IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer
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Idaho State Police
District 6 1540 Foote Dr.
Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828
(208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294
For Immediate Release: 09/02/13 at 2:30 p.m.
Please direct questions to the District Office
On September 2, 2013, the Idaho State Police has received reports of traffic congestion and multiple crashes in the construction zone on U.S. Highway 20, between Rexburg and the Menan-Lorenzo Highway. Motorists are encouraged to slow down and increase following distances due to holiday travel.
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Motorists Encouraged to Use Caution on U.S. 20 through Rexburg
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Tips from Denver DUI Attorney Shaun Kaufman: What Not To Do If Pulled Over for a DUI
What Not to Do Do not have empty bottles in the car. That may give the officers cause to pull you out and look closely at you for DUI, or possession of an open liquor container. Do not instantly turn into a lawyer, bitching about violations of your rights, or even the [...](Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)
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New Study Finds That State Crime Labs Are Paid Per Conviction
Original Article
Doesn't surprise us one bit. It's not a "justice" system, it's an INjustice system!
08/29/2013
By Radley Balko
I've previously written about the cognitive bias problem in state crime labs. This is the bias that can creep into the work of crime lab analysts when they report to, say, a state police agency, or the state attorney general. If they're considered part of the state's "team" -- if performance reviews and job assessments are done by police or prosecutors --...
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TX - Dept. of Criminal Justice Correctional Officer (Cory Colvin) arrested for Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child
Cory Colvin
Original Article
09/01/2013
UPSHUR COUNTY (KLTV) - An East Texas correctional officer is behind bars and is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child.
According to Upshur County records, 33-year-old Cory Colvin was arrested Monday, and is charged with Aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child.
Texas Department of Corrections Public Information Officer Jason Clark tells KLTV-7 that Colvin is a correctional officer at the Telford Unit, which is located in New Boston,...
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Michigan Driver's License Restoration Lawyer - Clinical and Legal Training - Part 2
In part 1 of this article, I began outlining my views on what it takes to be a Michigan driver's license restoration lawyer. I pointed out that the primary legal issue in a license appeal, that you prove by "clear...
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Utah (re)considering its approaches to sex offender sentencing
The Salt Lake Tribune has this notable new article about its prison population and sex offender sentencnig under the headline "Utah sex offender policy in spotlight as numbers soar: More prisoners, longer sentences but funding for treatment stays flat, triggering...
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New hearing ordered by Montana judge in case involving controversial 30-day child rape sentence
As reported in this local article, headlined "Judge orders new hearing on controversial rape sentencing," a high-profile state sentencing case from Montana took another notable twist this afternoon. Here are the details: Saying the sentence he imposed on a former...
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//blawgsearch75.rssing.com/chan-6519914/article3788-live.html
Detrich v. Ryan, No. 08-99001 (9-3-13)(en banc)(W. Fletcher and plurality with Pregerson, Reinhardt and Christen; concurrence by Nguyen; concurrence by Watford; dissent by Graber joined by Kozinski, Gould, Bea, and Murguia). This is an important Martinez case. The 9th wrestles, and splinters somewhat, with a Martinez remand for IAC of state pcr counsel. The majority opinion remands to determine whether the state pcr counsel in this capital petition was ineffective. The plurality explained the Martinez four prongs to overcome procedural default and finding cause and prejudice: the IAC claim had to be substantial; (2) the "cause" being either no counsel or ineffective counsel during state review;(3) that the state pcr was the only proceeding to examine IAC of trial counsel (not a hybrid approach); and (4) state law requires the claims to be raised in an initial review collateral proceeding. The explanation provides a framework of analysis for procedural default under Martinez and distinguishes it from the prejudice and cause analysis in Strickland. Nguyen concurs but believes that the standards for cause and prejudice remain the same under Martinez and Strickland. Watford just wanted the case to be remanded and need not say more. Graber with others would forego a remand, under the facts, and decide the sentencing IAC claims now.
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Carduck on Plea Bargaining's Future in Germany
Vanessa J. Carduck (University of Cologne) has posted Quo Vadis, German Criminal Justice System? The Future of Plea Bargaining in Germany on SSRN. Here is the abstract: For over three decades, plea bargaining has been in the focus of the...
