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Atlantic.com: "'Stop and Frisk' May Be Working—But Is It Racist?"

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Atlantic.com: 'Stop and Frisk' May Be Working—But Is It Racist? by Jesse Alejandro Cottrell: New York's policy might indeed be reducing gun violence. But residents aren't sure it's worth the cost. "I just got stopped like two blocks ago," said a frustrated Harlem teenager to the two police officers who approached him. This is the first recorded audio of a New York City "stop and frisk" recorded surreptitiously by a 16-year-old brown-skinned high schooler identified only as "Alvin." Soon after, the encounter escalates into shouting. "Why are you carrying an empty book bag?" the police ask Alvin. "Because I had my hoodie in there. It was cold." "You want me to smack you?" "Why you gonna smack me?" "Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Shut your fucking mouth." Quick clicks of tightening handcuffs are heard on the recording as Alvin frantically asks, "What am I getting arrested for?" One of the policemen responds, "For being a fucking mutt." "That's against the law, being a mutt?" Alvin asks. "I will break your fucking arm off right now," the policeman answers. The recording, which surfaced earlier this year on The Nation's website, enraged civil rights activists already demanding the overhaul of Stop and Frisk, a New York City Police Department program that has led to the stops and searches hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, most of whom are black or Latino, every year.

New Maryland Polling

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The Gonzales Reserarch Maryland poll is available in Adobe .pdf format. The Washington Post reports, "Md. voters open to life without possibility of parole, new poll finds." It's by John Wagner. The poll found that 49 percent of Marylanders support...

Seventh Circuit finds unconstitutional Indiana statute prohibiting sex offenders from social media

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The Seventh Circuit today handed down a significant new media and sex offender First Amendment ruling in Doe v. Prosecutor, Marion County, Indiana, No. 12-2512 (7th Cir. Jan 23, 2013) (available here). Here is how the 20-page unanimous panel ruling...

Army General Facing Court-Martial

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Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair is facing court-martial charges involving sexual misconduct. Sinclair recently served in Afghanistan, but was reassigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina to face charges in a military tribunal. Sinclair served five combat tours of duty. Despite his...

In Memory of Joseph White

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Joseph White, who was exonerated in 2008 after spending more than 18 years incarcerated for a murder he did not commit, died in an accident at the Alabama coal-processing plant where he was employed on January 20. He was 48 years old. White was one of the "Beatrice Six," three men and three women, who were wrongfully convicted of the 1989 sexual assault and murder of a 68-year-old woman in Beatrice, Nebraska. While the other five pled guilty for reduced charges, White maintained his innocence in the crime throughout, insisting on a trial by jury. He was ultimately wrongfully convicted and sentenced to life in prison. When biological evidence pointing to the real perpetrator exonerated White in 2008, he became the first man in Nebraska to have a conviction overturned through DNA evidence. His five co-defendants, all of whom had been released before him, were exonerated in 2009. The World Herald News-Service spoke with White's family: White's mother, Lois White of Holly Pond, Ala., said his family and friends are numb. The high school girlfriend to whom White first proposed in 1981 accepted this past Christmas Eve. They were set to marry in May. "He was the happiest he'd been since he was a little kid - or at least since 1989," Mrs. White said. Read the full article here.Read more about the Beatrice Six case.

Tyler judge reprimands prosecutors, will report them to state bar

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From the Tyler Morning Telegraph: "Judge Kerry Russell reprimanded prosecutors in court this morning because they did not immediately notify Nichols' defense attorney about his weekend arrest. Russell said he would be notifying the State Bar of Texas to investigate the conduct of Jason Parrish and Richard Vance."

Florida DUI Education. Driving with an unlawful alcohol level (DUBAL) – (.08)

