"Persons found to have committed a sex offense have a reduced expectation of privacy because of the public's interest in safety and in the effective operation of government. In balancing offenders['] due process and other rights, and the interests...
New York State Division of Probation ...cont
↧
↧
The Difference Between Lake County Reckless Driving And Lake County Careless Driving
We often have clients that confuse reckless driving and careless driving. The charges sound similar and legally are very similar. The primary difference is a Lake County careless driving is a civil traffic infraction punishable by up to a $500 fine. Lake County reckless driving is a criminal traffic offense punishable by up to a $500 fine, 6 months probation and 90 days in jail. Careless driving is much more common with 2,464 Lake County cases in 2012 compared to 84 Lake County reckless driving cases. Both charges require the endangerment of person or property with the primary difference being that careless driving can be proven by negligence and reckless driving requires that the state prove the actions were willful. A Lake County careless driving case cannot end in an arrest unless some other crime occurs. It is a common cause of police contact for a Lake County suspended license arrest and if the driver does not stay to exchange information the careless driving can result in a Lake County leaving the scene of an accident arrest. Careless driving cases have many defenses and a high percentage of these cases are dismissed at traffic hearings. Of the 622 careless driving cases that went to a hearing in Lake County 224 were either dismissed or found not guilty. Another 78 cases resulted in a withhold of adjudication at hearing. Attorney Kevin J. Pitts is a former Florida prosecutor that has extensive experience not only defending traffic cases but also prosecuting them for the State Attorney's office. Criminal traffic cases can have serious consequences in Lake County including jail and probation. Civil traffic infractions can dramatically increase insurance rates and place points on your license that can cause a license suspension. When your license and freedom are on the line you need a defense attorney on your side. If you are accused of a traffic offense in Lake County, Florida contact attorney Kevin J. Pitts to set up a free initial consultation. Attorney Kevin J. Pitts can be reached at 407-883-6853 or 386-451-5112. Mr. Pitts handles all types of traffic violations in Central Florida from speeding tickets to serious felony traffic offenses.
↧
Next week's criminal law/procedure argument
Issue summary is from ScotusBlog, which also links to papers: Wednesday U.S. v. Castleman: Whether the respondent’s Tennessee conviction for misdemeanor domestic assault by intentionally or knowingly causing bodily injury to the mother of his child qualifies as a conviction...
↧
USA FAIR Seeks New Executive Director
Original Article
01/11/2014
At the end of December, Shana Rowan, the founding Executive Director of USA FAIR informed us that she would need to step down as Executive Director due to health and family issues. Shana played a critical role in the launch of USA FAIR and we thank her for her fearless courage in always being willing to speak out for the rights of law abiding former offenders and their family members.
As of January 1st, we have been without an Executive Director and at this time...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit our blog for full links, videos, studies and more! ]]
↧
VT - Former Vt. sheriff's deputy (Nick Moen) faces child porn charges
Nick MoenOriginal Article
01/10/2014
By Jennifer Reading
GEORGIA - A former deputy with the Grand Isle County Sheriff's Department is facing child porn charges.
The Vermont attorney general has charged Nick Moen, of Georgia, with three felony counts of possession of child pornography.
Investigators say Moen used file sharing networks to get and share sexually explicit images of kids online.
He denied the charges Thursday and was released on court ordered conditions restricting his access...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit our blog for full links, videos, studies and more! ]]
↧
↧
UK - Woman (Lisa Yapp) accused her ex-boyfriend of rape 'in a bid to cover up shame of threesome'
Lisa YappOriginal Article
01/10/2014
A woman claimed she had been raped by her ex-boyfriend in a bid to cover up a drunken threesome with two men she met in a pub, it was alleged.
Lisa Yapp, 24, showed the men naked photographs of herself then went to one of their homes where they had sex in the kitchen, a court heard. She ‘high-fived’ the men as she left afterwards.
But Yapp later turned up at a friend’s house in tears saying she had been raped.
She claimed she had been attacked in an...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit our blog for full links, videos, studies and more! ]]
↧
Michigan Secretary of State Driver's License Restoration Lawyer - I Stand by my Clients
This article what it means for me, as a Michigan driver's license restoration lawyer, to really "stand by" my client. Of course, you'd expect that any lawyer who accepts payment from a client would stand by him or her, at...
↧
FL - Bradford detention officer (Robert V. Melton) charged with sex battery on a child
Robert V. MeltonOriginal Article
01/11/2014
By Cindy Swirko
A Bradford County Sheriff’s Office jail detention officer was arrested Friday night on allegations he sexually battered a child.