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Information regarding the incident to which Officer McKeon was responding to is very relevant
In this criminal action, a motor vehicle accident occurred in June 2007at the intersection of Hungry Harbor Road and Rosedale Road in North Woodmere, New York. An officer was responded to an emergency call that a female was grabbed on the street and dragged into a car. Upon receiving the call, he drove without lights and sirens eastbound on Hungry Harbor Road through a residential area toward Rosedale Road. It was at this point that the officer's vehicle and defendant’s vehicle collided. Plaintiff was a passenger in the defendant’s vehicle.
According to a Nassau DWI Attorney, a field breathalyser test on defendant was conducted at the scene which revealed her blood alcohol level to be. 15. Defendant was arrested at the scene of the accident for Driving While Intoxicated (DWI). Plaintiff commenced a personal injury action against defendant, the County and the officer in 2007. The latter and his wife also brought an action for DUI against the defendant in 2009.
Defendant’s criminal case resulted in an acquittal and in an automatic sealing of the proceedings. Defendant had never submitted to a further blood alcohol test by the arresting officers, and the initial field breathalyzer test was held not admissible in the criminal trial.
In 2008, defendant served a FOIA ("FOIA") request upon the Nassau County Police Department Legal Bureau. The County denied the request indicating that disclosure at that time might interfere with the criminal proceeding and that the request should be renewed after the full adjudication of the criminal proceeding. In 2009, Defendant, pursuant to F.O.I.A., requested the information again and the County denied the request. Defendant served a Notice for Discovery and Inspection, on the County requesting the Police Report from the incident that the officer was responding to when the subject accident occurred. She sought the Central Complaint Report to which the officer was responding; any 911 calls and on air communications made relative to the emergency call that he was responding to or the subject accident. Defendant argues the nature of the underlying call the officer was responding to and whether an emergency is critical to the defense of this case.
In 2010 the officer served a Notice of Discovery and Inspection on defendant seeking duly executed HIPAA authorizations by defendant permitting the officer to obtain the complete Emergency Room record and hospital chart relative to her treatment on the day of the accident and an authorization from defendant unsealing the criminal proceedings and permitting them to obtain certified copies of all proceedings, testimonies and other evidence related to her arrest. Thereafter, the County served a Notice for Discovery and Inspection on defendant seeking names and addresses of witnesses to the accident and a duly executed authorization unsealing the criminal proceedings and permitting the County to obtain all certified copies of all proceedings, testimonies and other evidence. The County argues that any blood work obtained by the Emergency room staff is relevant in pursuing this matter. According to the County, the discovery should be provided to establish the mental and physical condition of the defendant which is a material issue in this matter.
The defendant both applications concerning the unsealing of the criminal proceeding arguing that by receiving an acquittal in the criminal proceeding the issue concerning the impairment of her ability to operate a motor vehicle has been resolved. She further argues that she was arrested at the scene of the accident on charges which were unsubstantiated and were an attempt to use her as a scapegoat.
The County opposes defendant's application arguing that they have properly responded to the plaintiff's discovery request by either providing the requested information or by providing a statement indicating that the County reserves its rights to produce discoverable material up to and including the trial of the matter. Regarding the 911 tapes, the County argues that they cannot be produced pursuant to NYS County Law Section 308(4) The County further claims compliance with the Plaintiff's request for the "Central Complaint Report" arguing that it does not have a "Central Complaint Report" and all discoverable documents and reports in its possession regarding the subject motor vehicle accident have been provided. According to the County, the remaining documents are privileged, confidential and not discoverable.
The officer and his wife have submitted a Reply to the opposition to their cross-motion arguing that the criminal proceedings are very relevant to this civil proceeding.
The filing of a cross-claim by defendant has put her conduct at issue.
CPLR §3101 (a) provides that there shall be full disclosure of all evidence material and necessary in the prosecution or defense of an action, regardless of the burden of proof. The Court of Appeals in a case, held that the words material and necessary are to be interpreted liberally to require disclosure, upon request, of any facts bearing on the controversy which will assist preparation for trial by sharpening the issues and reducing delay and prolixity. The test is one of usefulness and reason. This statute embodies the policy determination that liberal discovery encourages fair and effective resolution of disputes on the merits, minimizing the possibility for ambush and unfair surprise.
Civil Rights Law §50-a(l) exempts from disclosure personnel records of police officers without the express written consent of the subject officer or a lawful court order. Prior to issuing an order for an in camera review of an officer's personnel records, the court must give "interested parties the opportunity to be heard" and the inspection may be conducted only upon "a clear showing of facts sufficient to warrant the judge to request records for review Civil Rights Law §50-a[2]). The initial burden, therefore, is on the party seeking disclosure to demonstrate "in good faith, 'some factual predicate' warranting the intrusion into the personnel records of the officer.