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Florida DUI Education. Driving with an unlawful alcohol level (DUBAL) – (.08) Immediate License SuspensionAccording to Florida DUI law, your license will be suspended as of the arrest date for 6 months for the first offense and one year for any other offense of DUBAL (source). You will be given a 10-day permit on the date of the arrest. Once the permit has expired, then 30 days of the suspension must be served before the driver is eligible to apply for a hardship license. You will be eligible for a hardship license on the first and any consecutive suspension, unless you have been convicted of a DUI in Florida two or more times. Under the Florida DUI law, you must provide proof of enrollment in a driving under the influence school to the Administrative Reviews Office for consideration for a hardship license. If given approval to reinstate early for hardship, you must present this approval to the driver license office. At the time of reinstatement, whether for a hardship license or a full license, you must take the required examination, and pay $115 administrative fee and $35 reinstatement fee and any license fee required. Proof of liability insurance on the arrest date will be required or proof of liability coverage and a $15 reinstatement fee will be required.As strongly advised by your criminal defense attorney on your first DUI arrest, the stakes increase with each subsequent DUI/DWI arrest. In addition, if you refuse to submit to a breath/urine test, Florida DUI law requires that your license be suspended as of the arrest date for one year for the first offense and 18 months for any consecutive offenses. You will be given a 10-day permit on the date of arrest and when the permit expires must serve 90 days of the suspension before the driver is eligible to apply for a hardship license on the first suspension.While a single drunken-driving conviction is traumatic and expensive enough to sober up most drivers, about one-third of all drunken-driver arrests are of people who are repeating their crime, according to the National Institutes of Health.Depending on which study you come across, the average person convicted under DUI laws drives drunk anywhere from 50 to 200 times before getting caught. Even after a conviction for driving drunk, 50% to 75% of people whose licenses have been suspended continue to drive (source).Choosing an experienced and knowledgeable Florida DUI criminal defense attorney is the key to restoring your driving privileges. There are defenses in DUI accident cases, which an experienced and capable lawyer can use. The following are the potential penalties for multiple DUI convictions in FL. Additional charges and/or aggravating circumstances may increase these penalties:Second DUI ConvictionUp to nine months in jailProbation$1000-$2000 in finesIf this is the second conviction within five years, mandatory ten-day period of incarcerationFL Driver’s License revoked for up to five yearsThird DUI ConvictionUp to one year in jailProbation$2000-$5000 in finesIf this is the third conviction within ten years, mandatory thirty-day period of incarcerationFL Driver’s License revoked for up to ten yearsFourth or Subsequent DUI ConvictionUp to five years in prisonProbation$2000-$5000 in finesFL Driver’s License revoked permanently with no eligibility for a hardship reinstatementWest Palm Beach DUI/DWI AttorneyIt is not illegal to drink and drive in Florida, so long as your blood alcohol content (BAC) is not over .08 or your normal faculties are not impaired. At the law firm of Andrew D. Stine, P.A., in West Palm Beach, we advise our clients to neither blow into a breathalyzer machine nor do a roadside test. Why give evidence to the state if you don't have to?If you have submitted to a breathalyzer test and failed, that is not the end of your case. The Intoxilzer 5,000 and Intoxilzer 8,000 breathalyzer machines used to measure BAC in Florida have significant problems. If you have an expert witness and an experienced attorney who can challenge the accuracy of the machine in court, the BAC evidence may be thrown out. DUI/DWI Lawyer Andrew Stine has obtained not-guilty verdicts due to machine failure for clients who have had blood alcohol levels of .229 and .227.The most important thing in DUI/DWI cases is early intervention by your attorney. This preliminary involvement will help you avoid the consequences of a conviction, which are very serious in Florida. We will also represent you at your hearing before the Florida Department of Motor Vehicles in order to protect your right to drive.In addition to DUI/DWI charges, we represent clients in DUI accident cases, including:Leaving the scene of accident with severe bodily injuryDUI/DWI severe bodily injuryDUI/DWI homicideDUI/DWI manslaughter There are defenses in DUI accident cases, which an experienced and capable lawyer can use. Even if you made a statement to police during your arrest, our lawyers can usually get that evidence thrown out of court. Any statement you give officers cannot be used against you due to the Florida accident report privilege.Free consultation 24/7: Call West Palm Beach criminal defense lawyer Andrew D. Stine, P.A. at (561) 832-1170. Se habla español.Protecting your right to driveUnless your request a DMV hearing within 10 days of arrest, you will lose your driver's license. Even if your license is revoked, we can apply for a hardship license, which is usually immediately granted to you. We have never had a hardship license denied to one of our clients.Distributed by Viestly

Criminal Minds Actor Now a Criminal Defendant: Thomas Gibson Busted for Driving Under the Influence in Downtown Los Angeles

