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Wisconsin Supreme Court Rules Warrantless Blood Draw in DUI Cases Allowed

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In 2016, the United States Supreme Court held that law enforcement must obtain a warrant before forcibly withdrawing blood from a suspected drunk driver. Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said, “It is true that a blood test, unlike a breath test, may be administered to a person who is unconscious (perhaps as a result of a crash) or who is unable to do what is needed to take a breath test due to profound intoxication or injuries. But we have no reason to believe that such situations are common in drunk-driving arrests, and when they arise, the police may apply for a warrant if need be.” Notwithstanding the precedent, the Wisconsin Supreme Court seems to think that it can continue to issue decisions that allow that law enforcement to withdraw an unconscious DUI suspect’s blood without a warrant in violation of both the Constitution and the United States Supreme Court. It did so again this week in the case of Gerald Mitchell. “Nothing in the…

"Police, Race, and the Production of Capital Homicides"

Awarding Spousal Support in an Ohio Divorce

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When getting a divorce, one of the most startling realizations that many couples have is the fact that their standard of living will probably not be the same after they are separated. When you divorce, your income is now essentially split in half, and you have to figure out how you will make ends meet with just your own income. One of the things that is used to account for the possible lack of income is spousal support. Usually, spousal support (also known as alimony) is awarded to a person if their spouse was the primary bread-winner in the marriage. There are a variety of factors that courts use to determine if spousal support is appropriate and how much the payments should be. It is useful for divorcees to understand Ohio’s spousal support laws when they are going through a divorce. Spousal Support Determinations One of the first things that Ohio judges will do in a spousal support case is to determine whether or not spousal support is actually needed or warranted.…

Research Finds Cell Phone Notifications as Distracting as Texting While Driving

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Over the last decade or so, lawmakers and public safety advocates have been trying to create awareness about the dangers of driving while distracted. Many of these efforts have been centered around the use of a cell phone and texting behind the wheel. While many wireless service companies like Verizon and Sprint have joined the fight and introduced “driving modes” to eliminate texting while driving, thousands of people are still injured each year in accidents that could have been prevented if drivers simply put down their phones. A recent study found, however, that your phone can be distracting even if it is not in your hand or where you can see it. The Call of the Unknown A research team from Florida State University wanted to know how much driver distraction was caused the act of texting as opposed to the thought that is involved with sending and receiving messages. They found that simply hearing a notification from a cell phone was enough to significantly…

Understanding the Defense of Coercion

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The United States Supreme Court recently refused to hear a man’s challenge to a 2005 murder conviction, which he claimed was the result of coercion. This complicated case is documented in the Netflix series, “Making a Murderer.” A lower court of appeals upheld the man’s convictions for murder, sexual assault, and mutilation of a corpse. The man’s law enforcement argues that due to the man’s significant intellectual and social limitations, he was coerced into confessing, which violated his constitutional rights. In 2016, a federal magistrate found that the man’s confession was coerced. A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals later upheld this ruling. During a rehearing that was requested by state prosecutors, however, the 7th Circuit ruled against the man. The 7th Circuit consequently held that the man had spoken to law enforcement voluntarily with his mother’s permission and provided details about the killing. How…

Security Screenings at Texas Airports, Drug Seizures, and the Fourth Amendment

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The “border search exception” to the Fourth Amendment’s search warrant requirement has been part of this country’s law since the very first session of the U.S. Congress. Federal officials, for example, have the authority to search “all persons coming into the United States from foreign countries.” 19 U.S.C. § 1582. The legal principle behind the border search exception is the right of the United States, as a sovereign nation, to control who and what enters its territory. The “border” is no longer limited to border crossings and seaports. It now includes international airports, and the search practices allowed for international travelers have expanded to affect purely domestic travel. As a result, Texas drug charges may result from searches at airports under federal law. Warrantless searches at airports may be justified by a combination, depending on the circumstances, of the border search exception, which is based on national…

Crespo on Impeachment as Punishment

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Andrew Manuel Crespo (Harvard Law School) has posted Impeachment As Punishment (Harvard Law & Policy Review, Vol. 13, No. 1, 2019, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In their recent book "To End a Presidency" Prof. Laurence Tribe and...