Charged with capital sexual battery was Robert V. Melton, 59, of Starke, reported sheriff’s Capt. Brad Smith. Smith added that additional charges are possible.
Melton resigned after being interviewed during the investigation, which is being done by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the...
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit our blog for full links, videos, studies and more! ]]
↧
Interpreting "Written Instrument" In a First Degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing Arrest & Indictment: New York Penal Law 175.35
Offering a False Instrument for Filing and Falsifying Business Records are two potential felony crimes in New York that are almost identical. While "almost" certainly is not "exactly," one guards against the fraudulent filing of documents within the government and state while the other generally the falsification, deletion or alteration of the business records of a private enterprises. While both crimes involve an intent to defraud, one of the elements that stands out in crimes involving Offering a False Instrument for Filing in both the First and Second Degrees is that the filing of a "written instrument" must take place. What is a "written instrument" you ask? Your New York criminal lawyer or New York criminal defense attorney should be able to answer what a "written instrument" is in the context of New York Penal Law 175.35 (First Degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing) or New York Penal Law 175.30 (Second Degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing), but if not, there is always People v. Headley, NYLJ 1202571734975 (Kings Sup. Ct., Decided September 6, 2012) to provide some guidance.
In Headley, the defendant used a fictitious name to fraudulently obtain paid assignments of independent medical examinations of plaintiffs who sued New York City Transit Authority ("NYCTA"). In using the fictitious name, the defendant "conceal[ed] the fact that the assignments were being awarded to" his company ("Advance")- someone who also represented NYCTA in defending personal injury lawsuits. As this was a conflict of interest, this would have "disqualified him from being paid to procure medical examinations." The defendant was charged, amongst other things, with Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree (NY PL 175.35). Upon the defendant's motion to reargue, the Court upheld the charge.
The crux of this case hinges upon whether the instruments filed - a business proposal and an IRS W-9 form - constitute "written instruments" for the purpose of prosecution under PL 175.35, First Degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing. The People argued that they do; defendant argued that they do not based upon the fact that neither instrument is a formal or legal document "evidencing legal rights or duties between NYCTA and [defendant.]"
In pertinent part, PL 175.35 states that a defendant is guilty of violating First Degree Offering a False Instrument for Filing when, with an intent to defraud, he presents a written instrument, knowing that it contains false information, to a state's public corporation under the belief that it will become part of the said corporation's record.
"Written Instrument", as defined by PL 175.00(3), means, in short, "any instrument containing written or printed matter used for the purpose of reciting, embodying, conveying or recording information, which is capable of being used to the advantage or disadvantage of some person."
The Court, in substantiating their stance, look to the Court of Appeals case People v. Bel Air Equipment Corporation, 39 N.Y.2d 48 (1976). In interpreting the purpose of PL 175.35, the Court wrote that this statute is to "guard against the possibility that officers of the State...would act upon false or fraudulent instruments that had been filed with their offices in the belief that such documents were accurate and true" Bel Air at 54. Therefore, the People must show that there was a false filing of a written instrument and that the intent of the defendant was to defraud the State. Id. A document, according to the Court of Appeals, is an instrument [under PL 175.00(3)] if it not only falls within the literal scope of the statute but "is of a character that the mischief the statute seeks to prevent would ensue if the documents were filed" Bel Air at 54-55.
In looking to the purpose of this statute and other case law, the Court determined that the defendant, "by concealing his true identity....was interfering with the ability of a government agency to protect itself [in personal injury lawsuits], and ultimately the public, from potential 'mischief' that could result from counsel for the agency separately doing business with the agency." Quoting from a prior opinion, the Court wrote that "[m]aintaining a fair vendor selection process free of any potential conflicts of interest is a legitimate function of the NYCTA."
In concluding their opinion, the Court wrote that the business proposal and W-9 form, relied upon by the NYCTA, "conveyed information to the NYCTA which was capable of being used to defendant's advantage or to the disadvantage of the NYCTA" because the information ultimately interfered with the NYCTA's selection process and ability to identify vendors accurately. Therefore, the Court determined that the business proposal and W-9 form fell within the "literal scope" of the definition of written instrument as set forth in PL 175.00(3). Therefore, the defendant was guilty of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree.
While the brief analysis of Headley seemingly makes the definition of "written instrument" fairly clear, never forget that law is far from mathematical. Every case and legal review turns on the evidence contained in a complaint, indictment or that which is before the court. Never assume each element of the crime you are charged with is satisfied until you, and more importantly your criminal attorney, have completed your "homework."