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If you were recently arrested for driving under the influence in downtown Los Angeles or USC, you may relate to the travails of 50-year old Thomas Gibson, a local actor famous for his roles in Dharma & Greg and Criminal Minds. 130106ThomasGibson-hollywood-dui.jpg On January 6, Gibson steered his Audi SUV onto a race course sectioned off from traffic. Witnesses told news sources that Gibson scared several runners in the half-marathon. Fortunately, no one was hit or injured. When police asked Gibson to take a different route, he failed to heed their warnings and drove off. Ultimately, the police stopped him under suspicion of Los Angeles DUI at 1:37 a.m. Police noticed that Gibson had the odor of alcohol on his breath. The actor refused to take a breathalyzer test. The police took him into custody and held him on a bail of $15,000. It’s understandable why Gibson might have refused the breathalyzer test. As we’ve discussed multiple times before, breathalyzers yield surprisingly inaccurate results, given their ubiquity both in real life and “in the movies.” Breathalyzer tests, for instance, do not discriminate between men and women. They can yield artificially false positives if you blow into them too hard. In other words, let’s say you’ve had a few drinks, but you’re not technically over the legal limit for Los Angeles DUI, as defined by California Vehicle Code Section 23152(b), of 0.08% BAC. Perhaps your “real” BAC is more along lines of 0.06% -- borderline, but not over the limit. A police officer, however, may ask you to blow as hard as you can into the breathalyzer. So you do, but because you blow so hard, you force the machine to give you a reading of, say, 0.09% BAC. Now you’re considered technically “over the limit,” and you could be prosecuted and convicted of a misdemeanor – or a felony under certain circumstances – and subject to all sorts of horrific punishments, such as jail time, the stripping of your CA license, fines and fees, and other inconveniences. Breathalyzers can also be thrown off if you’re on a special weight loss diet. When the body goes into so-called “fat burning mode” – and/or if you’re a type II diabetic – your body produces metabolic compounds known as ketone bodies. When you have enough of these ketone bodies floating around in your system, they can influence a breathalyzer test and fool the test into thinking that you're under the influence, even when you’re stone-cold sober or just borderline. For instance, a ketogenic dieter who has a real BAC of 0.06% might end up tripping a positive for DUI because of her metabolic byproducts. If you or somebody you know has experienced a legal crisis that’s similar to Thomas Gibson's, consider getting in touch with the team here at the Kraut Law Group. Michael Kraut is an ex-prosecutor who is well-known and respected for his insight and successes with DUI cases. News sources like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, KTLA and CBS all routinely ask Mr. Kraut for his opinions on important DUI stories, and he has won respect not only from clients, but also from judges and prosecutors.

6 Ways to Avoid a Traffic Ticket

6 Ways to Avoid a Traffic Ticket

New York Exonerees Lack Social Services

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Photo: Korey Wise (far right) with other members of the Central Park Five case. The men are still fighting to be compensated for their years of wrongful imprisonment.A recent article in City Limits details the struggle faced by New York exonerees adjusting to life outside of prison. Fernando Bermudez, who spent more than 18 years in prison for a New York City murder that he did not commit recalls the difficulties of adjusting to a life on his own. "Upon my exoneration, reentry into society was culture shock," he says. "I had to adjust from nearly two decades of harsh prison life to a drastically changed society with no financial or psychological assistance to help me cope against the harm that my family and I suffered." In many cases, the wrongfully convicted face the same problems as ex-offenders upon release, however, reentry services are provided to New York ex-offenders. There are no services formally offered to exonerees. The New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision partners with community-based organizations and governmental agencies to deliver support to individuals on parole. Korey Wise, one of the men wrongly convicted of the Central Park beating and rape of 1989, echoes these accounts. Before his entrance into prison, he was 16 years old and lived with his mother. After being incarcerated for more than 11 years, Wise had difficulty finding a place to live. He stayed with friends and family for three years and now resides in a transitional housing program for people seeking assistance in the Bronx. Prison time for anyone presents a disadvantage in the job market since many employers do not want to hire someone with a criminal record. Exonerees released without financial support can find it difficult to maintain a job while trying to readjust to society. The Innocence Project established a social work program in 2006 to assist exonerees with their adjustment to life in the free world. However, the program only benefits Innocence Project clients and is dependent on individual donations for support. Exonerees may file for compensation for their wrongful conviction but it can take several years to receive funds provided by the state. About one-third of the people exonerated after proving their innocence have not been compensated for the injustice they suffered and the time they spent incarcerated. Statutes providing for some form of compensation for the wrongly convicted are in place in 27 states plus Washington, D.C., but even some of these laws don't meet society's moral obligation to help exonerated people recover from the injustice they suffered and the years of freedom they lost. In New York, the state defers to the Court of Claims to decide how much an individual is entitled. Read the full article. Read about compensating the wrongfully convicted.Donate to the Innocence Project's Exoneree Fund.