5 Mistakes Inexperienced DUI Lawyers Make

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You should always seek out professional assistance if you are staring down the barrel of a DUI charge, but not all criminal defense lawyers can get the same results. There are plenty of young attorneys who are great and older attorneys who have, for lack of a better term, lost their fastball, but trouble tends to begin if you hire a lawyer who ends up being inexperienced or downright lazy. If they aren’t on their game, they can run into some common problems while trying your DUI case. Below, we shine a spotlight on five common mistakes that poor DUI lawyers make. Watch For These Mistakes With Your Case Keep an eye out for signs that any of these five mistakes could or have already happened. 1. Assuming The Case Won’t Go To Trial – Some lawyers think that their client is guilty, so they just want to connect with the prosecution and see if they can cut a plea deal. It’s great if your lawyer is looking into plea options, but if they aren’t preparing…

Understanding Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

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A man on Texas death row was recently allowed to move forward in a criminal appeal concerning whether the man’s legal counsel was deficient during the sentencing phase of a trial involving allegations that the man strangled and raped a 16-year-old in Waco in the late 1980s. As part of this ruling, two of three judges on a 5th United Circuit Court of Appeals panel rejected claims that the man is mentally impaired and resultantly ineligible for execution. This case represents an example of how deficient counsel claims are made, which if done correctly, can be the basis of a particularly strong appeal. How the Case Arose The man mentioned above was arrested in 1987 after the body of the young victim was found. The man was released, however, due to an improper search warrant and was not arrested again until 1996. The man also previously initiated an unsuccessful appeal arguing that because the man was in the United States illegally, he should have received protection. During…

Police Step Up Awareness Over Scams Targeting Elderly People in Texas

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Scams targeting elderly people are endemic in Texas. Older people are more vulnerable to fraudsters leading police departments to step up awareness campaigns to protect the elderly. Recently, the Dallas Morning News featured the work of Christopher Bianez, an officer with the Plano Police Department. AARP Magazine featured Bianez on the cover of its March 2018 issue, and the Texas Crime Prevention Association named him Outstanding Crime Prevention Specialist last year. Bianez is spurred on to protect the elderly because of his upbringing. His mother was a heroin addict. He never met his father until he became an adult. His said his late grandmother Gertrude Smedley Hill kept him grounded, put him in the scouts and stressed the importance of a drug-free life. It led the 57-year-old police officer to become a champion of senior safety. Bianez who is with the Plano Police Department’s Crime Prevention Unit, speaks at senior groups in Plano and surrounding cities to…

Roberts on The Innocence Movement and Misdemeanors

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Jenny Roberts (American University - Washington College of Law) has posted The Innocence Movement and Misdemeanors (Boston University Law Review, Vol. 98, No. 101, 2018) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: In recent years, the Innocent Movement has begun to...

The Role of New Evidence in a Trial

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Supreme Court Case Denies Petition in Federal Criminal Trial The United States Supreme Court recently rejected a man’s petition for further DNA testing of a crime scene, which the man claims will establish his innocence. The man in question was convicted of a 1996 murder and sexual assault of a woman. In 2015, the man’s execution was paused shortly before it would have occurred. This case highlights the importance of evidence in a federal criminal trial. Understandably, a large number of appeals are based on evidence, including claims that new evidence would exonerate the defendant. In these situations, it is a wise idea to get the help of a skilled federal criminal appeal lawyer. It is also helpful to understand how these appeals are made because they involve a distinct and sometimes complex area of law. Response to the Supreme Court’s Denial The man’s legal counsel had hoped that the Supreme Court would take up the constitutionality issues raised in…

Understanding the Federal Death Row Appeal Process

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Appeals To Death Row Cases A man who was convicted and received the death penalty for beheading his three children recently initiated the federal appeal process. The man was previously re-tried in 2010 after an appeals court reversed his conviction and sentence, but he was again convicted of capital murder and still received the death penalty. A federal public defender who specializes in death penalty appeals filed the most recent petition on the man’s behalf, which asked, among other things, for the court to appoint legal counsel at a nonprofit specializing in death penalty appeals to be appointed as co-counsel. A ruling has not yet been made on this appeal. In many states that have the death penalty, cases involving a death sentence are different from other types of criminal cases and involve unique interactions with federal prosecutors. As a result, the appeal process for death sentence cases is distinct from other types of criminal appeals. It is critical that a…