To learn about the degrees of Offering a False Instrument for Filing, Falsifying Business Records or any other New York White Collar crime, the links in this entry as well as the websites and blogs listed below are all tremendous resources.
Crotty Saland PC, a New York criminal defense firm founded by to former Manhattan Assistant District Attorneys, represents clients in all White Collar criminal investigations, arrests and trials throughout New York City and her suburban communities.
↧
↧
Selbstleseverfahren, Band 39
Original: Selbstleseverfahren, Band 39
↧
E.D.Pa.: Refusal to remove hands from pockets in late night encounter added to RS
Defendant’s refusal to remove his hands from his hoodie pockets in a late night encounter while the police were responding to a burglary report justified a frisk. United States v. Lowe, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2801 (E.D. Pa. January 8, 2014).
Defendants lack standing to challenge seizure of bank records by subpoena. The government complied with the Right to Financial Privacy Act, but suppression is not a remedy if they did anyway. United States v. Frantz, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182839 (D. Minn. December 23, 2013).*
Defendant sought review of the Fourth Amendment issue pro se in a letter, and it’s rejected both as undeveloped and incapable of IAC review at this point. United States v. Harris, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 553 (5th Cir. January 10, 2014).*
↧
CA3: Innocent plaintiff can bring a 4A claim for malicious prosecution
“[O]ur precedents are clear that § 1983 plaintiffs alleging arrest and prosecution absent probable cause may bring malicious prosecution claims under the Fourth Amendment, but are entitled to relief only if they are innocent of the crime for which they were prosecuted.” Since plaintiff wasn’t, he loses. Washington v. Hanshaw, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 435 (3d Cir. January 9, 2014).*
Summary judgment was properly granted the police in this state civil rights case. The search occurred by consent of the defendant’s wife who was a cotenant. Based on all they knew at the time of the search, only one conclusion was possible. Youker v. Douglas County, 2014 Wash. App. LEXIS 9 (January 9, 2014).*
A disciplined police officer did not have a Fourth Amendment claim where a search warrant was used merely to recover a gun from his car that was in plain view but locked up. Quezada v. City of Los Angeles, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 8 (2d Dist. January 8, 2014).*
↧
D.Me.: Officers “bungled ... consent-to-search form” but consent still valid
Defendant’s consent was valid because officers had PC for a search warrant, despite “the bungled manner in which St. Laurent secured the Defendant's [consent and] signature on the consent-to-search form.” United States v. Hinkley, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3210 (D. Me. January 10, 2014):
=> Read more!
↧
↧
ID: Challenge to drug dog adequacy failed without expert testimony
Defendant’s challenge to the drug dog under Florida v. Harris was not sufficient to make the use of the dog violate the Fourth Amendment. He had no expert or other testimony, and he just relied on parts of the cross-examination of the officer that didn’t really question much of anything. State v. Buck, 2014 Ida. App. LEXIS 3 (January 10, 2014):
=> Read more!
↧
KY: State's auto insurance database not yet shown reliable enough to base arrest on; remanded
The state auto insurance database was not shown to be sufficiently reliable on which to base an arrest for driving on no insurance, and the case is remanded for factfinding on the degree of reliability. Willoughby v. Commonwealth, 2014 Ky. App. LEXIS 5 (January 10, 2014)*:
=> Read more!