Mexican Shooter Arrested for Planning to Kill Hidalgo Sheriff Lupe Trevino Claims Involvement in Fast And Furious Scandal as Killer of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010

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It looked like the dust was settling on all the news coverage of Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Trevino having to watch his son, Mission police officer Jonathan Treviño, 28, being arrested along with several other members of local law enforcement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for escorting drug cartel transports along Texas roadways as paid [...]

Santa Ana Sex Crime Allegations Lodged Against Soccer Coach

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A 30-year-old soccer coach is facing at least five felony charges in Santa Ana relating to allegations of sexual assault and molestation of three teen boys. Santa Ana Sex Crimes Defense Lawyer Houman Fakhimi knows that many will look at...

Two Girls, One Cup Pornographic Filmmaker Ira Isaacs Sentenced to 48 Months in Prison

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60 year old pornographic filmmaker Ira Isaacs was sentenced on January 17, 2013 in the Central District of California for the Federal crime of producing and selling obscene videos and distributing obscene videos. Isaacs is known as a "shock porn" director and has routinely made videos depicting bestiality and sexual conduct involving feces. One such video was known as "Two Girls, One Cup" and involved a sexual encounter with two women eating human waste. Isaacs' criminal defense attorney argued that despite the horrific nature of the videos that they are protected speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. This argument fell on deaf ears when a federal jury convicted Isaacs on April 27, 2012 of a superseding indictment involving several counts. Pursuant to his sentencing Isaacs was ordered by Federal District Court Judge George H. King to serve 48 months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, be subject to supervised release upon his release from prison for three years and pay a $10,000 fine. Isaacs was tried previously, both ending in mistrials. In 2008 his initial trial ended in mistrial when presiding Judge Alex Kozinski was forced to recuse himself after it was found that he possessed pornographic material on a personal website. Later, during a trial on March 6, 2012 a jury deadlocked at 10-2 resulting in a second mistrial. As best as I can tell Isaacs was indicted for violations of 18 USC 1465 for Production and Transportation of Obscene Matters for Sale and Distribution, 18 USC 1462(a) for Importation or Transportation of Obscene Matters and lastly 18 USC 2257(f)(4) for failing to keep records of actors and actresses involved in his movies. The applicable language or gist of the statutes of which Isaacs was charged is as follows: 18 USC 1465- Whoever knowingly produces with an intent to distribute into interstate or foreign commerce for the purpose of sale or distribution, any obscene material, would be guilty of 18 USC 1465 and subject to a five year term in the bureau of prisons and a fine. 18 USC 1462(a)- Whoever brings into the US or uses an express company for carriage in interstate or foreign commerce any obscene, lewd or lascivious motion-picture film shall be subject to a five year term in the bureau of prisons and a fine. 18 USC 2257(f)(4)- It is unlawful for one to produce any motion picture as described in the preceding statutes without creating an individual and identifiable record pertaining to each performer in the motion picture. In essence this law is aimed at preventing minors from engaging in such movies.

Homestead, Florida High School Teacher Accused of Sexually Harassing Student

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A Homestead, Florida high school student accused a school security guard of groping her chest this past week, news sources report. The security guard, who reports did not identify by name, has been suspended pending an internal investigation but has not been arrested on criminal charges. The victim was not identified in reports either. It is unclear whether she will file a suit against the defendant based on her allegations. Reports say the 11th grade student attends the Homestead Senior High School in Miami-Dade County, where she says the alleged abuse occurred. The defendant works on the school's security staff and is listed as a hall monitor in reports. A spokesperson with the Miami-Dade Public Schools commented on the case, saying, "There will be consequences if the allegations are found to be substantiated, up to and including termination." According to the victim's mother, Cynthia Bacetty, the defendant has been harassing her daughter verbally for the past year by making inappropriate remarks. However, Bacetty says the abuse escalated this past week when the guard allegedly groped the teen's chest. "My daughter came into the school, and this man grabbed her breast, passed his hand over her entire chest," Bacetty said. Bacetty says she is upset, not just by the incident, but by the lethargy of the school's response. "This has been an ordeal for me and my family because this has been going on with the same person since February of last year," she said. The employee has since been suspended as the school district investigates the allegations. The victim also commented on the time it took to investigation the case, saying, "[The defendant] physically touched me. He sexually molested me, and no one is doing anything about it." She went on to say "I don't even want to go to the school anymore because this has been going for so long, and now it's all over the place, everyone knows," Other students at the school expressed skepticism about the allegations and say the defendant is a polite employee. "He says hello to students, and he's friendly to parents," one student said. Another student's parent was not so understanding, saying, "I'm very concerned. If I had a daughter in here, and you told me that now, I'd go in there and get her out." In other news, Alvaro Francisco of Immokalee, Florida was arrested Saturday after he allegedly called 911 numerous times to ask for a ride to Mexico, reports say. Francisco, 26, was booked into police custody on a misdemeanor charge of misusing the 911 emergency systems. His bail was set at $2,000. It is unclear whether he was able to post bail, nor is it known whether he has hired an attorney.