Is Tupac Shakur’s Killer About to Confess

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“I’m the only one who can tell the story about Tupac’s killing,” A Compton drug kingpin, turned rapper, Keffe D told reporters recently as he supposedly faces imminent death from cancer. Born Duane Keith Davis, the rapper claims he wants to “come clean.” He may have reached his objective in an upcoming USA documentary, “Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G.” Davis hasn’t completely thrown off the veil of secrecy — just teased his fans, the police and others in the underground. Since Tupac Shakur was killed by an unknown shooter on September 7, 1996 in Las Vegas, the slaying has been wrapped in a mystery, rolled in an enigma and topped with a riddle. Police corruption and the no-snitch code of Las Vegas’ mean streets worked together to further the mystery and keep the truth from inquiring minds. Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson had been a suspect for decades. He, Tupac and Suge Knight had…

First DNA-Based Death Row Exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth Marks 25 Years of Freedom

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In 1993, Kirk Bloodsworth became the first person on death row to be exonerated based on DNA testing.  Earlier this week, local news station WBAL in Baltimore interviewed Bloodsworth about the larger impact of his case and about his life in the 25 years since he was proven innocent of murder. “It feels like yesterday to me,” Bloodsworth said to WBAL. Bloodsworth was a 22-year-old former Marine when he was wrongfully convicted in 1984 of the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl, and was sentenced to death in Maryland. There was no physical evidence connecting him to the crime. Bloodsworth was convicted largely based on misidentifications made by several eyewitnesses. In 1992, after eight years in prison, Bloodsworth received favorable news. Results from DNA tests of crime scene evidence revealed publicly what he knew all along: he was innocent. “I remember that day I got that Post-It note stuck in my cell door. It said, ‘Urgent! Call your…

Intentional Assault by Any Other Name is Still Intentional Assault

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Is an intentional assault committed during an extreme emotional disturbance a “violent felony” for the purposes of the Armed Career Criminal Act? In United States v. Maynard, the Sixth Circuit says it is.Kentucky allows defendants accused of committing first, second, or fourth-degree assaults to mitigate their conduct by presenting evidence that, at the time of the assault, they were “under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance.” Ky. Rev. Stat. § 508.040. In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit clarified what the court had already said in unpublished opinions: the mitigating factor does not change the fact that the statute has as an element the actual, threatened, or attempted use of physical force. The statute requires proof that the defendant actually caused physical harm, and so the court had no trouble finding that the Ky. Rev. Stat. § 508.040 qualifies as a violent felony under the elements clause of the ACCA.The overall…

Perlin & Gallagher on Disability, Law, and Therapeutic Jurisprudence

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Michael L. Perlin and Mehgan Gallagher (New York Law School and O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law) have posted 'Temptation's Page Flies Out the Door': Navigating Complex Systems of Disability and the Law from a Therapeutic Jurisprudence Perspective...

Interesting new Quick Facts report from US Sentencing Commission on "Women in the Federal Offender Population"

Interesting and intricate Ohio drug sentencing initiative poised to qualify for November 2018 ballot

How To Legally Protest In New York City

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Okumou huddled at the monument’s base and had a four-hour standoff with law enforcement before two New York cops climbed up and took her into custody. “She’s been taken into custody, peacefully,” said Sgt. David Somma, a National Park Service spokesman. “Thank God. It’s all over now.” Okumou is an activist with the group ‘Rise and Resist’ which hung the banner protesting Trump’s ‘zero-tolerance’ immigration policy, but authorities still do not know if Okumou was acting under the group’s umbrella or was a renegade. She was wearing a Rise and Resist t-shirt. The Statue of Liberty is a national monument and is administered by the National Park Service. Who is Rise and Resist? Rise and Resist is an American movement, primarily found in New York City, created in answer to the 2016 election of Donald Trump. The group has put together several marches and protests against Trump and his policies, as well as…
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