United States v. DeLaRosa, No. 12-4188-cr (2d Cir. Dec. 20, 2013) (Cabranes, Wesley, and Livingston) (summary order), available hereDeLaRosa was convicted of conspiring with John Brooker and others to distribute drugs in Vermont "and elsewhere" from 2006 to "on or about June 16, 2009." On appeal, he argued principally that the district court erred by admitting evidence of drug trafficking in Arizona that took place after Brooker's arrest on June 16, 2009.The Circuit held that the evidence was properly admitted. The evidence was not offered to prove prior bad acts under Fed. R. Evid. 404(b), but rather as direct evidence of the single drug-trafficking conspiracy orchestrated by DeLaRosa. Trial testimony showed that the conspiracy's goal was to acquire narcotics from distributors in New York, Florida, and Arizona and to deliver the drugs to customers in Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts. The conspiracy did not end just because operations began to shift away from Vermont following Brooker's arrest. Accordingly, evidence of drug trafficking in Arizona after Brooker's arrest was admissible.Nor did the admission of the Arizona evidence improperly change the terms of the indictment. Since the indictment charged a conspiracy occurring in Vermont "and elsewhere," from 2006 to "on or about June 16, 2009," it encompassed evidence of drug trafficking in states other than Vermont after Brooker's arrest.
Evidence of Drug Trafficking in Arizona Was Admissible Against Defendant Charged With Conspiring to Distribute Drugs in Vermont "and Elsewhere."
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Injury crash on State Highway 21.
IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE - generated by our News Release ListServer
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IDAHO STATE POLICE NEWS RELEASE
District 3 Patrol 700 S. Stratford Dr., Meridian 83642
(208) 846-7550
Fax (208) 846-7520
For Immediate Release: 12/25/13 10:00 p.m.
Please direct questions to the District Office
On December 25, 2013, at approximately 4:51 p.m., Idaho State Police investigated a one-vehicle crash on Idaho Highway 21 near milepost 12, in Ada County.
Abdulmajeed H. Abdulmajeed, 19 of Boise, was driving a 1996 Mazda 646 sedan north on Highway 21 near milepost 12 when his vehicle left the roadway and went down an embankment. The vehicle did not roll. Abdulmajeed was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise.
The crash remains under investigation.
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Snooping Spouse Law in Connecticut – Bugs, Spyware & GPS Tracking Devices
I get calls often from husbands and wives embroiled in nasty divorces who want to know whether it is legal to secretly record their spouses in their homes, on the phones, in their cars, or elsewhere. They want to know whether it’s legal for them to install spyware on their spouse’s computers, their iphones, or […]
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MD: Davis good faith applies to pre-Jones GPS, saying "we wouldn't have thought of it"
GPS surveillance for 11 days prior to Jones would not be suppressed under Davis. The court admits that it wouldn’t have held GPS tracking a violation of the Fourth Amendment prior to Jones. [Why concede that you’re so limited in your thinking?] Kelly v. State, 2013 Md. LEXIS 920 (December 23, 2013):*
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ND: PC exists for Facebook posting information in robbery case
Probable cause existed for a search warrant for defendant’s Facebook account because of various facts known to the police, the fact three “cell phone tower dumps” in the vicinity and at the time of burglaries put defendant in the vicinity, and, finally, defendant’s Facebook account referred to “robbing” and showed piles of cash. In Interest of D.O. v. D.O., 2013 ND 247, 2013 N.D. LEXIS 246 (December 19, 2013).
“Faint odor” of raw cannabis is probable cause. It wasn’t disputed that it could be smelled; the whole argument was whether it mattered it was “faint.” Faint odor is still odor. People v. Weaver, 2013 IL App (3d) 130054, 2013 Ill. App. LEXIS 891 (December 19, 2013).
A general search issue in a 2255 fails without specifying what happened or how or who messed up. United States v. Wilcox, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 179218 (D. Minn. December 19, 2013).*
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CA9 (en banc): Finds reasonable suspicion for a roving border stop from almost nothing
Defendant was stopped 70 miles from the border on I-5 with Baja California Mexico license plates on a clean pickup truck. He was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic and wouldn’t look at the officer who pulled up next to him. After he was stopped, he consented to a search and 8kg of cocaine was found. A panel of the court held the district court erred in not suppressing the search, and the court granted rehearing en banc, holding that there was reasonable suspicion for the stop on the "totality." United States v. Valdes-Vega, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 25607 (9th Cir. December 24, 2013) (8-3). Summary by the court:
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CA7: Protective sweep is based on RS of a potential threat; quibbling about the details doesn’t make it unreasonable
The standard for a protective sweep is reasonable suspicion to think it’s necessary. “The inquiry is an exceptionally fact-intensive one in which we must analyze myriad factors including, among other considerations, the configuration of the dwelling, the general surroundings, and the opportunities for ambush. ... An ambush in a confined setting of unknown configuration is just such a situation in which an officer might need to perform a protective sweep. Buie, 494 U.S. at 333 .... [¶] In this case there were many other substantial, particularized factors that would allow a reasonable officer to conclude that he, his fellow officers, or another bystander might face danger.” Quibbling about the details doesn’t make it unreasonable. United States v. Starnes, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 25588 (7th Cir. December 23, 2013):
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Limited Driving Privileges Under Ohio Revised Code 4510.021
