in a pilot program that allows cameras to film sentencing hearings or plea deals. Rep. Knoblach basically said the pilot program was pointless and discouraged witnesses and victims from wanting to testify. Knoblach’s Misconceptions Knoblach’s assertion that cameras would negatively impact witness and victim testimony is a very odd statement, considering in the pilot program, the cameras never record at any point when a victim or witness would be speaking. The…
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Probation Violations and the Florida Anti-Murder Act
The Anti-Murder Act in Florida requires violent felony offenders or other certain types of offenders who violate probation or community control to remain in jail until the court determines whether the individual poses a danger to the community. This law was established in March 2007. The Florida Department of Corrections will designate those offenders as Violent Felony Offenders of Special Concern or “VFO” on the violation of probation or community control affidavit. Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.790(b)(3) indicates that except when the alleged violation of probation is based solely on the defendant’s failure to pay costs, fines, or restitution, the defendant shall not be granted bail or any other form of pretrial release prior to the resolution of the probation or community control violation hearing. The court shall not dismiss the probation violation warrant pending against a defendant without holding a recorded violation hearing at…
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