Information regarding the incident to which Officer McKeon was responding to is very relevant to the matter before this Court. As such, all three motions are granted.
The Court ordered, that the County shall provide any and all recordings of the on-air communication between the Officer and the Communications Bureau relative to his assignment and response to the accident to which he was responding. It is further ordered, that the County shall provide the recording of any and all 911 calls made in connection with the incident that the officer was responding to and the accident in which he was involved within 14 days.
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Texas Legislature Cracks Down on Regulation of Internet Mugshot Publishers
214-402-4364-Writ Bond Hotline
bo@kalabuslaw.comwww.rosenthalwadas.com www.kalabuslaw.com
Office: 972-562-7549
Starting September 1, 2013, there is new law regarding the publishing of mugshots and associated information on the Internet. The new "mugshot law" certainly highlights why you need to hire a competent lawyer to handle your expunction or nondisclosure to make sure the mugshot businesses remove your mugshot and booking information from the web. This is because the new law does not place the burden on the mugshot business to remover or correct any of your information--unless they receive notice from you first. Now, let's go over a little background on how we got here.
The mugshot publishing industry is an Internet niche of private businesses that publish mugshots of individuals arrested by law enforcement agencies. This industry has exploded over the past few years. In fact, it has been reported that more than 60 new mugshot websites have been created in a two-year period ending in March 2013. As can be imagined, this growth has in turn spawned the Internet mugshot removal industry, which is a niche industry of businesses that charge a fee to have the mugshot removed from one or more websites.
The mugshots and the arrested individual's information are published regardless of whether or not the person has been found guilty or not guilty of the crime they were arrested for. Because of this and that many of the online websites charge fees to remove mugshots and arrest profiles, the industry has become increasingly controversial. Some sites may remove information for free if the person is able to show proof that they were found not guilty, or that the charges were dropped. Typically sites will charge a fee regardless of the disposition of the case. This controversy has led some state legislatures to propose bills to regulate the industry.
Texas is one of those states enacting legislation on September 1, 2013 in an effort to regulate the websites and to provide relief to individuals that were found not guilty of the crimes they were accused of. During its 2013 legislative session, the Texas State Senate passed two bills regulating the businesses that publish mugshots and accept payment to remove the information. It now requires the business to publish a mailing address, e-mail address, or a fax number to allow people to contact the business. Any individual may contact the business disputing the accuracy of the information being published by the business. The business has 45 days to respond, in writing, about the dispute and the results of its investigation into the dispute. The bill also forbids these businesses from publishing the arrest records of anyone who has not been convicted and establishes a fine for those businesses that do so. And these fines add up if a person has had a criminal offense expunged or nondisclosed from their record and the business continues to publish the mugshot following notice of the expunction or nondisclosure to the tune of $500 a day. Also, if a person who prevails in a lawsuit against the business may recover court costs and attorney's fees.
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Eagly on Criminal Justice for Noncitizens
Ingrid V. Eagly (UCLA School of Law) has posted Criminal Justice for Noncitizens: An Analysis of Variation in Local Enforcement (New York University Law Review, Vol. 88, 2013, Forthcoming) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The growing centrality of “criminal...
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Multiple crimes are charged
A Bronx Grand Larceny Lawyer said that, defendant was arrested on December 31, 1986 and charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, criminal possession of stolen property in the fourth degree, reckless endangerment in the first degree, unauthorized use...
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MO - Editorial: Political courage needed to reform Missouri's sex-offender registry
Rep. Chris Kelly
Original Article
08/30/2013
The phony “tough-on-crime” environment could prevent Missouri lawmakers from doing what they should to reform the state’s sex-offender registry.
There is no question that the registry needs work. It has been operating since the mid-1990s, when federal and state governments created “Megan’s Laws” in response to the murder of a 7-year-old in New Jersey. Megan Kanka was killed by a convicted sex offender who lived across the street.
At the...
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Sex offenders aren't all monsters
Original Article
09/03/2013
By Dianne Frazee-Walker
Most law-abiding citizens would agree that sex-offenders should be locked-up and the key thrown away or once a child molester is released from prison they should be registered and never be allowed to be around children again.
The purpose of sex-offender laws is to protect the public, but what about when human rights are violated to the point where laws are doing more harm than good?