↧
Harris County Sheriff called on carpet by feds over sex abuse in jail
Harris County Sheriff Adrian Garcia this week "was called to testify before the U.S. Department of Justice's review panel on prison rape because one of the four buildings of the Harris County Jail was found in a DOJ-commissioned study to have one of the worst rates of sexual assault in the nation," reported the Houston Chronicle ("Garcia defends record on sex abuse in county jail," Jan. 9). Though Garcia and his spokesman, Alan Bernstein, have vociferously criticized the survey in the past ("in writing, he savaged the study, calling it 'flawed and misleading'"), when offered the chance to do so in Washington, "the sheriff demurred, saying he'd rather discuss how he was working to improve the jail." Such a cagey response is perhaps understandable, given the jail's record. Reported the Chronicle:The most serious incident came to light in 2011. An internal investigation found "numerous" female inmates had sexual relations with jailers in the laundry rooms of two downtown jails, apparently in exchange for favors.In October 2012, Garcia confirmed he fired six employees due to the illicit contacts, and two others resigned or retired. The Harris County District Attorney's Office investigated, and one jailer was charged with improper sexual activity with a person in custody.A Houston Chronicle review of sheriff's records showed that between 2008 and 2010, more than 200 jail employees were disciplined for infractions of rules and state law. They included the use of excessive force on inmates, having sex with inmates, mistakenly releasing dangerous prisoners, sleeping on the job and leaving their assigned posts. Two deputies were fired for receiving sexual favors from female inmates who were washing cars at the jail and received soft drinks and cigarettes in exchange.Garcia suspended one female jailer without pay for 10 days after she ordered an entire cellblock of female inmates to remove their clothing for an unauthorized strip search.In addition to the Sheriff firing guards found to have committed sexual misconduct, Bernstein "noted that Harris County last year implemented an LGBT policy in the jail to protect gay, lesbian and transgender inmates, one that has been hailed as ahead of other correctional systems." But Grits must say, given the "shoot the messenger" response by the Sheriff when this report came out, it seems a bit disingenuous to decline the opportunity to attack it at the DOJ where his counterclaims could be interrogated. I'm sure Mr. Bernstein will show up soon in the comments to tell us the survey was flawed, all the problems have been fixed, so "move along, nothing to see here." (He told the paper, "we're ahead of the curve in investigating these things and preventing them in the first place.") But if Garcia isn't willing to dispute the survey results when called before the review panel that issued them, those criticisms start to seem a little less credible. Here's a link to the full report, as well as transcripts and testimony from the DOJ hearings.See related Grits posts:DOJ: 3 Texas prison units, Harris jail have among highest sexual victimization ratesOn the merits of localizing national stories: Amarillo Globe-News explores top Texas prison units for sexual victimizationTotal fired in Harris jail sex probe jumps to six
↧
Notable new data showing pot arrests way down in Colorado after reforms
This new Denver Post article, headlined "Marijuana case filings plummet in Colorado following legalization," spotlights one notable criminal justice metric that has been dramatically impacted by legal developments in the Centennial State. Here are some details: Charges for all manner...
↧
↧
Houston man claims DA's office knew of exonerating DNA results, left him in prison
In Houston, a man named Reginald Matthews on Thursday held a press conference hoping to prod the Harris County DA into expediting his exoneration after discovering that DNA results, which weren't available until after his 1991 jury trial, showed he wasn't the perpetrator. According to the Houston Chronicle ("Houston man who spent 14 years in prison claims he was wrongly convicted," Jan. 10):Matthews was convicted of burglary of a habitation to commit a sexual assault after a woman reported that a man broke into her southeast Houston home and took off his clothes. The naked man fled after being seen by the woman and her younger sister. Minutes later, a police officer stopped Matthews, who was clothed, about two blocks away and took him to the scene of the crime. Matthews said the victim did not identify him. Instead, he said, the victim's sister who saw the attacker just for a moment identified him. Matthews said the first DNA test on the clothes left behind at the scene was not conclusive, but DNA tests completed after he was convicted in 1991 cleared him.Those results, he said, were buried in his court file where he found them in 2009, years after poring over his records after being released.His supporters said Thursday that it is another wrongful conviction hidden behind inaction. "Science exonerated this man," said activist Deric Muhammad. "Someone at the District Attorney's office had this information while he languished in a jail cell. They just let him sit there - for 14 years." The situation led Matthews' supporters to demand answers. ...The prosecutor who handled the case in 1990 was Mark Vinson, who said he did not remember the case and had not reviewed the file. But, he said, he would if asked."I'll go down and take a look at the file if the District Attorney's office asks me," said Vinson, who has since retired. "In 22 years, I put a lot of people away. I can't remember them all."Matthews said he told the Harris County DA about his discovery in 2009, but "Jeff McShan, a spokesman for the office, would only say that Matthews' case is under review." Reportedly they have met with him several times. Something seems hinky if, four years after he brought it to their attention, the DA's office still won't speak up to corroborate or deny Matthews' characterization of the forensic results.If it's really true that exonerating DNA results came back after a conviction and the DA never told Matthews' defense counsel, much less sought his release, that's incredibly damning. If Matthews' account is accurate, it bespeaks either incompetence or cynical callousness. Sooner than later, the HCDAO needs to confirm or dispute these allegations. Or else Matthews should just file a habeas corpus writ claiming actual innocence and make them confront the question. It's difficult to understand why that hasn't already happened.
↧
Baltimore Sun: Maryland lawmakers to take up anti-spying measures
Baltimore Sun: Maryland lawmakers to take up anti-spying measures by Erin Cox:
Bipartisan effort aims to limit police tracking with drones, cellphones.
↧
The Hill: Obama legacy on line with NSA
The Hill: Obama legacy on line with NSA by Julian Hattem:
=> Read more!
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