Q. Can I get limited driving privileges during the pendency of my OVI case?
A court may grant limited driving privileges to a person who has had their license suspended pursuant to a pending OVI. The Ohio Revised Code, 4510.021 limits driving to the following purposes: (1) Occupational, educational, vocational, or medical purposes; (2) Taking the driver’s or commercial driver’s license examination; and (3) Attending court-ordered treatment. A court is granted broad discretion to impose restrictions so long as the [Read the full post. . .]
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Nationally Ranked Best Driving States
By Justin Coquat | Traffic Ticket SAAt The Coquat Law Firm we are committed to bringing you information about driving safely and getting any traffic tickets and citations you may receive resolved quickly. A recent Yahoo! article discusses a new study on the Nationally Ranked Best Driving States. Where is Texas on the Nationally Ranked Best Driving States list? Unfortunately Texas is ranked as one of the worst states to drive in the Nationally Ranked Best Driving States. The new study was conducted by CarInsuranceComparison.com. The new study looked at factors such as the fatality rate, drunk driving citations, and the number of tickets issued. The information that the new Continue reading →The post Nationally Ranked Best Driving States appeared first on Traffic Ticket | Speeding Ticket | CDL Ticket | Traffic Ticket Dismissal |.
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NYT: In Final Weeks, a Push to Put Bloomberg’s Stamp on Major Legal Cases
NYT: In Final Weeks, a Push to Put Bloomberg’s Stamp on Major Legal Cases by James C. McKinley Jr. and Benjamin Weiser:
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Demolition latest step after increase in meth crimes in St. Johns County
St. Johns County demolished an abandoned home this month that had been used as several times as a lab to cook methamphetamine. Contamination levels were more than 1,800 times higher than levels deemed to be dangerous and this is the second contaminated home St. Johns County has demolished this year, according to a report in the St. Augustine Record. In the last three years, more than 40 meth labs have been found in the county, leading to dozens of St. Johns County Drug Crimes Cases, the newspaper reported. St. Johns County police have been particularly aggressive in trying to eliminate the profliferation of methamphetamine in the county, including a massive bust last summer where dozens of people were arrested across the county. The makeshift labs are used to cook toxic chemicals into methamphetamine and the odor makes them difficult to hide, though people often used hotels and apartments to manufacture the drug.
The consequences for running a meth lab in St. Johns County Drug Crimes Cases are severe. Not all drugs are created equal in terms of the law and methamphetamine is one that carries major penalties. For example, there is no such thing as a misdemeanor meth charge in a St. Johns County Drug Crimes Case. If a person is busted with any amount of meth, it's a felony. Possession of methamphetamine is a third-degree felony, punishable by up to five years in state prison. Compare that to possession of marijuana in a St. Johns County Drug Crimes Case, where it is a misdemeanor until a person has more than 28 grams. Only people convicted of felonies can be sentenced to state prison. Those convicted of misdemeanors, if sentenced to any time, serve it in the county jail. A charge of manufacturing methamphetamine ups the ante even more in St. Johns County Drug Crimes Cases. Manufacturing methamphetamine is a second-degree felony, with a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison. The fumes that are emitted during the cooking of the drug are toxic and can be dangerous to ingest, especially for children. Because of that element, the state allows for increased charges in cases where methamphetamine is being cooked when children are present.
Even small amounts of a drug can have major consequences in St. Johns County Drug Crimes Cases - it just depends on the drug. Our St. Johns County Drug Crimes Attorney can advise you of the consequences and thoroughly investigate for case to determine the best option going forward.