This is what happens when laws are not...
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Appeals Court Agrees Craigslist Posting Specific Enough for Criminal Threat Charges – U.S. v. Stock
I was interested to read a recent case about how specific a defendant must be in his or her speech to “make a threat” under federal criminal law. This issue came up in United States v. Stock, a case from the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals involving an alleged threat posted to Craigslist. Adrian Peter Stock didn’t argue that his posting was protected by the First Amendment; rather, he said that the statement wasn’t criminal in any case because it didn’t express any intention to inflict injury. As a result, he argued, the statement couldn’t possibly be unprotected criminal speech. The Pittsburgh-area federal district court denied Stock’s motion to dismiss, ruling that a reasonable jury could interpret the statement as a threat. The Third Circuit agreed after a lengthy analysis.
Stock was indicted in 2011 for making a Craigslist posting saying:i went home loaded in my truck and spend the past 3 hours looking for this douche with the expressed intent of crushing him in that little piece of shit under cover gray impala hooking up my tow chains and dragging his stupid ass down to creek hills and just drowning him in the falls. but alas i can’t fine that bastard anywhere . . . i really wish he would die, just like the rest of these stupid fucking asshole cops. so J.K.P. if you read this i hope you burn in hell. i only wish i could have been the one to send you there.
He moved to dismiss the indictment for failure to state an offense. The district court denied the motion after a hearing, and Stock then agreed to a plea deal giving him one year and one day in prison, but that preserved his right to pursue this appeal.
The Third Circuit started by agreeing with the district court that an analysis of how the threat statute treats time is necessary. That is, must a “threat” specifically communicate intent to injure now or in the future? The district court concluded that it must, and the Third Circuit ultimately agreed, relying on past statutory language and the term’s ordinary meaning. But the appeals court went on to also agree that a reasonable jury could conclude that Stock’s statement was a threat in the prospective sense. A reasonable person could believe that Stock had actually engaged in the past conduct he described in the posting (driving around looking for an alleged police officer). But this could also be circumstantial evidence of intent to commit future injury, the court said. Furthermore, it found the expressions of resignation near the end did not necessarily communicate that Stock had given up the job, particularly since his posting clearly still wished the officer ill. Thus, the Third found that a reasonable jury could convict Stock.
Laws that criminalize threats run the risk of violating the First Amendment. Stock expressly decided not to rely on the Constitution in his appeal, but I believe the issue is important for anyone charged with a crime for making threats or other speech-related conduct, such as cyberstalking. Every American citizen and resident has the right to clear laws, so we can understand what conduct is illegal before we’re dragged into court. Criminalizing online speech runs the risk of violating that right, particularly when the speech lacks the specificity of a “threat” as ordinary people understand that term. Unfortunately, because Stock ultimately agreed to a plea bargain, it’s not clear whether a reasonable jury really would have agreed.
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NM - Former New Mexico Probation Officer (Gordon Chavez) Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault and False Statement Charges
Gordon Chavez
Original Article
09/03/2013
ALBUQUERQUE - Gordon Chavez, 35, a former probation officer with the New Mexico Department of Corrections Division of Probation and Parole, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to charges related to the sexual assault of a probationer whom he supervised. Chavez pleaded guilty to one count of violating the victim’s right to bodily integrity when he touched her against her will. Chavez also pleaded guilty to one count of...
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NY - Second Circuit panel hints that SORNA might be subject to some Commerce Clause challenges
Original Article
09/03/2013
A helpful reader alerted me to a notable Second Circuit panel opinion today in US v. Robbins, No. 12-3148 (2d Cir. Sept. 3, 2013) (available here), in which the court hints that federal sex offender registration laws might at some point be subject to new Commerce Clause challenges in the wake of the Supreme Court's work in the "Obamacare" cases. Here is how the opinion in Robbins gets started:
In August 2011, after traveling from New York to Nevada,...
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Hillary Clinton Backs Obama Syria Policy
I obviously disagree with the policy, but I also have to question the politics of this: Secretary Clinton supports the presidents effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regimes horrific...
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VIDEO - Who Are the Sex Offenders Among Us?
Video Description:
"One out of three children are abused by the time they're 18," says Pennie Farrell, L.C.S.W., Ph.D., a practicing sex offender treatment provider. On this short video learn the truth from her about how close most sex offenders are to their victims and who among them are treatable, if any.
© 2006-2013 | Sex Offender Issues (Facebook)
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