"Death Penalty Drugs and the International Moral Marketplace"
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News Scan
Kidnapping Suspect Released Under Prop 47: A California man who was arrested last week on burglary charges and released back into the community just hours later under the newly passed Proposition 47, is behind bars for the attempted abduction of a 13-year-old girl. Jory Rand of ABC Los Angeles reports that 39-year-old Guillermo Ceniceros was arrested Tuesday for commercial burglary, a charge that prior to Prop 47's passing would have required that he be held for trial or post bail. But, because Prop. 47 redefined the burglary as a misdemeanor, he was released on the day of his arrest. He was rearrested less than 24 hours later for the attempted abduction. Ceniceros has been charged with five felonies including attempted kidnapping and attempted aggravated sexual assault of a child. Execution Date set for Murderer: A South Dakota criminal convicted of murdering a corrections officer is scheduled to be executed during the first week of May…
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ABA CJS Task Force Releases Proposed Reforms for Federal Sentencing of Economic Crimes
The American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section Task Force on the Reform of Federal Sentencing for Economic Crimes has released its final report. The report contains significant proposed amendments to the existing federal sentencing guidelines for economic offenses. As to...
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New York Man to Be Cleared of Murder
Nearly a year after a New York appellate court granted a hearing on Derrick Hamilton's actual innocence claim, he is poised to become the next murder defendant to be exonerated by Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson this year. The Daily News reported that Hamilton, who spent 20 years in prison for a 1991 murder he says he did not commit, was convicted largely based on eyewitness testimony that was recanted right after trail. He was paroled three years ago after the Daily News exposed his story, but his fight to clear his name endured. Hamilton maintained he was in Connecticut when Nathaniel Cash was killed in Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood and that he was framed by former detective Louis Scarcella. Last year, Scarcella - a detective who handled some of Brooklyn's most notorious crimes in the 1980s and 1990s - became the focus of a review conducted by the Brooklyn District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit. According to the Daily…
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SJB sometimes preyed on area residents
Defendant appeals from a judgment of the Supreme Court, Bronx County rendered December 10, 2007, convicting him, after a jury trial, of manslaughter in the first degree as a crime of terrorism, attempted murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism, criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree as a crime of terrorism and conspiracy in the second degree, and imposing sentence. A Bronx County Criminal lawyer said that on August 18, 2002, a fight among members of rival gangs broke out following a party in the Bronx. In the course of the fighting, shots were fired, resulting in the death of a 10-year-old girl and the paralysis of a young man. Defendant Edgar Morales, a member of a gang of Mexican-American young adults and teenagers known as the St. James Boys (SJB), was ultimately charged with having committed these shootings. In what appears to have been the first prosecution for a crime of terrorism under Penal Law § 490.25, the People proceeded against…
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Defendant committed a larceny...cont
This case, and others then pending against this criminal Defendant, were thereafter adjourned numerous times for assorted reasons. All of those other cases have been disposed of. Defendant has declined to make restitution as part of any plea agreement in this case, which then proceeded toward trial. But, by notice that is undated, Criminal Defendant made the present motion for the items of relief specified above. Because of my determination that the accusatory instrument is facially defective, I do not reach Defendant's other requests for relief. Defendant asserts that the underlying dispute is essentially civil, that the work performed by the complaining repair shop was unsatisfactory, that the complaining repair shop did not give her a written estimate, thereby depriving itself of a lien on her car, and that, in any event, the People accuse her of doing nothing more than stealing her own car. She thus seeks dismissal on a variety of grounds, including that the…
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AZ Appeals Court Rules: “When Out-of-state DUI Convictions Count as Priors”
Overview of the Ruling; Strategies for Defense and Prevention of Repeat DUI Arrests Approximately 37 million people visit Arizona each year, and 16 million of those visit the Phoenix Metro area. Whether they are here to vacation, attend school or sporting events, or to see the attractions our State has to offer, many will be driving. Unfortunately, some will be arrested for impaired driving. Suddenly, what was supposed to be a fun and enjoyable trip turns into a nightmare. One of the most common questions a person asks after being arrested for a repeat offense, if they are visiting or a new resident to Arizona is “How will my prior DUI received in another state, impact my current DUI charges?” Recently, an Arizona Appeals court addressed prior DUI charges involving out-of-state DUI convictions. The Appellate court considered whether a prior out-of-state DUI conviction would be used to…
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Another Crisp and Cole Defendant Sent to Prison for Mortgage Fraud
Mortgage Fraud Blog. Sneha Ramesh Mohammadi, 52, Bakersfield, California, was sentenced by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to 18 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for her involvement in an extensive mortgage fraud scheme that ran from January 2004 to September 2007. Judge O’Neill also ordered her to join her co-defendants in paying $10,747,073 in restitution. According to court documents, David Crisp and Carl Cole owned and operated Crisp & Cole Real Estate (CCRE) and Tower Lending, an affiliated mortgage brokerage. Between January 2004 and September 2007, these defendants and others at CCRE and Tower Lending carried out a scheme to defraud mortgage companies and federally insured financial institutions, in part by using straw purchasers to acquire properties with funds borrowed from lenders based on false and fraudulent loan applications. The properties were nominally owned in the names of the straw…
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Couple Held Without Bail After Being Accused of Attacking MBTA Employee on the Orange Line
Several media outlets are reporting that a man and a woman are being held without bail after allegedly attacking an MBTA worker in the Downtown Crossing Orange Line Station. According to the Boston Globe, the worker was closing the station at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning when he encountered 50-year-old Robert Snyder and 28-year-old Shayla Witts. As the employee attempted to escort them from the station, Snyder and Witts began punching him. It was reportedly a vicious attack, as the police observed a 30-foot blood trail at the scene along with hair extensions that had been ripped from the victim’s head. Snyder had blood stains on his body and clothes. Because Snyder and Witts both allegedly hurled racial epithets during the attack, they are charged with violating a Massachusetts law that prohibits committing an assault and battery with the intent to intimidate the victim because of his or her race. They were also charged with aggravated…
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Man Sought for Security Camera Vandalism in Salt Lake City
In a random act of vandalism, a man destroyed a security camera in a parking garage. The Salt Lake City Police Department is hoping the public will be able to help identify the man. Take THAT, Stupid Security Camera According to a report from KSL News, the vandalism occurred on Saturday, Nov. 8, when a […] The post Man Sought for Security Camera Vandalism in Salt Lake City appeared first on Salt Lake Criminal Defense.