No Knock Warrants in Utah Are Dangerous Tools

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A man’s house is his castle as we’ve heard for hundreds of years…but in our day and age that adage does not seem to apply.  Law enforcement are exercising what are known as “no knock warrants” more and more.  In … Continue reading →

Karl Gross, Troy Patton of Palm Beach County, Florida Arrested with 17 Others for Pill Mill Operation

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Karl Gross and Troy Patton of Palm Beach County, Florida, along with 17 others, were arrested in a pill mill operation Thursday, news sources report. The arrested parties are accused of filling out fraudulent prescriptions for oxycodone and Percocet, then selling the drugs on the streets. An indictment filed with the Palm Beach County State's Attorney's Office say 45 defendants were involved with the scheme, but only 17 have been arrested so far. It is not yet known whether any of the arrested parties has hired a lawyer. Among the arrested are Karl Gross, 31; Troy Patton, 42; Lorenzo May, 37; Jermaine Ward, 30; Betty Guillaume, 59; and Shakella Quinn, 25, all of Boynton Beach. They were each booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on multiple charges, including obtaining a controlled substance by fraud and trafficking in oxycodone. It is unclear whether any of the defendants have qualified for bail. According to reports, detectives first learned of the drug ring in August 2011, when a pharmacist in Boynton Beach reported what he believed was a series of fraudulent prescriptions. The DEA and Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office began looking into the alleged fraud and discovered the alleged large-scale operation. Detectives learned that the prescriptions originated from the recently closed Dania Beach Via Domitia pain clinic, reports say. During the investigation detectives questioned the clinic's doctor, Astrid Febre, who has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Febre said she had not signed nor authorized any of the fraudulent prescriptions found during the investigation. Reports say detectives identified Gross, Patton, May, and Ward as the leaders of the drug ring. As part of the operation, the defendants allegedly fraudulently obtained prescriptions from Via Domitia and paid conspirators Guillaume and Quinn, among others, to have them filled. The four defendants then marketed the drugs on the streets from as much as $20 per pill, reports say. In all, investigators say the group took in approximately 45,000 oxycodone pills between from April 2011 to November 2011. During the investigation, Gross reportedly admitted that he had received as many as three prescriptions from Via Domitia despite never seeing the doctor. The man says he filled out prescriptions for more than a hundred Oxycodone pills, sources say. Febre denied authorizing the prescriptions. In other news, Kenneth Lent of Broward County died during a routine arrest this past week, reports say. Lent, 41, was arrested after he was spotted stabbing the air outside of a gas station; for reasons not yet known, Lent died while police attempted to place him into their squad car.

Is there parole with a life sentence?

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Free legal answers from attorneys - When given a life sentence is there a chance for parole? Do any sentences have no chance of ever getting out?

Injury Crash on Interstate 15 near Idaho Falls

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IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer DO NOT REPLY --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Idaho State Police District 6 1540 Foote Dr. Idaho Falls, Idaho 83402-1828 (208) 525-7377 FAX: (208) 525-7294 For Immediate Release: 01/23/2013 at 12:20 p.m. Please direct questions to the District Office On January 23, 2013, the Idaho State Police investigated an injury crash southbound Interstate 15 at milepost 118, near Idaho Falls. Kristi Brown, age 41, of Rexburg, was traveling south in a 2003 Kia Sedona, when her vehicle began to leave the roadway on the left shoulder. Brown overcorrected, crossed both lanes of southbound traffic, and left the roadway on the right shoulder. Her vehicle rolled through the fence and came to rest on a frontage road. Kristi Brown and her passenger Joseph Brown, age 39, of St. Anthony, were both transported by ground ambulance to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls. Both occupants were wearing their seatbelts. Idaho State Police were assisted by the Idaho Falls Police Department and the Bonneville County Sheriff's Office. The crash is under investigation by the Idaho State Police. -------------

Can you be charged in a civil court for criminal acts?

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Free legal answers from attorneys - My neighbor says she will sue me for physically hurting her son (we were wrestling) but she hasn't notified the police
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