It's a new year, and drunk driving accidents are still a top concern of safety officials. In 2013, we witnessed drunk driving fatalities increase for the first time in the last six years.Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is continuing efforts to bring down the number of drunk driving deaths. In doing so, officials are continuing to urge states to enact new legislation to mandate ignition interlocks for those who have been convicted of drunk driving. They're also working to support the technologies that will eliminate drunk driving in the long-term. Another focus is to educate the public and to raise awareness about the risks associated with drunk driving while urging more residents to get involved with preventative measures and campaign efforts.
Our drunk driving injury lawyers in Boston know these drunk driving accidents are most likely to happen on Friday and Saturday nights. That's when most residents are out celebrating their weekends and enjoying time with friends and family. Although officials with the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) report that weekend drunk driving has declined, the overall number of alcohol-related traffic accident fatalities has not enjoyed the same reduction.
Weekend DUI Down, Drunk Driving Fatalities Up
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M.D.Ala.: Def passenger's denial of possession of gun seized from car means no standing
Defendant was a passenger in a car stopped and searched and a gun came from the console. Defendant disavowed any connection to the gun in the motion to suppress, so he has no standing to challenge the gun. The owner’s denial of consent does not create any additional legally cognizable expectation of privacy. United States v. Smith, 2013 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 183466 (M.D. Ala. December 18, 2013):
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NYT: N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers [from “Anything is possible” Dept.]
“Anything is possible” Dept.: NYT: N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers by David E. Sanger and Thom Shanker:
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I am Charged With Possession of Marijuana. What will Happen to my License?
If you are charged with possession of marijuana in Virginia, you’re facing the possibility of six months loss of your license. This applies even if you have a license from another state. In that case, Virginia would suspend your privilege to drive in our state if you are found guilty of possession of marijuana. A […]
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Ponzi Schemes Now Illegal In Kazakhstan
The President of Kazakhstan has signed a law criminalizing Ponzi schemes and significantly toughening the penalties for those involved with Ponzi schemes. President Nursultan Nazarbayev signed the law, which amended Kazakhstan's criminal code by allowing the imposition of prison terms for those convicted of organizing Ponzi schemes. The new law is a reaction to the proliferation of Ponzi schemes in Kazakhstan, with the Kazakhstan General Prosecutor's office reporting a total of 61 criminal cases related to Ponzi schemes from 2010 to 2013.
The previous Kazakhstan criminal code did not contain a definition for a Ponzi scheme, and thus individuals suspected of Ponzi schemes could not be prosecuted for the Ponzi scheme itself, but instead ancillary crimes such as fraud or tax evasion.
According to a draft of the newly-enacted Article 224 circulated in January 2013, individuals accused of organizing or heading Ponzi schemes can face fines based on a monthly calculated index, correctional community work, or even imprisonment for three years with the possibility that their property could be confiscated. The term of imprisonment can rise to a seven-year term when groups of individuals are involved in a Ponzi scheme, with certain enhancements allowing a further increase in the sentence, including when the scheme involved the deposits of large amounts of money from victims.
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Wednesday Open Thread
I'm working on a long post about the DEA and Sinaloa cartel, which I reported on at length in 2011 in a post called "The DEA and Mexican Drug Cartels: The "Snitch and Carry On" Tactic."
I'm not sure there's anything really new in the...
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New Orleans DWI Attorney Teaches Seminar To Other Legal Practitioners
An article was published earlier this week about a DWI defense class that I taught to other attorneys. I really enjoy talking about Louisiana DWI defense strategies with other attorneys. I hope that I have more opportunities to conduct such classes this year. Click HERE to read the article. Happy Wednesday Everyone! The post New Orleans DWI Attorney Teaches Seminar To Other Legal Practitioners appeared first on .
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NYT: Obama to Place Some Restraints on Surveillance
NYT: Obama to Place Some Restraints on Surveillance by Peter Baker and Charlie Savage:
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Special Prosecutor Requested in TV Reporter's DuPage DUI
DuPage County prosecutors are asking that a special prosecutor be appointed in the DUI case of Chicago reporter Dave Savini due to a potential conflict of interest. According to a spokesman, a member of the DuPage County State's Attorney's office is a relative of Savini's. If the request is granted, a special prosecutor from outside DuPage County would be assigned to the case.
Savini, a 47 year-old investigative television reporter for Chicago's WBBM-Channel 2, was arrested January 4 after allegedly hitting a vehicle in the parking lot of a Naperville Taco Bell. According to police, when the other driver attempted to photograph Savini's license plate, Savini allegedly pushed the driver and left the scene. The driver called police and Savini was stopped shortly afterward. Two children under the age of 18 were also in the vehicle. Savini reportedly failed a field sobriety test and a breath test resulted in a .134 BAC. Savini is charged with DUI, battery, endangering the health of a child, and leaving the scene of an accident.