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Should a Defendant Testify in His Own Defense?
Defense Lawyers often advise against their clients testifying in their own defense. It is typically unnecessary and tends to expose the client to great danger. Even […]
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Officials Still Fixing Vermont Sex-Offender Registry
See also: VT Lawmakers Propose Changes to Sex Offender Registry 11-17-2014 Vermont: Law enforcement officials say they are still struggling to fix Vermont’s faulty sex-offender registry, which for years has been riddled with missing and inaccurate information. Testifying before the Joint Corrections Oversight Committee, Public Safety Commissioner Keith Flynn said his agency has made
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Audit On Prison Issue Released, Recommendations Made
11-17-2014 Nebraska: An audit of the Department of Correctional Services, released Monday by the Legislative Performance Audit Committee, found issues of concern with the reliability of DCS data regarding inmates, as well as the department's use of segregation. Additionally, the audit report recommended that the Legislature consider amending relevant commitment and corrections acts to ensure
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I'M SORRY
"I'm sorry…so sorry….that I was such a fool"David Ovalle and the Herald have the article:Miami-Dade Judge Jacqueline Schwartz is apologizing after ranklingCuban-American lawyers with her election-night comments about beating a "nondescript Hispanic.""I fully understand my comments could readily been seen as offensive to the community, something I never intended and that pains me greatly," Schwartz wrote Saturday in a letter to the Cuban American Bar Association (CABA)."I should have never issued the post-election statement that has, understandably, caused do much concern. I retract the statement completely."The judge also said she will ask the courts to "participate" in judicial diversity training.Scene: Inner sanctum of power. Chambers of Chief Judge Bertie Soto:Dramatis Personae: Judge Soto, judicial assistant. Judge Soto: "…and in conclusion, while I appreciate…
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Important Decision on Interrogation of Suspects with Low IQs - Providing Guidance to Courts and Counsel
byJill Paperno, Esq.author of Representing the Accused: A Practical Guide to Criminal DefenseAll too often, we represent defendants who are intellectually limited, due to genetic or birth defects, lead poisoning, traumatic brain injury or other causes. We struggle to persuade prosecutors and judges that these disabilities should be considered during plea negotiations. But sometimes we fail to recognize the effect that mental disabilities may have on a defendant's ability to understand Miranda warnings, knowingly and intelligently waive rights, and withstand coercive tactics of aggressive officers.If a defendant with such disabilities has given a statement, or consented to a search, defense counsel must become familiar with the law relating to admissibility of statements made by these defendants. But knowing the law is not enough. We must obtain our clients' educational, psychological and social services histories, and consult with an…
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<em>NY Times</em> debates "Is ‘Big Marijuana’ Inevitable?"
I am intrigued and pleased to see that the Room for Debate section of the New York Times has gathered some of the leading advocates in the marijuana reform debate to discuss whether and how marijuana reform ought to proceed. Here is the section's set up: It looks like the...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/MarijuanaLaw/~4/fb2xfAZTqKk" height="1" width="1"/>
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"Does Prison Privatization Distort Justice? Evidence on Time Served and Recidivism"
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WAITING ON A GRAND JURY IN FERGUSON: Some thoughts on what the decision may mean for Officer Wilson
If the grand jury DOES NOT indict (which I think is the most likely outcome): This is not the end of the case. The federal criminal investigation is ongoing and could… read more → The post WAITING ON A GRAND JURY IN FERGUSON: Some thoughts on what the decision may mean for Officer Wilson appeared first on .
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Upcoming Road Safe Class at the Idaho State Police
The Idaho State Police will be holding a Road Safe Class for the 2014/2015 winter season on Saturday, December 6, 2014 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The class will be held at the Idaho State Police District 1 Office located at 615 West Wilbur Avenue in Coeur d Alene (Meeting Room A & B). This is the twelfth year this award-winning program has been offered to the public. This is presented in a classroom setting designed to educate drivers of all ages (teens, adults and seniors), on the typical problems associated with winter road conditions in Idaho. The class consists of a PowerPoint presentation and video giving safe driving tips, as well as suggestions to prepare for the winter driving season. Other topics discussed will be how to deal with aggressive drivers, DUI�s, and other driving problems and situations encountered on the roadways. The class will last for approximately 3 hours. There is no cost for the class. PLEASE CALL (208) 209-8620 Monday - Friday 8 a.m.…
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Ninth Circuit upholds injunction, on First Amendment grounds, blocking California law requiring sex offenders to report report online activities
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