If you or a loved one needs a criminal defense attorney in Jacksonville or the surrounding area, call The Mussallem Law Firm at (904) 365-5200 for a FREE CONSULTATION. Our St. Johns County Drug Crimes Attorney, Victoria "Tori" Mussallem, is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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NYT: As New Services Track Habits, the E-Books Are Reading You
NYT: As New Services Track Habits, the E-Books Are Reading You by David Streitfield:
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Kennedy Wins Criminal Law Invitational
Congratulations to Paul Kennedy for winning the Fourth Annual Criminal Law Fantasy Football Invitational. Riding a series of late season wins, the “Paulie-Wogs” upset front-runner David Benowitz in the first round of the playoffs. Kennedy then went on to beat first-year player Bobby Koehler in the final round to grab the championship. Kennedy joins previous […]
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Ramos’ Megan’s Law trial date pushed back
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Immigration Consequences of Maryland Criminal Convictions or Guilty Pleas
If you are a noncitizen immigrant, you should be aware that there may be adverse immigration consequences, such as deportation, for pleading guilty or being convicted of a crime in Maryland and other states. In a recent appellate case, a native of Belize who was a permanent resident in the United States pled guilty to […]
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Extending Graham and Miller, Massachusetts SJC bars LWOP for all juve offenders
Thanks to this Christmas night post at How Appealing, I just discovered that on Christmas eve the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts issued two big related rulings (available here and here) which not only held that the Supreme Court's Miller...
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United States v. Caceres-Olla, No. 12-10132 (12-23-13) (Berzon with Fernandez and Paez) (Note: This is an Az FPD case). In a 1326 sentencing, the 9th looks at whether a prior felony conviction for lewd and lascivious batter (Florida) qualifies as a COV for Guideline purposes. The 9th holds it does not. The opinion scrutinizes the interplay between forcible sex offenses, and those that require no force (i.e. statutory rape). Because the state statute focuses on the age (12 to 16) of the victim, without being any force, it does not have the requisite force element. The 9th accords with the 4th Circuit's holding regarding a Tennessee statute. In regards to the "statutory rape" alternative under the Guidelines, the generic offense has a four year age difference. Here, the state statute does not have the generic age difference. Under Descamps, a categorical approach is employed. Because the age element is missing from the statute, the inquiry ends; there is no modified categorical approach. The gov't admits that all records were available at the time of sentencing, and therefore the case is remanded for sentencing on the record as is.Congrats to Edie Cunningham, AFPD, Arizona (Tucson) for the win.
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Hodgson on Comparative Observation on Plea Bargaining
Jacqueline Hodgson (University of Warwick - School of Law) has posted Plea Bargaining: Some Comparative Observations ((forthcoming 2014) ‘Plea Bargaining: A Comparative Analysis’ in Wright, J (ed-in-chief) International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences (Amsterdam: Elsevier)) on SSRN. Here...
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United States v. Crowder, No. 13-30033 (12-24-13) (McKeown with Tallman and Murphy, D.J.). In a Supervised Release revocation, the defendant was again placed on lifetime supervised release after a 14 month term of imprisonment for the violation. He argued that he could not be placed on lifetime Supervised Release after a revocation term of imprisonment because the 14 months could not be subtracted from a lifetime period. The 9th avoids the "metaphysical" issue by siding with other circuits that the practical and natural reading of the 3583(h) statute would not impose a constraint of reinstating to lifetime supervised release. If the defendant’s argument would be followed, courts would simply impose absurdly long terms of imprisonment.
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United States v. Valdez-Vega, No. 10-50249 (12-24-13) (en banc) (Gould for majority with dissents by Pregerson and Reinhardt, joined by Thomas). This is an en banc decision that concerns whether border patrol agents, making a brief investigatory stop, had sufficient articulable suspicious reasons. The 9th held that the officers did. The search was of a truck that was: (1) In an area frequented by smugglers (70 miles north of border in Southern California); (2) going faster than the flow of traffic on I-15 where the flow of traffic was between 70 and 80, and the truck was going over 90; (3) the truck was changing lanes numerous times; (4) the driver failed to make eye contact with the agent, but stared straight ahead; (4) the truck had Baja license plates, was older, and clean (?!); (5), oh yes, when the officer's lights went on, the truck took longer than normal to pull over to the side of the highway; and (6) Hispanic appearance. Once stopped, a consensual search followed, and cocaine was found. The analysis is with a "totality of circumstances" under Arvizu, 534 US at 273, where all factors are looked at and considered. In considering the stop, the possibility of innocent conduct need not be ruled out; nor is each factor parsed out and considered separately. The whole sum of the factors here support articulable suspicion. Pregerson and Reinhardt, each joined by Thomas, dissent. Each dissent argues that the factors don't rise to articulable suspicion. Pregerson concentrates on the factors present and that they do not justify a stop given the circumstances. Reinhardt focuses on the innocent reasons, and that Arvizu does not preclude such consideration.
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