Outside prosecutor sought in DUI case of TV reporter Dave Savini, www.suntimes.com, January 14, 2014
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3 Real Estate Businessmen Charged with Defrauding Excel Bank
William Glasgow, 72, Town and Country, Missouri, James Crews, 56, Wentzville, Missouri, and Michael Hilbert, 62, St. Charles, Missouri, surrendered on January 10, 2014, to authorities on two separate indictments alleging bank fraud against TARP recipient Excel Bank. Glasgow was indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony counts of bank fraud. In a separate, […]
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Ohio Man Gets 11 Years in Prison for Down Payment Fraud Scheme
David R. Sharrock, 71, Mansfield, Ohio, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $767,462 in restitution for his role a mortgage fraud scheme which caused approximately $1.3 million in losses to five lending institutions, said Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Sharrock was […]
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Man Arrested For DUI Allegedly Has Blood Alcohol Level Too High for Breath Test Machine
Iowa City, IA man Levi Carter was arrested for DWI, Iowa's version of Driving Under the Influence last Friday night after driving his car 55 in a 25 mile per hour zone and ultimately crashing. After contacting officers determined that Carter was impaired he was subjected a breath alcohol test where he registered initially a .467 on his first blow and on the second blow attempt the machine simply registered "HI" before the machine collapsed in its own drunken stupor from Carter's chemical weapon breath. Ok, that actually didn't happen but this Iowa guy did blow LITERALLY off the charts! Every State has set .08 as the legal limit where a Prosecutor enjoys a rebuttable presumption that the person he's trying to convict is impaired, while Florida allows for no presumption if the blood alcohol level is above a .05 but below a .08 and a presumption of no impairment if the blood alcohol level is .05 or below. There is no language on what the effect of a breath test above .40 is. Call your congressman.
Given this scenario to prove this as a DUI in Florida the State must show that Carter drove or was in actual physical control of a vehicle and while doing so he had a blood alcohol level of .08 or above. From the news report he crashed his vehicle and had a passenger who represented to the police that they thought he was too impaired to drive. This witness is important as with a crash, an accident exception applies allowing a lay person to witness certain elements of a crime as a substitute for a policeman. Generally for a misdemeanor arrest an officer must witness all elements of a crime, with certain exceptions of course. The breath test result could satisfy the impairment portion of the allegation. Add those two pieces together and your DUI recipe could be complete.
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United States v. Davis, Jr., No. 12-50522 (1-14-14) (Canby with Watford and Hurwitz). The Sentencing Commission issued a policy statement that under a resentencing pursuant to 18 USC 3582(c)(2)(subsequently lowering a guideline), the sentence cannot be below the amended guideline. The defendant argued that this exceeded the authority of the Commission and was a violation of separation of powers. The 9th held that this argument was foreclosed by prior precedent as well as the holdings of all the other circuits that have addressed this issue (1st, 2d, 3d, 8th and 11th). The defendant here received a variance in the original sentence; the inability to give a lower variance did not violate separation of powers.
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Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit Challenges Unlawful Texas Border Strip-Search
Copyrighted Material by The Pate Law FirmA 54-year-old New Mexico woman is suing the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for allegedly conducting a series of wrongful searches after stopping her at the El Paso, Texas border crossing. She claims...Read More »
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Jury Reaches $166 Million Verdict For Abused New Jersey Boy
Copyrighted Material by The Pate Law FirmA 4-year-old child was awarded $166 million by a jury last month in a lawsuit against the New Jersey Department of Children and Families Division of Youth and Family Services for its failure...Read More »
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How Dallas cops are trained to interrogate suspects
At the Dallas News, Kevin Krause has a story ("Dallas detective defends investigation of woman later cleared in murder," Jan. 14) on a false arrest lawsuit against Dallas Detective Dwayne Thompson, brought by a woman named Hephzibah Olivia Lord who was arrested and later released on a murder charge after her boyfriend committed suicide. This bit jumped out at me:Thompson also defended his aggressive interrogation of Lord several hours after the death. Jurors watched a video of the session during which he shouted profanity-laced accusations at Lord while working himself into a rage. Thompson said he employed techniques that he had learned during training, one of which is to directly accuse someone of a crime to see how they react.“As unpleasant as it is, you have to make every attempt to arrive at what happened,” he testified.But that interview, while revealing some inconsistencies, yielded no strong evidence of murder, Thompson said.Lord did not crater under such "questioning." But some folks do, including innocent ones. (Ask Christopher Ochoa.) Thompson is almost certainly correct that he was trained to behave that way - it's a significant cause of false confessions and a method central to the so-called "Reid technique," which is the basis for nearly all police interrogation training in America. (See here, here, here, here, and here.) But does it really help to shout "profanity-laced accusations" while working oneself "into a rage" when there's a good chance the person is innocent (and legally are presumed to be)? Should that really be a routine part of police investigation?There are alternatives to the Reid technique, but it's hard to blame officers for following their training. It's much harder, though, to understand why officers are still trained to behave that way.
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Attorney Mel Welch Discusses Recent Theft Dismissal
Today, Criminal Defense Attorney Mel Welch opens up about a recent dismissal he received in a Minnesota theft case. Similar to another recent blog post by Mel, this case revolved around asking the court to consider if criminal intent truly existed. Congrats to Mel on obtaining justice for his client! The Right Results The right […]The post Attorney Mel Welch Discusses Recent Theft Dismissal appeared first on The Appelman Law Firm Law Blog
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Negligent Homicide Charged in Pinal County Shooting Death
According to a news report, a Pinal County woman is now facing a charge of negligent homicide in connection with the death of another woman this past weekend. A number of articles have surfaced attempting to detail the event, and here is what we’ve been able to piece together so far. Police say that on […]The post Negligent Homicide Charged in Pinal County Shooting Death appeared first on David Black.
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Can The IRS Prosecute Me If I Don’t Owe Taxes?
The law does not mention how much tax must be evaded or how much income must be hidden in order for a case to be prosecuted. It also does not say how much the person should owe in taxes to be convicted. However, the courts have imposed the requirement of “substantiality.” The idea is to […]
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South Carolina Personal Injury Law and Understanding Compensation
If you or someone close to you has been injured due to the negligence of another person or entity, you will likely be entitled to monetary compensation for your injuries. The first step in determining whether you have a personal injury case is to contact an attorney who in knowledgeable about the South Carolina personal […]The post South Carolina Personal Injury Law and Understanding Compensation appeared first on .
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